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INTERVIEW BY JASON KEILLER |
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JASON KEILLER interviews Director and Founder of Xtreme Music and author of The Spiritual Significance of Music and Love Live Forgive: Insights from Artists.
Skype Interview: June 13th 2015 Auckland, New Zealand |
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XTREME MUSIC is a global collective of artists, authors, and musicians exploring Music and Spirituality. It offers artist features, brief biographies, and exclusive interviews with many of the world’s most visionary musicians and writers. Xtreme Music’s vision is to celebrate, encourage, and inspire an online community to consider their own faith and values, by connecting music-makers and music-lovers to their published books and inspiring resources. JUSTIN ST. VINCENT is the Director and Founder of Xtreme Music. He has self-published four books including a worldwide trilogy exploring The Spiritual Significance of Music (2009-2012), and free eBook Love Live Forgive: Insights from Artists (2014), all available from: www.XtremeMusic.org Jason Keiller: Justin, what can people expect to find on the website and in your book? Xtreme Music was designed for music-makers and music-lovers. They can expect to find a book series and a website that embraces the beauty and diversity of Music. Essentially, it includes insightful interviews to enhance music appreciation. It’s a celebrated book series that helps amplify people’s passion for music; an inspirational anthology co-created with musicians and writers worldwide. Jason Keiller: You have interviewed over 1000 people to explore the spiritual significance of music. How did you get people to share their insights on music and spirituality? It was all done through a personal invitation to participate in this global project. I would ask each individual just one question, and that was, “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” Belief was the central theme of that one question, and as you can imagine, it generated a significant number of responses from people who shared their own beliefs from various communities, many different cultures, and faith-based backgrounds. As much as I would have loved to meet most of these musicians face to face, the reality is that studio recordings, tour schedules, and live performances do take priority in their music career. As the book was a text-based project, e-mails and letters were by far the best method of communication with all the authors and musicians. It allowed for more efficient and productive interviews, plus easier publishing the remarkable insights from each of their responses. Jason Keiller: What inspires you most about pursuing this project? Well, I was inspired by the question, “What if there’s more to music than meets the ear?” To explore this further, this project inspired me to connect with many musicians that I greatly admire and appreciate. Music is powerful, and I found that many of these musicians connected with the central themes of this book. I believe many people are impacted and influenced by music in their daily lives. Exploring, searching, and discovering The Spiritual Significance of Music continues to be a way I pursue my passions and enjoy the journey. I hope that this book inspires many people with an amplified passion for their life and their music too. Jason Keiller: Throughout this project what would be the number one thing you have personally learnt about music and spirituality? I guess the number one thing I have personally learnt about music and spirituality is that there is definitely more to music than meets the ear. I’ve learnt something new from every interview. Each response has illuminated a unique voice sharing an intimate view from each person; about what they believe, and what they create. Their wonderful words are extremely personal, and I deeply cherish, honour, and respect each of the musicians and writers that have contributed to this epic anthology. My hope is that every reader will also learn something new from every interview. Jason Keiller: What would you say is the overall message of your book? The overall message of my book is that we are the spiritual significance of music. Music in itself has no spiritual significance without people, because it is people who project significance onto sound. In this sense, the listener is empowered to create spiritual significance from their own personal experiences with music. People bring their own significance to music. In fact, I believe music and spirituality are universal languages with global appeal. Both have a direct influence and impact on the human spirit. As many of us may have experienced, music can have a therapeutic potential for healing the heart, soothing the soul, and uplifting the spirit. Music truly resonates with the human spirit, and we are the spiritual significance of music. Jason Keiller: What feedback have you received about the material found on the website and in the book? The feedback from this book series has been positively overwhelming. It’s certainly struck a powerful chord with thousands of musicians around the world. Many people seem to connect deeply with the intimate themes that resonate throughout the pages of this book. It’s always so encouraging to receive responses from anyone who has been positively inspired by this project. Jason Keiller: What do you hope people will get from the book? I hope people will be inspired to consider their own faith and values. You know, life is like music – with high notes and low notes and sometimes we can get lost in the melody and rhythm, playing our own soundtrack to life. Yet, I believe that deep down in the depths of the human soul most of us are searching for significance. This reflects a desire to discover something greater than ourselves. Music can lead us from this deep desire to discover more. My hope is that The Spiritual Significance of Music continues to strike a positive chord with people, and that this book fulfils its purpose to challenge, encourage, and inspire people to consider their own faith and values, and ultimately ask themselves their own question of, “What do they believe is the spiritual significance of music?” |
INTERVIEW BY PAT ARMITSTEAD |
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PAT ARMITSTEAD is a Humorist, Trailblazer and Thought leader who has been facilitating change in individuals and teams for over 30 years. Highly qualified to develop Leadership skills and improve Human Performance she has been instrumental in changing the lives of an astounding 100,000 people throughout Australasia. A Transformational Speaker, Facilitator, Coach, Author and Artist she has delivered over 12,000 hours of presentations, including keynotes, workshops, seminars and lectures. She has toured internationally with Patch Adams and shared the platform live and online with world class speakers such as Jack Canfield, Dr. John Demartini, Ed Tate, Annette King, Catherine Palin Brinkworth, George Manolis, Wayne Berry, Keith Abraham and Wayne Mansfield from Australia, Linda Miles, Lavonn Steiner from the USA and addressed Australia’s First International Humour and Wellness conference at Armidale University. Radio Interview: July 19th 2011 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Pat Armitstead: A pleasure to have you here. Justin: Thanks, it’s great to be here. Pat Armitstead: You have shared with me your book and perhaps before we proceed, your business is called Xtreme Music – beginning with an “X”, not an “E”, yes? Perfect, you got it right, yes. Pat Armitstead: The website is www.musicandspirituality.com Perfect, that’s it. Pat Armitstead: And you are the director and founder of Xtreme Music – where music meets spirituality. You were born in New Zealand but lived in Hong Kong and the UK and North America and you are passionate about music from around the world. You’re also the managing editor and pioneer of the highly acclaimed website which we just mentioned – musicandspirituality.com. I’m really interested to know how you got onto this path – where did this begin? Pat, I believe it began at a very early age. It was when I was in Hong Kong, I was surrounded by friends and friends of the family who came from different faith backgrounds but also had different lifestyles. I think from a very young age I was fascinated by the fact that people had different belief systems and the education system in Hong Kong was extremely good that the religious studies class never showed any bias or bigotry. What they tried to encourage was a greater awareness of how can we understand other people from different world views and how can we connect with them through a spirit of love and compassion? For me, this book has been the project of a life time of searching but, really, in the last five years I focused my efforts on interviewing over a thousand musicians and discovering what they believe is the spiritual significance of music. Pat, when I got your media request for an interview I was fascinated by the fact you were called a joyologist – I had no idea what that could be but it sounded great so the fact that someone has dedicated their life to thinking and exploring joy and actually the knowledge of joy has inspired me tonight to look through this project. I did a quick search of all thousand interviews that I’ve done in the last five years and I’ve pinpointed some of the nuggets of truth that musicians and authors refer to joy as being an abundant spiritual blessing spawned out of both music and spirituality. In other words, what people believe and what people create. For me, spirituality doesn’t have to be complex. Spirituality is simply a framework for faith and values and the music that we decide to listen to truly resonates with our inner spirit. So I’m hoping throughout tonight’s show the listeners can join us on a little journey together, Pat, we’re gonna look at joy and we’re gonna look at it in the context of music and spirituality. But more specifically, what are the musical intelligences that we can learn from and who are some of the key singer song writers and authors that have spoken about joy throughout their life and what that means to us in everyday life. Pat Armitstead: For listeners, if you’re interested in the book, the book is called The Spiritual Significance of Music and that’s available where? It’s available from several book stores in the Auckland and New Zealand market but for those that wanna get a copy of the book for themselves, it’s only $20.00, that includes postage to any address in New Zealand and they can get that from www.musicandspirituality.com and they’ll be able to explore the whole project and there’s some free resources on there for them as well. Pat Armitstead: You have two e-books, I understand. I do. For New Zealand Music Month, Pat, I released two free e-books so for those that don’t wanna buy a copy of the book just at this stage, they can download for free those two e-books and if you’ve got a fast broadband connection, the PDF documents download with it in a few seconds and that can be on your desktop ready to read at your leisure. Pat Armitstead: Thank you so much for that. I’ve been fascinated for many years, probably back when I was a registered nurse and worked in nurse education. I think probably in that time frame going to university and discovering another level of learning because I learnt my initial nursing rote learning – we learnt stuff in the school of nursing and then we went to the ward and we did stuff. None of the learning was in sequence, it was based on what the hospital needed us to be able to do and then later went to university and, of course, just a whole different model of learning. I think it was there that I first heard about Professor Howard Gardner who was at Harvard University, long standing professor there. It was certainly more than 25 years ago, he espoused that we didn’t just have IQ, in fact, we had many intelligences and he developed this theory around that. He said that we had things like practical intelligence – this is the intelligence people have where you can take your television apart and put it back together again and not have any screws left over! There’s kinaesthetic intelligence which is the sporting prowess. There’s interpersonal intelligence which is the intelligence we have in our relationships with other people. Then there’s intrapersonal intelligence, it’s about that intelligence that allows us to explore ourself and develop ourself. There’s creative intelligence, spiritual intelligence, emotional intelligence and the one that we wanna explore this evening is musical intelligence. One of the things that I loved about that because I do love music is having musical intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to be a performer, that you need to be a singer or play an instrument. It’s not about that, it’s about being able to create a space for yourself where that music does something for you. That’s absolutely right, Pat, and it resonates with other people’s spirit. Even if you’re a music maker or a music lover, music’s a great unifying agent and it’s a change agent. When you are feeling a little bit down or not all together, you can listen to one of your favourite songs and suddenly you’re inspired and you feel connected with the world again. That’s one of the aspects of the spiritual significance in music. But throughout tonight’s show we’ll talk about some of the key themes that have emerged throughout this project and more specifically, who are the key contributors, for example, Dr Robin Kelly – great, beautiful song that we open the show with is featured in book two which listeners can download for. Of