Marcus King

King says he fears treating his depression could remove the pain that drives his songwriting.

“Yeah, being fearful that it's going to take your drive away because you don't have anything to create for”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 1:40:14

King recounts that an earlier antidepressant left him emotionally numb even at his grandmother's funeral.

“Like, even at my grandmother's funeral, like, I just felt nothing. I just felt numb”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 1:38:11

King says he wants to stop taking his antidepressant because he does not want lifelong dependence on a pharmaceutical.

“i don't like that i don't want to be like you know, enslaved by a drug, by a pharmaceutical drug, you know?”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 1:30:49

King says studying jazz theory was valuable because it gave names to musical concepts he already understood by ear.

“it's good to put a vocabulary to the things that you kind of knew, you know, but you didn't know how to quite name it”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 2:43:11

King says he reluctantly removed his friend Brent Hinds from a tour after Hinds' behavior forced the decision.

“and then i ended up having to kick him off the tour which like broke my heart but he kind of forced my hand”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 2:01:18

King contends that the jam band label has become too narrow and that Led Zeppelin was effectively a jam band.

“you're not a jam band unless it's, like, widespread or, like, Phish or, like, The Dead or something like that”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 12:43

King argues that rock and roll is experiencing a resurgence similar to the current popularity of cowboy fashion.

“I think rock and roll is kind of having a similar resurgence”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 11:41

King says a single relapse after six months sober convinced him he could not drink moderately.

“Yeah, I had one night off the leash, and I realized I couldn't handle it”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 4:31

King says drinking consistently triggered a self-destructive urge in him.

“There was just something in me that just wanted to completely burn my life to the ground every time I drank”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 2:13

King says he buys and gives away DVD copies of the Colonel Bruce Hampton documentary Basically Frightened.

“what I do now is I just buy copies of his documentary, Basically Frightened, and I just give it to people who aren't hip to the knowledge”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 2:07:49

King says he refuses to let a social media team post for him because he wants his presence to be authentic.

“So I'm like, I want to be on there and be myself. And if this is a tool that I have to have, I want it to be me authentically”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 1:55:50

King says microdosing mushrooms was the most effective treatment he has found for his depression and anxiety.

“But like the best work that I did to combat my depression and anxiety and stuff was microdosing, you know, mushrooms”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 1:30:34

King says a GLP-1 drug reduced his craving for alcohol during an attempt to quit drinking.

“And I was trying it out, and it actually curbed my desire for a drink”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2499 - Marcus King (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 27:55