Iggy Pop: ‘I Tried to Smoke Spiderwebs’ to Get High

Some people sniff markers when they’re young, chasing a thrill. Others smoke banana peels. Iggy Pop, however, found more iconoclastic ways to get high.

When he was asked on The Jonathan Ross Show recently if he once stuck his tongue in an electrical outlet for a buzz (har har) he corrected Ross and said, “It was an electric train transfer.” The former Stooge, dressed sharply (or is it loudly?) in a pink suit and mesh shirt, smiled and laughed.

And then he added this nugget: “I tried spiderwebs, too.”

“You ate spiderwebs?” Ross asked.

“Well, I tried to smoke them, but you know you’ve got to start somewhere,” Pop said.

Pop did not explain how he attempted to smoke the homes of poor, innocent arachnids. It can’t be easy collecting enough spiderwebs to fill a joint — plus, fanning simmering silken smoke into your nose as it burns doesn’t sound all that great. Pop offered up an assessment of the experience: “They were harsh.”

In the beginning of the interview, Pop — who is famous for his Homeric intake of drugs throughout the Sixties and Seventies — said he was not surprised to be alive.

“No, people all assume they’re gonna live forever, so nah,” he told Ross. “It’s brinkmanship. My psychiatrist told me in the Seventies, ‘You have amazing brinksmanship. You go to a certain place and you know when to pull back.’ I always have [known when to pull back]. I’m a conservative guy in my daily life.”

Pop also discussed his friendship with David Bowie and shot down the notion of any rivalry they may have had with one another. Interestingly, nowhere in the clip does Ross mention that Pop released a great new album called Free this year on which Pop found a cool, surprisingly laidback sound.

via:: Rolling Stone