course, what we’ll do is we’ll feature some of the people that weren’t selected for the books and we’ll see, hang on, what do they say about joy? What do they say about fulfilment? What do they have to say about the virtue of the weak – love? Is there something that we can learn about for compassion or even forgiveness? I’m hoping that we can unfold some of those themes. Pat Armitstead: One of the things that in this country and Australia where I’m from, we so celebrate academia and progress along that path and sport – both are renowned for the passion there. These other qualities are so not acknowledged and yet the contribution they make on a daily basis to everyone’s life is huge. I have a saying that I use all the time, we’re here to bring joy, not just into our own lives but into the lives of others. Coming from that space, it’s about life is going to present us with whatever turns up for us on a day to day basis and if we can, in the midst of that, find the gems and we can only do that by being present and music can help bring us back to a place of reality that’s easy to be with. Rather than be overwhelmed by something that perhaps we’ve got no control over, music is very, very powerful to bring about state shifts and then place people in a better resourced position to be managing things. I’m interested to hear about some of these people that you’ve talked to. Some of the examples that we’ve selected for tonight’s show, one of them comes from a Kiwi singer/songwriter by the name of Jacqui Bristow. She’s a singer/songwriter from Gore and her beautiful quote from The Spiritual Significance of Music goes like this, “Music has taken me on a spiritual journey. Music is the healer because it brings joy, excitement, love, compassion and wisdom to our world.” One of the key singer/songwriters I featured in book one is Victor Crowle and I love what he talks about here about joy. He says, “Nothing crosses language and culture barriers like music. Therefore, music above all other arts has the power to unite human kind more effectively in joy, love, understanding, friendship, rhythm and spirituality.” As people explore musicandspirituality.com they’ll discover on the right hand side of the website there are four free editions of The Spiritual Significance of Music. I have done an author’s edition, a Christian edition, a metal edition and a world edition. Just a couple of the authors that really have explored joyology in its fullest. Some of the authors are David Cope, the author of New Directions in Music. David says, “I’ve always believed that every person is unique and as each person receives from music something unique the meaning, the joy, the sorrow and so on resides in the listener, not in the music but the spirituality is in the ear of the beholder.” I think that is so beautiful and I like to see this project as a mean of inspiration to music makers and music lovers out there. This is what Dr Louise Montello, author of Essential Music Intelligence says, her subtitle is, “Using music as your path to healing creativity and radiant wholeness.” Dr Louise Montello says, “Sacred music can awake pure feelings in us that can lead to a resonance with spirituality, the feeling of freedom, joy and oneness with all life.” So, Pat, are some of those quotes speaking to you as well? Pat Armitstead: Wonderful. I love the languaging that’s in here, there are a lot of enlightening, empowering, I think, a lot of “e” words back there in one of the other quotes. The whole thing about something being sacred and we can only experience that at choice. We have the choice about whether we can experience something as sacred or not and our thoughts and how we manage those are all part of delving into that process. It’s a powerful process to delve into and when anyone discovers music and spirituality for the first time and they feel that resonance in their spirit, those are the sort of people that I think will strongly connect with The Spiritual Significance of Music. What they’ll start to see is all of these invisible strands of connectivity and synchronicity happening between music and spirituality, both being invisible forces in our everyday life that can have a profound impact and influence. Pat Armitstead: You’ve reminded me just saying that, I’d been here a couple of years and I went to Christmas in the Park out at Manukau – an extraordinary event. Just the crowd was silent waiting for the next person to come up on stage and she was a teenager, her name and, forgive the pronunciation if it’s wrong, but her name was Annie [indistinct 13.04]. As she walked up the ramp, a hush went out over the crowd. This little girl had a presence and was just still. She turned and she thanked the backing musicians and she thanked the other choir – the backing singing people. Then she turned to the audience and she just held her arms out and she sang Pokarekare Ana and I wept. It’s great to see how different audiences receive music in different ways. One of the things I’ve tried to explore with this project is to have a variety of musical styles represent it but, of course, the whole spectrum of spiritual belief as well. One of the bands that decided to contribute was The Fifth Dimension which a lot of listeners may know from the Age of Aquarius and Let the Sun Shine in From the Hair soundtrack. Florence Le Roux is now a Christian and she’s lead vocalist of The Fifth Dimension and Florence Le Roux as she tours with. Her insights into joy, peace and love come through in her quote. She says, “I believe that by bringing joy and hope to people through my secular music, God’s light will shine and they will see my spirituality.” I love what she’s communicating there. She’s talking about sourcing spirituality through her music but she wants others to find that as a beacon of hope and a way to source joy as well. I think that’s what we’re finding throughout joyology, isn’t it, Pat, that we can embrace serendipity and spontaneity and sometimes it’s where the humour and the first thought or spark of inspiration comes from. I think the more that each of us can embrace that the more we’ll be loving in our characteristic, the more we’ll be compassionate in our spirituality. Ultimately, hopefully, we can have a forgiving spirit that’s a loving one to others and people that we meet. Pat Armitstead: I want to explore that a little bit further. That there are external things that can bring us joy, pleasure in the moment – a new pair of shoes or a frock or those things. Or a new CD or a new album you’ve just bought. Pat Armitstead: It may or may not have lasting or enduring pleasure for you, the moment passes and life circumstances remain the same. There’s a deeper level of access to joy and feeling joy when you go within and for a lot of people that I meet and coach, their challenging head talk and the mind chatter and looking for a way to be still and music can help that. I’m just wondering, is it the combination of the tone or qualities of sounds and their resonance, their vibration that works with us? It could very well be. I’m sure Dr Robin Kelly is more than qualified to speak on this topic in itself. I’ve researched a lot into the tonality and the resonance of music and I couldn’t actually pinpoint a piece of music that would resonate with everyone or even a chord that would resonate with everyone. It seems to be that music is so unique that it speaks to the spirit and different spirits are gonna connect with different styles of music. One of the challenges I had was to explore on entire musical style and find out throughout that what are the spiritual diversity of beliefs within one style of music? It just happened I chose probably the most spiritually potent style of music on the plant and that was metal music. Now, not everyone out there would be able to connect with metal music, maybe it is discordant to your spirit, maybe you dislike listening to heavy rock or music that’s too fast. Maybe it’s not soothing to your spirit but, I must admit, some of the most spiritual insights I’ve been able to get have been from musicians that happen to be metal musicians and those that may not have the same faith framework as myself or other people that are even in the same band. Let’s give you an example, from a metal band called Judgment, Nate Wright is the guitarist in that band and he’s featured in book two. I was really connected by his spiritual background and he talks about music can connect the natural with the supernatural, the evil with the divine and the joyous with the sorrowful. Or we look at another band based in Europe called My Own Grave – another metal band that say I acknowledge, enjoy and exploit the myriad of emotions borne from music. There the musician’s talking about this emotive effect that music can have on us. Or we look at another band called Crave for Light, if I’m not mistaken, they’re actually a Greek metal band and Dimitri is the guitarist and vocalist and he says we can enjoy the trip music takes us through, music is the healthiest drug. I’d go one step further and say that music is the perfect drug, it is available everywhere and free. You can connect to music in some many different ways and the buzz that it gives you, the endorphins and the actual spiritual potency that music can have in our daily life is really something that resonates with the human spirit. I’d love for people to connect with this project but really to explore for themselves what are their faith and values saying to them. I think throughout joyology it’s great that you can bring out so many different spiritual principles that people can apply to everyday life. Pat Armitstead: Being very focused here, as I said to you before we came in, about providing a holistic and integrated approach. That’s what I love about your show, I think that’s great. Pat Armitstead: Each week is presenting different viewpoints, different perspectives, different ideas, even different music which I’m sorry we can’t play this evening. I’ve just made myself a note – I was telling you outside that I use a lot of improv in my performance as part of my speaking so that I’m coming from a freer space and I’ve also recently learnt an improvised routine, if you like, which I perform to the song I am Alive. There wouldn’t be a day goes by that I don’t use that at home to energise myself so not just hearing the piece which is wonderful to just listen to but to move my body to the piece and to connect through those movements and acting out different gestures that are symbolic provides another level of resonance and it’s something I don’t fully understand but I do know from audience experience they get it in a way that’s inexplicable. I think it’s that what I’m presenting on the outer is actually coming from the inner and its best expression comes when I’m totally present only to the music and not the audience. That’s absolutely right, Pat, and one of the things that you’re tapping into there is receiving resonance. This is one of the key principles throughout The Spiritual Significance of Music because receiving resonance feels like your inner spirit’s silently humming to the outer music. Softly vibrating like a tuning fork, we’ve received resonance when we experience this equilibrium, receiving resonance is accepting the soul of a song into your spirit. One of the musicians that speaks about receiving resonance is Daniel Beddingfield – famous singer/songwriter from right here in New Zealand, had a very successful musical career worldwide thanks to a one track called Gotta Get Through This. He says in my book, “Music is the deep hum behind reality. Part of the thread that ties the universe together.” Of course, what he’s tapping into there is string theory and I think Dr Robin Kelly in his books, especially The Human Antenna, has really extrapolated more about string theory and also Jonathan Goldman in his book The Seven Secrets of Sound Healing. He talks about string theory throughout that as being a way of embracing the entire wholeness of the universe as a sense of resonance and how everything around us is resonating atoms. If we only listen and tap into it, music is all around. Pat Armitstead: Like birdsong in the morning. Absolutely and that’s so beautiful from creation. Several key themes that have evolved and been explored throughout this project and my challenge has been to express their unique voice by doing gentle editorial throughout the interview responses but to maintain the authenticity of their voice, not trying to add to it, not trying to take away from it. But then to discover what are the reoccurring themes from all of these musicians. I think I’ve nailed it down to about 70 reoccurring themes but have just selected seven for tonight’s talk. Would you like to hear a little bit more? Pat Armitstead: Absolutely. Pursuing passion seems to be the one that connects all musicians together. Musicians pursue passion, music is a passion and a purpose in their life – a musician’s raison d’être – their reason for being. Exploring spiritual purpose in music is like unwrapping the perfect present. Songs are like little windows of life that are forever immortalised in music and pursuing passion seems to be the theme that connects so many musicians together. The other one that we spoke about, Pat, before we came in was initiating intention and how important intention is in everyday life. Intentions, I believe, are louder than words. Intention is the motivation behind action, it’s sourced from the heart and can be activated by the spirit. I think the theme that connects with me personally with music and spirituality has to be experiencing ecstasy. One of the musicians that I learnt from is the guitarist of Guns N’ Roses, believe it or not. This is Bumblefoot who is actually