Why do K?

>> Robert de la Gauthier's bumpy ride

by KRISTA

On Saturday the Huggy House crew welcome Montreal's pioneer DJ Robert de la Gauthier home once more to celebrate the release of his latest 12", "Special K." The flyer reads a lot like an ad for a seminar on how to enter a K-hole, complete with a photo of a bump of ketamine hydrochloride--Special K. "I've always been a big attention seeker," Bobby de la G laughs from his home in Mastricht, Holland, "so I knew the whole K thing would really strike a string with a lot of people."

Ketamine hydrochloride was originally created as a human anesthetic but is currently used by vets. It works by interrupting certain neural pathways, producing what is known as a dissociative or psychotropic state. Ironically, use of the drug on healthy adults was discontinued due to those effects, ergo its popularity as a recreational narcotic.

Low doses produce a dreamy, weightless sensation; too much of it sends one reeling into an out-of-body experience known as a "K-hole." High doses in conjunction with sedatives or alcohol can produce complete immobility and what appears to be a coma.

But de la Gauthier claims his "Special K" was not intended to encourage people to run out and do a bump of ketamine. His idea, he says, came from a television special he saw on the BBC about food habits in the late '50s and early '60s.

"This old commercial came on for Kellogg's Special K cereal. This little kid is asking his dad, 'What is Special K?' And the father says, 'Well, it's the most important cereal ever made.' The kid asks, 'How does it taste?' and the father says, 'The only way to know is to try it.' I just thought that it was so funny, and then I asked my friend Deko (from Toronto's Probe records) to make some loops and stuff, and we made the record."

De la Gauthier admits that he has used the drug but insists that, as with everything, there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things. His first experience with K was with a group of physicians who monitored the doses and showed him how to use it.

"I'm not a drinker," he explains. "Once in a while I think it's good to let go a little and I think K is a good medium for that, but it's not for everyone and people should really know what they're getting into when they try something. The scene is so much younger now and a lot of people don't educate themselves properly about drugs. It's scary. Maybe on the next record I should do instructions on what not to do with Special K."

At Outer Limits on Saturday, May 15, $25