Insanity and genius share a fine line, and it's possible that one breeds the other. Historically we've seen examples of brilliant men acting outrageous: Van Gogh slicing his earlobe off, Austrian actor Klaus Kinski slipping in and out of blind rage throughout his life, Lord Byron living with a bear in college, etc. On top of that, there are countless masters of some art form have taken their own lives. If suicide is not the way then often the drunken writer emerges, or the drugged-up musician rears his sweaty head. When musicians find God or sobriety it is then that their music begins to suck. Look at the turn Wilco has taken since Tweedy cleaned up or the irrelevancy of Dylan's jesus albums. The fruits of "dark phases" or "acid years" seems to be the tastiest.
Daniel Johnston
I'm not going to go into background too much because there is a documentary about Johnston that is really worth seeing.
Anyway, a manicly depressed outcast from a religious family in Texas who produces some of the most earnest music possible.
Roky Erickson
Another mentally ill musician with a cool documentary. Erickson's mental instability was largely influenced by drugs whereas Johnston always seemed a bit deranged. Once the stud in The 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson went off the deep end and spent years in and out of hospitals. Some of his work has been recorded from the mental hospital and some out. Like Johnston, Erickson's music focuses on good and evil, with a large part of his career seeming to be downright satanic. Below is the trailer for his film and a nice non-evil track by him.