the new guitarist of Guns N’ Roses. His real name is Ron Thal but he’s a great guitarist and what he says in my book is, “Music is spiritual. What is music’s spiritual significance? It’s the ingredients that lifts us to a higher place. It connects us to each other and creates a collective euphoria.” What I think Ron Thal, also known as Bumblefoot, is referring to there is experiencing ecstasy. I’m not talking about ecstasy as the class A drug, or else I’m sure you’ll kick me out of your studio, Pat, but music being a perfect drug, as a chemical catalyst that releases adrenalin and endorphins. For me, experience ecstasy through music induces a state of spiritual joy. One of the examples I always love to give at this point is when I was based in San Francisco and I was working at several record labels and I would go to different clubs and listen to different music. The one that connected me the most spiritually was when I would listen to house music at a dance club and what I found was that these people united by the music, the lyrics have this bonding agent effect where it would literally bond people together in a loving embrace and you would see people of all colours and creeds and all different cultures dancing on the dance floor to the same music. I believe that had such a unifying effect. One of the other themes that reoccurs throughout this book is touching transcendence. What I mean transcendence, I’m talking about music and spirituality opening doors to the divine. It enables the spiritual gateway to be open revealing this picturesque pathway to touching transcendence. My personal experience believes that while eyes are windows to the soul, our ears can be doorways to the spirit. Pat Armitstead: I was gonna talk to you about synchronicity. It’s such a beautiful expression. Share with me some more about synchronicity and how it relates. Pat Armitstead: While you were talking, it’s a long story and I’ll clip it back. I had an experience auditioning as a hospital clown and the experience was quite negative. I was still troubled the next day by it and I rang Robin Kelly and he said, “Come down.” He played me a song which he hadn’t released yet, it was a new song. It’s now out but it wasn’t then and he said, “Listen to this paragraph,” and the line said, “When lost souls are counting, don’t raise your hand.” In that moment I got release, I actually wasn’t meant to be there. I had had some inkling of that beforehand but they persuaded me to go so I went anyway, against my better judgment – first thought! The first thought is always correct. Pat Armitstead: I found immediately a place of peace and even though the song wasn’t complete, it was like varying the words and isn’t it funny – the resonance that exists between he and I in the personal level, if you like, so we relate and that relatedness links through to other expressions and this is a connection. Once again, Pat, you’ve hit the nail on the head and another theme that you’ve just referred to there is essentially sourcing spirituality. It’s where do we get that synchronicity from? How do we connect with others? But how we’re expressing that to the world around us. What I feel that spirituality has is it has a spiritual source. When people source spirituality is as personal and as individual as a fingerprint. In spirituality you may be sourced from personal education, environment, experience but the songs we listen to shape the soundtrack of our lives. So it’s really important that we’re filling our lives with peace, hope, joy and love. I feel this book, for me, has just been a real personal journey through the beauty and diversity of both music and spirituality. I’ve learnt something new from every response and I’ve come to it with an attitude of being a student, not being a guru or a technocrat or even an expert on music and spirituality. I’ve come to it with a learning heart feeling what can I learn from each individual response? I guess my hope and prayer is that everyone that reads The Spiritual Significance of Music will learn something new from every response. I learned so much and I’m continually blessed by the contributors in this project. Contributors range so diverse from One Giant Leap to Devo to Dragonforce. Bands like Faith No More, Guns N’ Roses, even Jefferson Starship are in there. Pat Armitstead: I have to ask – how long was it in the making? It was five years in the making and it never felt like work, it only felt like play. I think that’s the secret – when you find something that you’re passionate about, do pursue it. It’s such a golden opportunity that you’ve been given to explore and discover your own passion and just run with it. Run like wild. Pat Armitstead: You’re usually accompanying gifts. Martin Seligman the positive psychologist, you can do one of his questionnaires online which he examines your signature strengths. There are 24 that we each have and it’s so revealing. I usually tell people to pick the top five because therein lie your greatest strengths that are a match for your passion. That’s where you’re gonna get the level of excitement, that’s where you’re gonna get the endurance to stay on the page and achieve completion. That’s where you’re gonna get the inspiration, I should’ve talked to that person, and you make the phone call. It just goes on and on. We’re not always in that space, we do have peaks and troughs but when the focal point rests in that, then you know what you’re truly here for. You’re really clear about purpose and things feel right and you do experience flow. Absolutely, Pat. I’m so resonating with what you’re sharing there and I think it’s important for everyone to recognise that there are ebbs and flows throughout life and pursuing your passion and enjoying the journey really should be the message of it all. There’s always gonna be the peaks and troughs, the ebbs and flows of life but stay on the beach, stay grounded but also really enjoy the fullness of abundance you’ve been given cos it’s a free gift. Pat Armitstead: We’re coming to a close, thank you so much for being with us. |
INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL HAMILTON |
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MICHAEL HAMILTON was a journalist, promoter, reporter, and writer based in Auckland, New Zealand. He was involved in promoting Christian musical events, and assisting a large Christian Korean performing arts group. He was especially proud to be New Zealand Event Manager for Hanna Lee, a Christian Korea-based New Zealander who tours internationally performing on her electric violin. Michael sang several years in high school choirs, and in the interdenominational Christian choir “Celebration Singers”. He played piano to Grade Seven of Associated Boards of Royal Schools of Music. He was passionate about the use and power of good quality music in Church worship and musical events, and knows the tremendous influence music has on people. He also served on the Board of New Zealand’s nationwide Christian radio network, the Rhema Broadcasting Group. Holding a Bachelor of Theology, he was a Reporter with New Zealand’s Christian newspaper Challenge Weekly. Interview: July 27th 2010 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Michael Hamilton: How many people did you interview about the spiritual significance of music, and how long has it taken? The vision for this project was to produce the world’s largest interview portfolio exploring Music and Spirituality. Since 2006, I’ve interviewed 1000 of the world’s most visionary musicians and writers. These exclusive interviews are published online, and have become a powerful resource for music-makers and music-lovers exploring music and spirituality: www.musicandspirituality.com These insightful interviews aim to answer one question: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” Challenge Weekly readers may be interested in exploring the Christian Edition, which is currently available online for FREE: www.xtrememusic.org/category/christian/ CHRISTIAN EDITION reflects the encouraging ideas, inspirational thoughts, and uplifting words from Christian musicians. This extraordinary edition also captures the interplay of controversial perspectives concerning music in Christianity. It presents musicians profiling Christian expressions of several music styles including black metal, classical, dance electronica, death metal, doom metal, folk rock, funeral doom, hardcore screamo, indie rock, progressive hip-hop, punk rock, rap rock, rhythm and blues, thrash metal, and worship music. Also this anthology features viewpoints from almost the entire spectrum of Christian spirituality including Adventists, Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Charismatics, Evangelicals, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Protestants, and many more. Topics include Bible-based expositions on faith, hope, love, praise, prayer, spirituality, and worship. Christian Edition provides readers with a faith-filled commentary on the celebrations, ceremonies, doctrine, dogma, relationship, and theology of music in Christianity.I started compiling the project after completing the Discipleship Training School with YWAM at the University Of The Nations in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. I returned to New Zealand in March 2006, and started short-listing key contributors from many musicians that I greatly admire and appreciate. I then began to send postal letters to musicians inviting them to contribute towards my exploration of the spiritual significance of music. I asked them one interview question, and encouraged their response discussing music and spirituality. The project was produced as a collaborative effort between managers, publicists, record labels, and the musicians themselves. I then started to source academic perspectives towards this project by interviewing authors that have written books about music and spirituality, including theologians and worship leaders. My new book exploring “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is an exciting interview portfolio that includes exclusive interviews with over 30 well-known Christian contributors. It features members of DC Talk, Delirious?, Parachute Band, Selah, Sons of Korah, and Underoath, among many others. I’ve intentionally peppered the book with Christian contributors to allow those not familiar with Christian spirituality to be exposed to the Gospel over 30 times from reading the book cover-to-cover. Michael Hamilton: What did you find are main spiritual significance of music to be? What are the key aspects and several facets found in your book? You may wish to explain what you mean by “spirituality”. “What if there is more to music than meets the ear?” It is this question that concludes the Prelude of the book, providing a context for Music and Spirituality, as both can have a profound influence in our daily lives. Spirituality is founded upon a framework of faith and values. This can be collective or individual, influenced by culture, education, environment, experience, family, friends, lifestyle, religion, theology, tradition, and worldview. Spirituality is the harmony that hums between the pages of this book, providing readers with fresh perspectives. The sound of our spirituality becomes our reality in the way we live everyday life. Our spiritual values are the principles that guide us in all things, giving stability and structure to our inner world, supporting us in the symphony of life. There are over 70 reoccurring themes that started to emerge from the exclusive interviews. I’ve also identified the 8 most popular themes that help support the key findings discussed during my Author Talks. These popular themes include: Passion, Intention, Community, Transcendence, Unity, Resonance, Ecstasy, and Spirituality. Each contributor has shared their inner-most soul-stirring thoughts on the spiritual significance of music, and provided a profound depth of meaning from their personal experience, knowledge, and wisdom. My hope is that readers will learn something new from every interview. Two important questions to ask after reading each response is: “What does this answer tell me about God?”, and “What does my response reveal about myself?” These are two key questions that will help the introspective digestive system of the soul, which starts to develop from reading “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. I personally believe that WE are the spiritual significance of music because people bring significance to music. It is people, including you and I, that project significance onto sound. Perhaps God has even planted a spiritual seed within music to point people back to Him. Spiritual signposts can be found in all creation, and I hope this book can be used as an evangelical tool that builds a bridge between music culture and the Gospel. Michael Hamilton: Say briefly an indication of the range of people interviewed. Over 100 exclusive interviews are featuring in the book, with contributions representing diverse musical backgrounds and an eclectic spectrum of spirituality. Kiwi contributors include pop singer-songwriter Daniel Bedingfield, death metal vocalist Rigel Walshe from Dawn of Azazel, and Simon Moore former guitarist from Christian worship group Parachute Band. The book includes Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, New Agers, Satanists, and Sikhs, all exploring their personal perspectives on the spiritual significance of music. Michael Hamilton: How does and how should the findings be relevant or of use to Christian musicians, songwriters, worship leaders? I believe Christian musicians, songwriters, and worship leaders will be wonderfully inspired by my new book. “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is