Across cultures and millennia, humans have used rhythm and sound to enter altered states, facilitate healing, and mark rites of passage. Some researchers believe our response to rhythm may be rooted in our evolutionary relationship with the natural world or shaped by the deeper ecological patterns we’re part of.

In experiments by Paul Stamets , certain drum patterns and frequencies have been shown to directly influence the behavior of mycelium, affecting how the mycelial network grows, how it branches, how it explores its environment. Sound, in this sense, acts as a vector of intelligence.

The implications are enormous. It’s not a coincidence that music also supports human transformation and branching, especially in spaces of healing and spiritual growth.

Anthropologist Victor Turner described this as a “liminal” space, where an old identity has fallen away and a new one has not yet taken form. It is through this liminal space that familiar roles, norms, and social structures dissolve.

This state is common in plant medicine ceremonies, healing rituals, and festivals where rhythmic bass and drumming are central. Turner used the term “communitas” to describe the deep connections that can emerge between people in these shared, boundaryless states of being.

I believe this is why I’ve always been drawn to EDM. As a wild teenager, I found community and essential parts of myself in the rave scene. I’ve long since moved on from that world, but my connection to the people and the music remains strong.

Below are some of my favorite playlists. They were created for my workouts, but they happen to be great for deep work and other things too. Enjoy :)