 Citing Dylan and the Rolling Stones as the Beatles' artistic peers during this period, he says that on "Rubber Soul" these two acts "inspire rather than influence their sound".Two years after the start of Beatlemania, the band were open to exploring new themes in their music through a combination of their tiring of playing to audiences full of screaming fans, their commercial power, a shared curiosity gained through literature and experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs, and their interest in the potential of the recording studio.John Lennon was encouraged to address wider-ranging issues than before in his songwriting through Dylan's example.