easy to pick up, and hard to put down, and the feedback from this project has been positively overwhelming. The spiritual revelations found in this book will provide people with a greater insight into how music resonates with the human spirit. Music and spirituality deeply resonates with the Christian faith and are foundational to our relationship with Jesus Christ. Songs of praise and hymns of worship are the soundtrack to the Christian journey. Ultimately, I hope this book shares with readers a renewed source of inspiration that testifies to the amazing grace, abundant joy, and spiritual potency that is prevalent in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Michael Hamilton: What do you see as the role of music in the life of the Church and among Christians? How can and should music be used? Music is an emotive, spiritual, and universal language. It speaks to the spirit, and helps nourish the soul. Music is a powerful weapon, and can be used for good or bad. Intentions are the silent ripples that travel within music from the heart and to the heart. I see the role of music in the life of the Church and among Christians as being the divine thread that connects heartfelt worship with a deeper desire to know God, and make God known. God has given us the greatest gift in Jesus Christ, and what better way to give all glory, honour, and praise to God than through worship. I love that God in His infinite wisdom has provided many hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs within the Bible. I also practice a daily lifestyle of worship, that aims to give greater glory to the Kingdom of God. Worship can be an extravagant expression of praise, or an intimately personal resonance with God when He speaks directly to our inner spirit, blessing His children with faith, hope, and love. Music can be used to bring people back to a personal relationship with God. We only need to think back to a moment when a piece of music has truly resonated with our spirit, and provided a glimpse of the Divine. Surely God is the sacred source for the spiritual significance of music. Zephaniah 3:17 says: “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” [New King James Version]. Michael Hamilton: Can you share some key points about yourself and how you came to want to do this project? I am a Kiwi by birth, and was brought up in Hong Kong for the first 12 years of my life, and have lived in the United Kingdom, North America, and am passionate about music from around the world. My early experiences and upbringing in Hong Kong provided a diverse culture background that allowed me to gain a general knowledge of different communities and creeds. I believed from a very early age that it was fundamentally important that people understand others who had different beliefs. I hope this project provides people with an inspiring introduction to many worldviews, even within the Christian faith. Michael Hamilton: Can people still take part in the web-based project? I assume this is so; please give details for anyone who may possibly be interested. I would love the opportunity to make contact with many more Christian musicians who are passionate about music and spirituality. Every month I publish online exclusive interviews with musicians worldwide, and freely promote their amazing music with an artist feature and brief biography. I’d welcome Christian contributions to share their personal thoughts towards the Online Edition of this epic project. All they need to do is type 200 words answering one interview question: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” Answers can be e-mailed to me at Xtreme Music: editor at xtrememusic dot org |
INTERVIEW BY KEN EAKINS |
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KEN EAKINS is the editor and producer of Right Where You Are Sitting Now, the UK’s largest Alternative culture website, with over 40,000 unique visitors a week, over 600,000 downloads of both it’s chat and music shows, and soon will be the largest provider of underground literature and video on the web. Website: www.sittingnow.co.uk Interview: July 10th 2010 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Ken Eakins: Tell us the story behind Xtreme Music first, what force sent you down the path of the avant garde? Xtreme Music began as a radio show freely promoting avant-garde, creative, and experimental music. At this point, your readers may be interested in the original mission statement and purpose:”On the Xtreme Music radio show we broadcast, discuss, and promote Xtreme Music, performed by highly talented, innovative, and creative musicians. We encourage a radio-friendly entrance for new listeners to explore the fascinating and intriguing world of unconventional music. In addition, we provide hardcore fans with band specials, quality live performances, rare material, and up-to-date news. This show is for anyone with an open-mind and a desire to discover for themselves the true nature of Xtreme Music”. Xtreme Music became an award-winning portfolio of independent radio programming between 2001 and 2005. I hosted shows on both sides of the Atlantic, and achieved a worldwide listenership over a four year broadcasting career. It was my way of exploring experimental music, mainly focusing on the prolific musical works of Mike Patton, Trey Spruance, and John Zorn.Mr. Bungle was the first band to send me downthe path of the avant-garde. Their music opened my world to Xtreme Music, embracing the beauty and diversity of creative music throughout the world. Avant-garde music birthed my own self-discovery of unconventional music. It also opened the door for me to connect with many like-minded music fans around the world, and experience some of the greatest live performances at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and The Tonic in New York.The website for Xtreme Music then evolved into a music journalism portfolio when I started producing radio interviews in San Francisco, Toronto, and New York between 2003 and 2004. I started interviewing many of the musicians I admire and appreciate, and it was such a pleasure to connect with them in person, especially after several years of passionately promoting their music on the airwaves and online. Here is a exclusive sneak peak at the original features: www.xtrememusic.org/features.html During that time I produced artist features for Asva, Daiquiri, Don Salsa, Düreforsög, Eftus Spectun, El Douje, Elysian Fields, Fake No More, God Of Shamisen, Good For Cows, Gymnastic Decomposition, Hemophiliac, Herbie Hancock, Loop!Station, Matmos, Mike Patton Vs. Rahzel, Moe!Kestra!, Prelapse, Richard Cheese, Scott Hull, Sir Millard Mulch, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, The Bleeder Group, The Demix, The Locust, Tipsy, Trevor Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant, Tub Ring, and William Winant. I also arranged interviews with Dave Murray, David Slusser, Kaada, Neil Hamburger, and members of Estradasphere, Farmers Market, Hella, KMFDM, Mondo Generator, Mr. Bungle, Numbers, Secret Chiefs 3, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Scallions, and Two Foot Yard, among many others.Xtreme Music then developed into a micro-label to release collaborative projects with Xtreme Music fans worldwide. These included two significant endeavors, a Fantômastique remix CD and Innominat short-film DVD: Fantômastique: a remix album produced by Fantômas fans for Fantômas fans. An online competition brought together this collection of remixes submitted by various contributors worldwide. Every remixer received a limited edition Fantômastique CD as a complementary free gift for their remix time and production efforts. Innominat: an exceptional animation short that explores the thought-provoking philosophy of existentialism in an ominous world. This monochrome production combined an extremely clever musical montage from Type O Negative and Fantômas. Innominat celebrated it’s world premier during the short film showcase at IFCT 2005, the International Festival of Cinema and Technology. Xtreme Music also produced Special Features for website visitors. These were namely “Mike Patton Parodies” with lyrics by Cosmic Jester, “Music Recommendations” selected by Mike Patton, “Naked City Ephemera” musician testimonials, “Xtreme Cover Songs” of mutated musical mayhem, and the “Exotica History Tour” as an essential guide to Exotica music in Waikiki, Hawaii. Under the promotional efforts of Xtreme Music, I also freely released a promotional single called “Let Me Be Your Sunlight” by Sarah Marie and Jordan Puleston, a soulfully beautiful love song written for Nova The Musical. This song was perhaps one of the transition points in my life where I started to experience that there was more to music than meets the ear. Xtreme Music has been a broadcasted radio show, music journalism portfolio, micro record label, and promotional entity championing avant-garde, creative, and experimental music. It continues to be an amazing journey as Xtreme Music branches into book publishing for my latest project exploring “The Spiritual Significance of Music“. Ken Eakins: I remember you giving me a CD with a radio show that you used to host, can you see yourself returning to the airwaves? Xtreme Music’s radio productions were broadcast between 2001 and 2005. I’m extremely grateful because it provided me with an introduction to a career in radio broadcasting. Xtreme Music also laid the foundations for developing my interview portfolio exploring music. As much as I’d love to return to the airwaves, my main focus for the near future is on my publication projects. To keep my finger on the avant-garde music pulse, I’ll need to keep connected to Right Where You Are Sitting Now. Ken Eakins: When did you get the idea to start mixing your spiritual beliefs, and your eclectic music tastes? The idea was birthed during March 2006 when I returned from University of the Nations in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. I wanted to develop a project that united my passions for music and spirituality, and would become a way for others to explore their faith and values. I was inspired by the possibility for people to explore music and spirituality, and had a desire to connect with many musicians and writers that I admire. An interview portfolio provided a perfect platform for me to connect with hundreds of music-makers to consider their thoughts on the spiritual significance of music. My eclectic music tastes was an encouragement to begin reconnecting with many avant-garde, creative, and experimental music composers. I began with almost every musician I had previously had contact with through my Xtreme Music radio productions and journalism portfolio. I then branched further into the field of various musical styles from around the world. It was wonderful to open these interviews up to musicians that were passionate about the theme, and also contact musicians that I had only recently been introduced to. I then found that so many people loved this project, that they started recommended more musicians to contact, and referring me to their friends in the music industry. The project quickly snowballed into an epic exploration of over 1000 exclusive interviews with over 1000 unique perspectives from many of the world’s most visionary musicians and writers. The idea for uniting spiritual beliefs and music tastes was a natural progression for me to develop a new positioning statement for Xtreme Music: where Music meets Spirituality. Ken Eakins: Is this where the idea for a book formed? Yes, the project was always going to grow into a publication. After 1000 interviews, I felt that this project needed a creative outlet to become a blessing to others. I wanted the interviews to no longer be a private exploration for myself, but to become a public exploration for other music-makers and music-lovers to explore music and spirituality. The new website started to take shape during January 2009 when I first freely published online the entire portfolio of interviews, and started promoting it worldwide. Within 4 days I had over 180,000 website hits and my web server ended up crashing due to bandwidth overload. This happened due to thousands of people downloading the PDF layout previews. I promptly switched web servers and now have unlimited bandwidth. Throughout the following months I monitored which were the most popular interviews, and which interviews seemed to get the greatest exposure. For the book it was a difficult selection process to finalize the 102 contributors to be included in the First Edition for print. I wanted to select well-known contributors, as well as showcasing unknown contributors that I believed brought a unique voice to the project, and deserved to be in the spotlight for the first book. It was a pleasure to connect with so many contributors who had truly resonated with this project, and wanted to promote it to their online communities and social networks via Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Ken Eakins: How did you get people to contribute to the project? As much as I’d love to have met every musician face-to-face, it was just not possible for an epic project of this scale and magnitude. Many musicians have commitments on tour, are in and out of recording studios, and working on promoting their next album. My greatest opportunity to connect with them was by arranging e-mail interviews. As this is a text-based project, it meant that the musician could find time within their schedule to consider their personal thoughts on the one interview question: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?