Gemma Farrell

Gemma Farrell serves as Senior Postgraduate Research Coordinator within the Business School's Professional Services at the University of Sussex, while maintaining active research affiliations with the Music Department. With a PhD in Music from Sussex completed in 2019, she bridges academic administration and scholarly research in music studies.

Her research focuses on the intersection of music and psychedelic experience, with particular expertise in psychedelic music genres including psychedelic rock, electronic dance music, and psychedelic trance. Farrell explores how psychoactive substances influence musical perception, the embodied phenomenology of music listening, and the cultural dimensions of psychedelic music scenes. Her work demonstrates strong interdisciplinary connections between ethnomusicology, cultural anthropology, and consciousness studies.

Farrell's publication trajectory shows consistent engagement with psychedelic music phenomena, culminating in her 2023 edited volume Musical Psychedelia: Research at the Intersection of Music and Psychedelic Experience. Her research examines both historical contexts (such as classical influences in heavy metal) and contemporary electronic music cultures, with particular attention to English psychedelic trance scenes and the relationship between sonic aesthetics and cultural identity.

As Senior Postgraduate Research Coordinator, Farrell supports doctoral researchers in the Business School while maintaining her own research profile. Her professional development includes achieving Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) status, demonstrating her commitment to academic practice. She has created the Musedelica Symposium platform to foster interdisciplinary dialogue around music and psychedelic experience.