There’s something about Roky that I really admire. I was listening this his song Starry Eyes today, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of Daniel Johnston and my girl, Casey.
In 1968, while doing a stint at HemisFair, Erickson started speaking nonsense. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and sent to a Houston psychiatric hospital, where he involuntarily received electroconvulsive therapy.
In 1969, Erickson was arrested for possession of one marijuana joint in Austin. Facing a ten-year prison term, Erickson pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was first sent to the Austin State Hospital. After several escapes, he was sent to the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was subjected to more electroconvulsive therapy and Thorazine treatments, ultimately remaining in custody until 1972.
In 1982, Erickson asserted that a Martian had inhabited his body. He came to feel that, due to his being alien, human beings were attacking him psychically.
In 1989, Erickson began a years-long obsession with the mail, often spending hours poring over random junk mail, writing to solicitors and celebrities (dead or living). He was arrested in 1989 on charges of mail theft. Erickson picked up mail from neighbors who had moved and taped it to the walls of his room. He insisted that he never opened any of the mail, and the charges were ultimately dropped.
In 2001, Erickson started taking medication to control his schizophrenia.
In 2005, Erickson had weaned himself off his medication, played at 11 gigs in Austin that year, obtained a driver’s license, bought a car (a Volvo) and voted. He also performed his first full-length concert in 20 years.
In 2007, Erickson played his first ever gigs in New York City at SOUTHPAW in Brooklyn, NY, as well as California’s Coachella Festival.
In 2010, Erickson released True Love Cast Out All Evil, his first album of new material in 14 years.
- (Source: Wikipedia)