“ Contributors to the project could then articulate themselves in the exact words that they felt accurately represent their own beliefs. It also meant that I could produce a brief biography, editorial edition, and layout preview ready for their approval before publishing online. 95% of the project was conducted via e-mail interviews, and the additional 5% either face-to-face or via phone interviews. This was by far the most efficient and rewarding way of producing the book, project, and website exploring music and spirituality. Ken Eakins: Now I know that you’re a deeply spiritual person, and that you lean towards the side of Christianity; did you ever find it hard editing peoples writings that maybe grated with your own beliefs? I have not always been a deeply spiritual person. For over twenty years I would have been familiar with the Christian faith, but had chosen to reject it. I would have considered myself an atheist. My conversion to Christianity occurred during December 2004. There were several events that aligned themselves to a place where I literally experienced a divine revelation of God’s love that totally transformed my life forever. That’s when I truly resonated with the Christian message of faith, hope, and love. It was through this personal transformation that I started to consider God’s amazing grace and loving forgiveness that ultimately pointed me to Jesus Christ. Although my personal spiritual beliefs resonate with the Christian faith, I am passionate about learning from other people’s beliefs, and discovering their faith and values in music and spirituality. Belief is a side of humanity that fascinates me. I’m also intrigued by mankind’s relationship to the divine and the infinite. For me, Christianity is not a religion, it’s a faith-framework for a relationship with God, people, and the world in which we live. But let’s take this opportunity to talk about the Occult, as this is a rare moment for us to connect on the Occult themes throughout this project. I’m sure many radio show listeners and online readers of Right Where You Are Sitting Now may be interested in this important part of the book, project, and website. So I’d love to point people to the Metal Media Release, which profiles many Metal musicians: www.xtrememusic.org/media/media_metal.pdf I wanted to select one musical genre that strongly resonates with spiritual beliefs. I found this in Metal music, and the interviews featured in the Metal Edition are some of the most powerful and profound of all the editions. Here is a brief intro to the Metal Edition, freely available here: www.xtrememusic.org/metal.html METAL EDITION provides an exciting exploration of how music powerfully impacts spirituality, and why spirituality influences music. Readers will discover sincere expressions of spiritual beliefs from the world of metal music. This portfolio includes an eclectic mix of musicians playing many forms of metal music; ambient metal, avant-garde death-metal, black metal, brutal metal, death metal, doom metal, experimental metal, funeral-doom, gothic metal, grindcore, heavy metal, industrial metal, melodic metal, power metal, progressive metal, psychedelic metal, Satanic metal, sludge metal, speed metal, symphonic metal, technical metal, thrash metal, and includes musicians from alternative-rock, avant-rock, and hardcore-punk bands. Metal Edition provides readers with an important introduction to metal music’s affinity with demonology, divination, magic, mysticism, Satanism, spiritualism, the occult, and witchcraft. Some of the greatest revelations about music and the Occult have come from interviews with members of black metal and death metal bands. Here are some of my favourites: “Music can open doors within the listener’s psyche and lead them to a journey into mental and spiritual realms.“ – Juhani Jokisalo, guitarist, bassist, and vocalist in Apocryphal Voice “Music: my drug, my pain, my relief, and sometimes my mood. How could music not be more spiritual?… Living without music is missing out a meaning of our existence.“ – Sathor, guitarist in Ars Macabra “Music is a place of refuge from the pressures of everyday life… Music is where I find my spirituality, in the mystery, and lack of rationality in the creative process.“ – Forn, vocalist and instruments in Black Crucifixion “Music is magic. Through the manipulation of the rules of sacred geometry, music builds a chronology (rhythm) of frequencies (melodies) …“ – Saint Vincent, guitarist and vocalist in Blacklodge “Sometimes I have a strange feeling that Crest Of Darkness is living its own life, and I am loosing the control, but I am not afraid of this dark spirit! I am worshipping it!“ – Ingar Amlien, bassist and vocalist in Crest Of Darkness “Music is a powerful tongue. If the listeners are capable of understanding this language it will directly appeal to the soul.“ – Velnias, guitarist in Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult “Few things in the modern world can rival the significance of music.“ – Rigel Walshe, bassist and vocalist in Dawn Of Azazel “Music transports emotions, carries feelings on a higher level, and improves human perceptions.“ – Nornagest, guitarist and vocalist in Enthroned “We will show a different way, a spiritual way into another sphere of existence.“ – A. Krieg, vocalist in Eternity “Our music is magic in practice.“ – Infernus, bassist, drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in Gorgoroth From the beginning of this project, I never wanted religion to get in the way or exploring truth. I get a major buzz from interviewing musicians with different beliefs. Each contributor has a unique voice that adds value to this project. It was a real pleasure for me to read their perspectives, consider their opinion and discover their truth, and then learn from them. I never really found it hard to edit people’s writings that may have a different perspective than my own beliefs. The editorial process is relatively easy because I want to remain true to the original intention and important viewpoints from every contributor. Many of the musician interviews will resonate with key themes that start to surface throughout their responses. There are over 70 reoccurring themes, and during my Author Talks I reveal the top 7 themes that seem to resonate with music-makers and music-lovers. Throughout the 1000 interviews, I have learnt so many important points that I’ve applied to my own life and spiritual journey. After each interview, I review the response, and try to identify the core truth that the person is sharing. I then feature this as a”quotable quote” to include together with their brief biography and layout preview. These are then freely published online every month, and I save a few gems for future editions. My book series exploring “The Spiritual Significance of Music” aims to embrace the entire spectrum of musical styles, and also covers a diverse range of spiritual beliefs and worldviews. This project exploring music and spirituality has also opened my soul to an increased depth of spiritual experiences with music. I have learnt something new from every interview, and my hope is that others may discover new perspectives as well. This has taught me a lot about the importance of developing a dialogue, pursuing your passions, and enjoying the journey. Ken Eakins: The books a great achievement, where are you going next? Thank you, this book has achieved success with it’s ability to resonate with the hearts and minds of it’s readers. I’m really excited that “The Spiritual Significance of Music” provides many music-makers with a source of inspiration. I hope the concepts and themes captured in this book will be a blessing to all who read its words. There are definitely some revelation moments throughout the book, and I greatly appreciate every contributor that have shared their thoughts on music and spirituality. Each exclusive interview is featured in the book for the reason that I believe they bring a unique perspective to the themes discussed, and every response shares an important truth. Next on the event horizon is a book series. I anticipate producing at least two more books in the series exploring “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. I’ve been greatly influenced and inspired by John Zorn’s “Arcana: Musicians On Music” book series, and I love the fact that he allows every contributor to share their authentic voice. I’m an avid fan of his book series, and I love the depth each of the musicians brings to making, experiencing, and thinking about music. I’ve contacted almost every musician that has contributed to John Zorn’s book series, and I anticipate featuring some of these incredible interviews within future editions of my books. For example, some cross-over contributors from the avant-garde, creative, and experimental music scenes include Christopher Adler, Mick Barr, Theo Bleckmann, Anthony Coleman, Noah Creshevsky, Marilyn Crispell, Dave Douglas, Trevor Dunn, Scott Johnson, Butch Morris, and Z’ev. Almost all of these contributors have exclusive interviews that are freely available to download in the World Edition of “The Spiritual Significance of Music“: www.xtrememusic.org/world.html |
INTERVIEW BY EMILY GOWOR |
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EMILY GOWOR is an author, speaker, and producer. Website: www.emilygowor.com Interview: June 30th 2010 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Emily Gowor: List out below what your background professionally / vocationally has been. Bullet-point is fine. XTREME MUSIC: DIRECTOR & FOUNDER (2001 – 2010)MARKETING MANAGER (2001 – 2006) – Publishes online content as Editor for the music webzine www.XtremeMusic.org – Produced a portfolio of radio shows over a four year broadcasting career – Applied degree knowledge to a variety of integrated marketing communications – Specialized marketing modules at degree level including strategic marketingMEDIA DIRECTOR (2003 – 2005): – Supervised music promotion, distribution, reviewing, and formed radio charts – Managed, maintained, and updated music library at the UK’s Xtreme Radio 1431MW – Acquired extensive musical knowledge of various genres at Canada’s CHSR 97.9FM – Outgoing, friendly, and motivated personality to pursue and achieve targets MUSIC MARKETING: – Completed internship programs with Devotion Records and Asphodel Ltd, U.S.A – Produced music journalism portfolio in San Francisco, New York, and Toronto – Organized exclusive interviews, selected discographies, and live reviews – Published these collective works online and promoted record label activities DISC JOCKEY: – Experienced DJ, producer, promoter, and web site designer for Xtreme Music – Performed at various clubs, bars, and live venues throughout the U.K. Emily Gowor: Where did your professional career start and in what field? My professional career started in broadcasting here in Auckland, New Zealand. I continue to work with people who are passionate about delivering messages to a massive nationwide audience. My work in broadcasting is about developing a business brand and delivering positive messages to people around New Zealand. I love my day job as an Advertising Account Manager, and enjoy pursuing my passions in music and spirituality. I love working in broadcasting because it is such a dynamic industry. It also gives me the opportunity to meet with many influential business owners and decision makers. I serve businesses, ministries, and not-for-profits with quantifiable results that show a significant return on investment. Emily Gowor: Were there any critical moments that have led you to do what you do today? Sure, there was a moment at university where someone at the Fresher’s Fair asked me: “Would you like your own radio show?” That was a life-changing moment because just by saying “Yes” it was my introduction to the wonderful world of broadcasting. Emily Gowor: Do you have any degrees? If so, what are they? Yes, I have a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in American Business Studies (2001 – 2005) from the University of Wales, Swansea and the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton in Canada. I also graduated from Youth With A Mission’s Discipleship Training School (2005 – 2006) with the University of the Nations in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Both of these educational opportunities have provided me with the knowledge and skills to pursue my passions for inspiring and serving others. Emily Gowor: What fields or areas of life (financial, business, spiritual, relationships, etc) have you specialised in, in either assisting yourself or others? The areas of life I am assisting myself and others in would be relationships and spirituality. For me, relationships are central to life itself, and spirituality is a framework for faith and values. Emily Gowor: Have you created any models, tools, products, or programs that have had a far-reaching effect on either your own country or the world? Tell me about them: I am looking forward to developing my Author Talks into dynamic presentations that inspire music-makers and music-lovers throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the rest of the world. Emily Gowor: What impact has this/have these had? As they say in the broadcasting business; “Stay tuned for details!” Emily Gowor: What would you say are your biggest achievements in your field? One of my biggest achievements is developing an online interview portfolio with over 1000 of the world’s most visionary musicians and writers. It continues to be a pleasure to connect with these incredibly talented people and interview them on their beliefs about music and spirituality. The portfolio continues to grow with 10 new and exclusive interviews published online every month. I believe this is the world’s largest interview portfolio exploring music and spirituality. It is a FREE and powerful resource for music-makers and music-lovers exploring spirituality. These insightful interviews aim to answer one question: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” Interviews are available here in Four Editions: AUTHORS EDITION is an international collection of interviews with many of the world’s leading authorities on music and spirituality. CHRISTIAN EDITION reflects the encouraging ideas, inspirational thoughts, and uplifting words from Christian musicians. METAL EDITION provides an exciting exploration of how music powerfully impacts spirituality, and why spirituality influences music. WORLD EDITION provides readers with a wonderfully holistic approach to experiencing world music. Emily Gowor: Have you won any awards for your achievements, contribution or ability to influence others? Which ones? At Swansea University’s Media Centre Awards 2003, my radio show Xtreme Music won “Best Music Based Show”. At UNB’s CHSR Barry Awards 2004, Xtreme Music won “Best Open Format Show”. At the Student Media Awards 2005, Xtreme Music won “Best Specialist Music Show” and an “Outstanding Contribution” award signifying four faithful years to Xtreme Radio. These were awarded for my Xtreme Music radio shows that I hosted on both sides of the Atlantic, and developed a worldwide listenership over a 4 year broadcasting schedule. I also recently won an Enthusiasm For Life Award!! Emily Gowor: Have you been nominated for any awards for your achievements, contribution or ability to influence others? Which ones? At Swansea University’s Media Centre Awards 2003, my radio show Xtreme Music was nominated for “Best Show” and “Best Presenter”. At UNB’s CHSR Barry Awards 2004, Xtreme Music was nominated for “Favourite Show”. I’m awaiting news about my book being nominated for awards in the near future. Emily Gowor: Who, if anyone, has inspired or moved you most to achieve what you have? Why? Mike Patton has inspired me to discover the diversity of music. Trey Spruance has inspired me to search the varieties of spirituality. John Zorn has inspired me to explore the creativity of collaboration. Each of these highly-prolific musicians and composers continue to be a massive influence on my life as I find their music inspires my soul. I would highly recommend any music-lover to listen to music from Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Masada, and Naked City. I’m sure many people are inspired by allowing the music they love to be a positive influence in their life. Emily Gowor: Which books (if any) have you written and released? How many? Include any that you are currently writing. The First Edition of my new book series explores “The Spiritual Significance of Music” (2009) and is available from Xtreme Music [www.xtrememusic.org]. I anticipate publishing a book series exploring this theme, showcasing some of the world’s most inspiring insights into music and spirituality. Emily Gowor: What are the core products that your company/you promote (if any)? Did you create them? My company Xtreme Music is where Music meets Spirituality. I am passionate about promoting books that explore Music and Spirituality. Xtreme Music exclusively sells my book series “The Spiritual Significance of Music”, and I love connecting with musicians and writers who are passionate about this book, project, and website. Emily Gowor: What is your mission through what you do? My mission is to inspire people in their faith and values. I achieve this by developing a dialogue with people about music and spirituality. This mission definitely feels like “a calling” since discovering that this project is a natural way for me to pursue my passions in life. I get the feeling that so many experiences in my life have clearly been pointing me in this positive direction. I love that my book, project, and website are a powerful source of encouragement, inspiration, and support for those exploring music and spirituality. My hope is that this dialogue continues to build and bridge to strengthen people in their faith and values. Emily Gowor: What inspires you most about what you do? I am inspired by life and music. I love to connect with people, and am energized by people’s experiences. I am also inspired by every new response I receive for my interview project. I learn something new from each person that shares their intimate thoughts on music and spirituality. It is a wonderful blessing to walk through life with a desire to learn from others. My appreciation for music seems to expand as I’m continually introduced to new musicians. I greatly admire and appreciate every musician that contributes to my project exploring music and spirituality. I find these connections to be a great source of inspiration in my life. Emily Gowor: What difference do you intend to make, or what legacy do you intend to leave on the planet as a result of your presence in the world? I’m sure we all want to leave our mark as a result of our presence in the world. Perhaps it is part of our desire and destiny to make a significant difference. I hope my life and work has an eternal impact and powerful influence on the people I connect with. Without writing my own obituary, I’d like to think my life is my legacy. My greatest desire is for the world to become a global village where we all embrace life and music by cherishing the community around us and being a blessing to others. The greatest legacy I could leave is to love others and serve others. Emily Gowor: What is your vision for the future? What is next for you? Next in the near future is a book series exploring music and spirituality. I’m also working on a side-project called SongStories that seeks to capture the inspirational stories behind soulful songs. Our future is always what we make of it, so I hope to make it a good one. I’d love to continue inspiring others in their faith and values, and continue exploring music and spirituality. |
INTERVIEW BY ALICIA HAMILTON |
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ALICIA HAMILTON is the Online Editor for MiNDFOOD Magazine. Website: www.mindfood.comInterview: November 27th 2009 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Alicia Hamilton: If you could start by providing me with a general statement of your own about the interconnectedness of music and spirituality. Music and Spirituality are invisible forces that have a profound influence in our daily lives. The dynamic relationship between music and spirituality has a powerful relevance to our music-minded generation. My new book is an exclusive collection of one question interviews with over one-hundred of the world’s leading musicians and writers. That one question is: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?“ Alicia Hamilton: Next, what are your favourite three quotes from the book? With literally thousands of quotes to choose from, this is by far the “Music has its place among the hearts of all people.“ – Paul Speckmann, bassist and vocalist in Master “Music transcends all languages and barriers and is the most beautiful communicative skill one can have.“ – Ravi Shankar, composer and sitarist “Music has always been connected with spirituality…Music is a direct extension of someone’s emotional and spiritual outlet.“ – Timothy McTague, guitarist in Underøath Alicia Hamilton: How long did the book take to compile? The entire project has taken over four years to compile, but the book itself was birthed over nine months from the mother-site: www.musicandspirituality.com – I continue to learn something new every day from this project, and am eternally grateful for this opportunity to share “The Spiritual Significance of Music” with the world. I interviewed over 1000 people over the four years, and continue to interview about 20 musicians every month. Compiling this book has never felt like work. It’s always been a pleasure to pursue my passion for Music and Spirituality. I’m fascinated by what people believe, and what they create. Our beliefs are central to everything we think, say, and do in life, and music’s greatest asset is to provide the soundtrack for living. Alicia Hamilton: Is it only musicians that you’ve interviewed? With over 1000 people interviewed for this project, the vast majority are also musicians. However, I did discover a diverse wealth of insights from many of established authors who have written about music and spirituality. This includes an international collection of interviews with many of the world’s leading authorities on music and spirituality. The “Authors Edition” freely available online [www.musicandspirituality.com/authors.html] is an anthology that includes the collective consciousness of educated and enlightened authors who provide intellectual and insightful perspectives from their explorations of music and spirituality. This creates a vibrant collage of people including academics, composers, conductors, conference speakers, educators, ethnomusicologists, evangelists, historians, lecturers, medical doctors, meditation teachers, mediums, ministry directors, music journalists, music magazine editors, music producers, music therapists, musicians, mystics, percussionists, philosophers, poets, professors, psychics, psychologists, psychotherapists, scholars, scientists, singer-songwriters, sociologists, sound engineers, sound healers, spiritual doctors, spiritual leaders, spiritualists, teachers, theologians, vocalists, and workshop leaders. Although the “Authors Edition” is not yet available as a book, it does provide online readers with an intricate tapestry of thoughts on sound and spirituality. Alicia Hamilton: What was the general response from musicians/agents when you broached the topic? The worldwide response to this project has been positively overwhelming. It’s been a real blessing to see thousands of people around the world embracing this exploration of music and spirituality. When I published the free portfolio online in January 2009, I received over 180,000 web hits within the first few days, resulting in my website crashing due to overloaded bandwidth usage. I quickly changed web servers, and the website has continued to achieve over 100,000 web hits per month. Feedback from musicians, managers, media, and press has been phenomenal. I’ve compiled feedback from the contributors here: www.musicandspirituality.com/feedback.html Alicia Hamilton: What inspired you to create the book? I’ve always been passionate about music. My inspiration to create this book starting by thinking what if there is more to music than meets the ear. Throughout extensive research and travels throughout the world, I started to realize that every culture, community, and creed has embraced “The Spiritual Significance of Music“. I saw many people from various nations, and explored significant places of worship around the world. I am continually inspired by people, the true source of inspiration behind this book, and am blessed by the music and musicians that have shaped the soul of this project. Their wonderful words have provided me with soul-food for thought, that I hope will encourage and inspire many readers around the world. Alicia Hamilton: What musician best demonstrates the connection between spirituality and music? Prem Joshua is one of a thousand musicians that I believe best demonstrates the connection between spirituality and music. I love the fact that his faith is prominent in the music he creates. For example, “Funky Guru” is a spiritually potent song that is beautifully crafted because it includes memorable lyrics, and a wonderful expression of spirituality through music. I especially love his response in “The Spiritual Significance of Music“: “Music is spirituality. Music becomes sacred if you practice or perform with dedication, devotion, and love.“ – Prem Joshua, flautist, sitarist, and vocalist Alicia Hamilton: What is your favourite song? Does it have a link to spirituality? One of my favourite songs is Faith No More’s “Ashes To Ashes“. It doesn’t necessarily have a spiritual link within the lyrics, but it has always had a profound effect on me. I remember the first time I ever heard Faith No More perform live in May 1997. It was on Channel 4’s T.F.I. Friday in the United Kingdom, hosted by British DJ Chris Evans, and I was the first time I heard Mike Patton’s incredible vocal range. It instantly captivated my attention, and Faith No More’s “Ashes To Ashes” truly changed my life. The first soundtrack that I resonated with was Vangelis’ “1492: Conquest Of Paradise”. Alicia Hamilton: What is your musical background? Spiritual background? My musical background involves working in the radio broadcasting and television media industry, and so my life is surrounded by music. I also work as a DJ, Producer, and Managing Editor for the website: www.musicandspirituality.com, and as Director and Founder of Xtreme Music, where Music meets Spirituality, I am constantly exposed to spiritual beliefs that are different to my own. I enjoy broadening my horizons, and love learning what other people believe. For me, “Spirituality” is a framework for faith and values. My personal faith and spiritual background would resonate in close harmony with Christianity. As a Christian, I’ve found it extremely rewarding to develop a dialogue with many people who have a faith-framework radically different to my own. It is always a pleasure to hear what other people believe, and I believe our lives can be filled by much joy, peace, and love by building a bridge between music and spirituality. If only we all listened to one another more closely, without judgement, prejudice, or pride, we may just hold within our grasp the ability to truly hear what Louis Armstrong was singing about in “What A Wonderful World“.
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INTERVIEW BY ANDREW KILLICK |
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ANDREW KILLICK is the Publishing Manager of Castle Publishing. Interview: November 12th 2009 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Andrew Killick: Your website www.musicandspirituality.com has grown into an impressive resource. Tell us how this project started. Thank you. The project began in March 2006 when I returned to New Zealand from Youth With A Mission at The University of the Nations in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. I was filled with a passionate desire to build a bridge between music culture and the Gospel. I started interviewing many musicians I admire and appreciate, and began collecting a series of intriguing interviews that developed into this epic project. Since then I’ve interviewed over 1000 people on their believes about “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. On January 1st 2009, I freely published everything online as PDF downloadable interviews, when after three days the website crashed with overloaded bandwidth usage. With over 180,000 website hits in a few days, it became clear to me that many people who love music also have a spiritual hunger to learn more about the dynamic relationship between music and spirituality. Since then over twenty new and exclusive interviews were being published monthly, and almost daily I received e-mails from people requesting a printed book. “The Spiritual Significance of Music” was a natural birth taking nine months from the mothersite: www.musicandspirituality.com Andrew Killick: What can people expect to find on the website and in your new book? Readers of “The Spiritual Significance of Music” can expect to find a book and website that embraces the diversity of music and spirituality. Like music, the book does not discriminate against spiritual background or religious beliefs, it’s just happy to have your attention. It will be challenging and controversial to many Christian readers. But how boring would it be if we all agreed? Imagine printing a book called “The Spiritual Significance of Music”, and only publishing the Christian Edition of the interviews. You would end up having a biased book that was extremely myopic in its scope, and dangerously unrepresentative. I couldn’t imagine a more pointless project than to feed a Christian marketplace with responses that all agreed with one-another, and essentially was “preaching to the choir”. Just as well from my experience no two Christians identically agree on the relationship between music and spirituality. That’s what makes this book so dynamic in it’s content and powerful in it’s message. We desperately need to be introduced to worldviews different from our own, in order to know the culture, know the Gospel, then translate. Some Christians may keep their faith in ivory towers, yet it is time we honored the Great Commission, and participate in compelling missions that engage the world around us with the Gospel. Andrew Killick: Did you meet most of the interviewees face to face? Which interviews particularly stand out in your mind and why? As much as I’d love to meet most of the interviewees face to face, the reality is that studio recordings, tour schedules, and live performances take priority in their music career. In my experience, I’ve found asking questions on music and spirituality to be a deeply personal connection that is best left to e-mail correspondence. Then the interviewee can accurately articulate the response they want to share with the world. Imagine asking “what do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” after an incredible concert at a noisy live venue, and then trying to record a response! Logistically, because this book is a text-based project, e-mails and letters were the best method of communication with all the authors and musicians. It allowed for more efficient and productive interviews. The interviews that particularly stand out in my mind are the ones I’ve shared with members of Dawn Of Azazel, Faith No More, Guns N’ Roses, and The Locust because they are highly supportive of this project, and have shared remarkable insights in their responses. Andrew Killick: Throughout this project what would be the number one thing you have personally learnt about music and spirituality? The number one thing I have personally learnt about music and spirituality is that there is more to music than meets the ear. I’ve learnt something new from every interview. Each response has illuminated a unique voice sharing an intimate view of what they believe, and what they create. Their wonderful words are extremely personal, and I deeply cherish, honour, and respect each of the musicians and writers that have contributed to this epic anthology. God so loved the world that He blessed it with a way of communicating that speaks directly to the spirit. My hope is that every reader will also learn something new from every interview. Andrew Killick: For you as a Christian, what’s it like interviewing a musician whose views on spirituality are not Christian? I feel absolute peace and pleasure when I interview musicians whose views on spirituality are not Christian. It reminds me of the famous quotation from the film “Chariots Of Fire” when Eric Liddel, famous olympian and missionary said, “I feel God’s pleasure when I run”. This project has continually reminded me of God’s eternal grace, divine mercy, and abundant love. Andrew Killick: What would you say is the overall message of your book? The overall message of my book is that “we are the spiritual significance of music”. Music and Spirituality are universal languages with global appeal. Both have a direct influence and impact on the human spirit. I believe God has placed a spiritual seed within music that can point people back to Him. Andrew Killick: What sort of feedback have you had about the material found on the website and in the book? The feedback from this book has been positively overwhelming. Many people seem to resonate with the reoccurring themes that surface throughout the interviews in this book. I’ve also published online over 100 responses from this project, feel free to view here: www.musicandspirituality.com/feedback.html Andrew Killick: From a Christian perspective, what do you hope people will get from the book? I hope people will consider that “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is not exclusive to the Christian faith. From a Christian perspective, let’s not be misguided that we have the monopoly on the Truth behind music and spirituality. The Bible has much to say on this, but in all honesty I find it extremely difficult to theologize music. I’ve been blessed by the new perspectives included within this book, and my hope is that people will be challenged and inspired. Andrew Killick: Where to from here for you and this project? “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is the First Edition in a book series exploring music and spirituality. I probably have enough content for another ten books, but at this early stage, I’m taking one step at a time, and learning something new every day. My next project associated with the book will be a series of music compilations, published online, and freely available featuring “Song Stories” from some of the most visionary musicians throughout the world. Every song has a story, and this series will showcase songs by it’s makers, and the stories that inspired them. |
INTERVIEW BY BART ALFVOET |
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BART ALFVOET is a head editor for Zwaremetalen.com, the leading Dutch e-zine in Belgium and The Netherlands on the subject of Metal music. Zwaremetalen.com was founded in 2001 and is a platform for all forms of Metal, post-rock and even hard-rock. Combining newsfacts, reviews, interviews, festivals, and concert reports, Zwaremetalen.com attracts many users on the well-known forum, and even aired on the Belgium national TV channel VRT in a documantairy about Black Metal and the threat of NS Black Metal. Bart Alfvoet is alsoinvolved in the Flemish Metal-underground, labels, organisation, and the worldwide promotion of Metal music. Website: www.zwaremetalen.com Interview: May 29th 2009 Ketchikan, Alaska |
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Bart Alfvoet: Could you tell us a little about yourself? You surely are interested in music, but not specifically Metal. Is that correct? Thank you so much for this opportunity to share my answers to your interview questions. I am deeply honored and humbled by your request for an exclusive interview together. As promised, I’ll provide you with direct answers to all your questions about my life and work with “The Spiritual Significance of Music”.My name is Justin St. Vincent, editor of Xtreme Music, and the portfolio series exploring music and spirituality. I was born in Auckland, New Zealand, was brought up in Hong Kong, have been educated in the United Kingdom, and have greatly enjoyed traveling the globe,experiencing many different cultures, and exploring the faith-frameworks that continue to inspire people throughout the world. My passions would include music and spirituality, and also include people and travel.I love listening to Metal music, and have a great affinity and appreciation for all forms of music, especially avant-garde, experimental, and creative music. Music is a powerful force in my life, and one that I believe many people are impacted and influenced by in our daily lives. Exploring, searching,and discovering “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is a journey that always encourages me to enjoy life in abundance. My prayer is that we will all learn something new from exploring music and spirituality together. I hope that “The Spiritual Significance of Music” inspires your life and music with a greater passion than ever before. Bart Alfvoet: The “St.” in your name, is it “Saint”? A predestined link with spirituality perhaps? Justin St. Vincent is the English transliteration of my real name Justin Sanvicens. My surname Sanvicens is the equivilent to “Saint Vincent”, much like San Francisco can equate to “Saint Francis”. During the course of this project, I found “St. Vincent” to be more memorable and easier to pronounce, hence the needfor a name change. Naturally, “Justin Saint Vincent” also works well when producing a series of books on music and spirituality. Bart Alfvoet: In your work which gives Metal artists the possibility to explain the link between their Metal music and “spirituality”, each artist brings their vision about the subject in a short “story”. Is this a consciously-chosen style, also in your other works? I love the many musicians who have shared their story. Stories are so compelling, especially those that are true and based on real life experiences. This was not a consciously-chosen style, rather a synchronicity. The string of coincidences created a thread that forms the backbone of this publication project. It has been wonderful to read the stories from many musicians as they were each given a blank canvas to create their response exploring both music and spirituality. One response that instantly comes to mindwas written by Todd Smith, vocalist in Dog Fashion Disco. I found his response to be deeply moving, and shared a fresh perspective on the power of music. I highly recommend reading this response for yourself, and exploring the many stories that have surfaced throughout this project. I am indebted to the musicians who have openly shared their heart-warming and music-inspiring stories. This project has witnessed musicians write songs for this portfolio, Brent Chambers in the Christian Edition, and musicians dedicate thank you credits in their album liner notes, like Lauren Thomson, and seen people who been inspired by this project mail me promotional material as they wanted to share a greater insight into their music. Bart Alfvoet: A lot of artists talk about their music as being a vessel, a medium, making it possible to reach a higher level of communication. This “higher level” can be towards Gods, but also into subconsciousness. Is this reference towards the inner and outer beyond something you also noticed in other musical genres? All music resonates with the human spirit. This is an inner experience influenced by outer stimulus. The higher state of consciousness is a peak experience felt when we reach a “higher level of communication”. Music has a metaphysical on the inner spirit and physiological affect on the outer body. I’ve found myself experiencing ecstasy and receiving resonance during these profound moments of peak experience. It is when your body, mind, and spirit become one with the music. This is definitely a powerful experiencethat can be felt when creating and listening to music. Bart Alfvoet: “Spirituality” is a word much seen in religion and New Age-like convictions. Lots of black and death metal bands are opposed and/or hateful towards religion and New Age. Did that affect the vision on “spirituality” you think? “Spirituality” is a much more user-friendly word than “religion”. Religion requires rights and rituals based on cultural and traditional practices, offering a framework for beliefs, ethics, doctrine, ideology, morality, values, and virtues. I believe all of these principles are essential in the expression of human experience. Religion often offers a bridge to the beyond, a way of connecting to the Divine, pioneering a pathway to peace, and recognizing an innate desire for righteousness or being in right relationship with God. At this point I have to mention that many destructive atrocities have been performed in the name of religion. If the history of humanity is to teach anything to the next generation, it is mankind’s inhumanity to man, or a lack of love for one-another. I believe “spirituality” offers hope. For me, at the heart of spirituality is love. Spiritual love does not come naturally to the flesh, but can be sourced supernaturally. Sourcing spirituality is what connects the world’s sacred texts with wisdom that promotes principle and application. I believe the true way to peace is to develop a dialogue, an open-forum that embraces tolerance without prejudice, about themes cherished by all belief systems. Yes there will be conflicts and disagreements, however, by developing a dialogue on this issues we begin to open a forum for understanding. By understanding beliefs we can learn to combat ignorance, and allow intelligent discussion to pave the way for a greater appreciation of one-another. There are three beliefs that come to mind that have impacted every culture and creed: faith, music, and prayer. “The Spiritual Significance of Music” unites these three expressions together, and has inspired generations of music-makers and music-lover worldwide. Xtreme Music is where music meets spirituality, and where many musicians including black metal and death metal bands have the opportunity to express their thoughts on music and spirituality. I’ve found myself to be continually challenged and inspired by musicians that have freely contributed their inner-most thoughts towards “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. In my experience, I’ve discovered that the insights from Metal musicians have been some of the most profound in this portfolio series. New Age and religious thinking has come under direct opposition from a selection of black metal and death metal musicians, however, it has been a tremendous blessing to read their wonderful words about spirituality. Spirituality offers a framework for their faith and values, and I especially love reading responses that also challenge my thinking, and provide soul-stirring and though-provoking insights into music and spirituality. Reasons why I wanted to focus on a Metal Edition is to provide readers with an important introduction to metal music’s affinity with demonology, divination, magic, mysticism, Satanism, spiritualism, the occult, and witchcraft. Metal Edition has many incredible insights that provide the project with a powerful contrast to the Christian Edition. Bart Alfvoet: Did the results of your questionnaire surprise you in any way, or were the statements as you expected them? I am constantly overwhelmed by the remarkable responses I receive to these interviews. Every month I receive answers that astound and surprise me, with the most positive results. After I had produced over five-hundred interviews, and had received several publishing offers, I decided to publish the entire project online and make it freely available via Xtreme Music. Throughout the interview process I started to notice many reoccurring themes that continued to surface from the musicians’ responses. Many musicians were also intrigued to understand my perspective and philosophy behind “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. To honor their request, I wrote a Prelude to give an overview of the project, and provide music-makers and music-lovers with an introduction to this epic portfolio of interviews. After three-years of digesting the various interviews, I wrote an Encore to encapsulate a summary of reoccurring themes in “The Spiritual Significance of Music”: Pursuing Passion, Initiating Intention, Cultivating Community, Touching Transcendence, Underscoring Unity, Receiving Resonance, Experiencing Ecstasy, and Sourcing Spirituality. After Encore was published online, I received a wave of e-mails from people that had resonated with these thoughts. I was deeply honored by these e-mails, and it continues to be encouraging to receive responses from musicians who have been truly inspired by this project. Bart Alfvoet: Were there bands who explicitly refused to cooperate? Yes, a small minority of bands and musicians have explicitly refused to participate in this project. Some for logistical reasons like studio and touring schedules that are demanding of their time, however, some refuse for more personal reasons. Some musicians find the exploration of music and spirituality too overwhelming and refuse to express their inner-most feelings on such a lofty topic. Some are non-religious and even anti-religious and feel that spirituality is a mask for religious thinking. These responses are all fine with me, and I always thank them for their kind reply. Bart Alfvoet: Did you check the bands musically before questioning them? I specifically focus on bands that I feel may add a unique perspective towards “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. Especially for the Metal Edition, I targeted many bands that had spiritual references in their band names. For example, it’s no mistake that all these bands appear in a project exploring music and spirituality: Angelcorpse, Blackmass, Dawn Of Azazel, Eyehategod, Faith No More, Metal Church, Paths Of Possession, Resurrection, Soulburner, Tarot, and Witches Sabbath. Many musicians who have contributed to this project I greatly admire and appreciate. There are also those who are new to me, and this project has been a brilliant way of exploring new music by musicians who I previously had no contact with. In fact over 90% of this portfolio project feature interviews with musicians that I was previously unaware of, and became inspired by to contact after exploring their music and websites. Metal Edition provided plenty of fertile ground to discover emerging and established talent in various metal music scenes worldwide. I hope the Metal Edition provides readers with a broad perspective on music and spirituality, by including interviews with musicians of black metal, death metal, doom metal, gothic metal, heavy metal, industrial metal, progressive metal, Satanic metal, and includes musicians from alternative-rock, avant-rock, and hardcore-punk bands. My objective for this project is to produce the world’s largest portfolio on music and spirituality. This means that by December 2010 I’ll have published online over one-thousand interviews with musicians exploring their thoughts on music and spirituality. In real terms, that means I contact over one-hundred musicians every month, and publish twenty new and exclusive interviews online for each monthly edition of my publication project. I always learn something new from every response, and look forward to discovering a new thought encapsulated in the quotable quote featured together with the band’s brief biography and editorial edition. I am committed to completing this project by December 2010, and am extremely excited about the many interviews still to be released in this portfolio series. Bart Alfvoet: How long have you been working on this piece of literature? “The Spiritual Significance of Music” has been a labour-of-love and work-in-progress for over three years. Yet when I consider this project as a progressive piece of literature, I would have to admit that this exploration has been a life-long search for significance in music. The first time I registered the thought that “music is spiritual” was while watching Ebba Jahn’s “Rising Tones Cross” re-released on DVD during 2005 by FilmPals celebrating the documentary’s 20th Anniversary. Rising Tones Cross illuminated New York’s avant-jazz scene in the early-1980’s. This jazz film explored complex improvisation through live performances and exclusive interviews. I remember being pleasantly surprised by the insightful interviews with avant-garde musicians. Charles Gayle discussed the introspective considerations on musical influences, and Peter Kowald analysed personal performance versus the conceptual values of the avant-garde. An important conclusion from the film was that avant-garde music could be a platform for people’s consciousness. I was also equally perplexed and intrigued by the notion that music could be a spiritual expression. At first I was completely apposed to the idea that music could have any form of spiritual significance, yet could there be more to music than meets the ear? This thought buried deeper into my soul, and I started to consider the incredible times in my life where music had literally resonated with me and was also profoundly life-changing. I think back to bands like Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Naked City, and Secret Chiefs 3 who were all instrumental in shaping my admiration and appreciation for Xtreme Music. In 2001 I started producing weekly radio shows that would grow to reach a worldwide audience over a four-year broadcasting career. My original intention was to explore the world of unconventional music by exposing avant-garde, experimental, and creative music. In 2003 and 2004 I had the privilege of traveling to the United States, more specifically San Francisco and New York where I would meet and interview many my favourite musicians at their live concerts. I greatly enjoyed interviewing them and felt a strong sense that I was pursuing my passions and enjoying the journey. I believe these experiences have deeply impacted my life, and had laid the foundations for “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. |
INTERVIEW BY MARCUS MOBERG |
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MARCUS MOBERG is a doctoral dissertation student and researcher Interview: January 20th 2009 – September 10th 2009 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Marcus Moberg: First of all, I would like to ask you to shortly tell me something about yourself, just whatever comes to mind. I was born in New Zealand, and brought up in Hong Kong, truly the New York of Asia. I’ve also lived in England, Canada, San Francisco, Hawaii, China, and many places in between. From an early age, my exposure to various cultures and faith frameworks was a wonderful start to my admiration and appreciation of music and spirituality. I love to learn, love to listen, love to talk, love to travel, and most importantly, love to embrace life with others. Exploring music and spirituality is just the beginning of a greater adventure that I like to call “the soundtrack of life”. Marcus Moberg: Although general information can be found on the spiritual significance of music website, I was wondering if you could tell me something more about how the whole thing started? How did you get the idea for this? “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is a portfolio series that bears the fruit from extensive research. I have been truly blessed by the music-makers and music-lovers who have supported this unique project by freely providing their intimate thoughts of interviews on music and spirituality. Hundreds of interviews have been coordinated to encapsulate an extensive spectrum of spirituality. Throughout the progressive development of this portfolio, I have intentionally exposed myself to the world’s wonderful expressions of sound and spirit. I am fascinated by human behaviour being motivated by spiritual beliefs, and how music has a direct impact and influence on our acceptance and awareness of the world in which we live.This project has been stirring in my soul for many years. The journey began with Xtreme Music. Xtreme Music was a radio show I hosted throughout my university years. I always worked at radio stations in tandem together with my business degree. My passion for music seemed to grow exponentially the more I exposed myself to extreme expressions of music. I decided to specialize in avant-garde, experimental, and creative music scenes, especially those associated with three enigmatic music-makers: Mike Patton, Trey Spruance, and John Zorn. My radio shows would predominately feature their widely eclectic expressions of music through their associations, bands, groups, related artists, and side-projects. The independent format and programming elements worked well, hosted on both sides of the Atlantic, winning several awards, and achieving a worldwide listenership over a four-year broadcasting schedule.Xtreme Music laid the foundations for exploring “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. The idea for a book on music and spirituality was born during my arrival back home to Auckland, New Zealand after twenty-two years overseas. This occurred during March 2006, when I had just completed a Discipleship Training School (DTS) at University of the Nations with YWAM in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. During the DTS, I decided to “sacrifice” my love for Xtreme Music by not listening to the music I adored, and I started to pursue an intentional and sincere path exploring music and spirituality. Since then my love and passion for music has grown in great abundance, a true blessing. I began by goal-setting and project-planning to develop a compelling text exploring themes of music and spirituality. My original vision for the project was a printed publication that had three distinct areas of research: culture, community, and creed. After testing different directions with the project, the one area that consistently proved to be successful was the exploration of creed, or spirituality if you will. I slowly started to contact all the musicians I admire and appreciate asking for their thoughts on the spiritual significance of music. After many months of individual interviews with music-makers and music-lovers I started to see several reoccurring themes throughout their responses. Those threads of thought provided incredible insights that are encapsulated with the “Encore” of the project. My hope is that those seeking answers may continue to find food for thought in “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. Marcus Moberg: Thanks for those answers! You write that the themes of creed and spirituality consistently proved to be successful areas of further exploration in your interviews. In the following I would like to discuss this a bit further. How didyou decide to divide the project into the different editions that you have? I mean, could you tell me something more about why you chose these particular main themes for the editions? There are currently four editions freely available from the portfolio series “The Spiritual Significance of Music”: Authors Edition, Christian Edition, Metal Edition, and World Edition. These four titles provided homes for each of the interview responses as they were being received. A brief biography, editorial edition, and layout preview was then produced for every contributor. The motivation was two-fold: firstly, to facilitate a holistic exploration of music and spirituality, and secondly to provide an avenue of free promotional exposure for all artists and authors participating in this project. After the first hundred interview responses, I started to see the project as a series of portfolios on music and spirituality. Dividing the content into categories started to make sense as I was editing interviews tailor-made to different music markets. I began by contacting all the musicians I admire and appreciate, starting with musicians that I had already developed artist features and exclusive interviews with for Xtreme Music. Then I intentionally contacted authors who had written about the dynamic relationship between music and spirituality. They provided extremely valuable insights and an academic articulation based on their experience and research – this formed the framework for the Authors Edition. Christian Edition was a natural choice as I was already familiar with many musicians who would be suitable to share a variety of perspectives on faith and music. Metal Edition was designed to discover the darker realities associated with a multitude of styles affiliated with Metal music. I found the Metal Edition to be the most challenging and personally rewarding. It continues to be the most popular portfolio, with almost double the amount of readers than any other edition. World Edition was a way to encapsulate the many musicians who play an eclectic variety of musical styles, especially those I admire in jazz, rock, and world music. I anticipate producing an exclusive Special Edition as the project continues to expand exponentially with new interviews added every month. Marcus Moberg: What more can you tell me about the Christian edition’s relationship to the other editions? Christian Edition continues to be a well-read resource for many explorers and website visitors to www.XtremeMusic.org. Ideally, I would love to have several editions that reflect perspectives from many musicians representing the faith-frameworks of the world’s major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. Christian Edition was an important choice for me, as it provided food for thought from many denominational expressions of the Christian faith. It was fascinating to discover the discordance and yet inherent harmony between the interview responses, and then explore the reoccurring themes that started to surface from the musicians. The real benefit to this edition is that most Christian musicians would agree that there is more to music that meets the ear. For all editions I found that musicians were extremely thankful for the invitation to participate, and I was deeply honored to receive their intimate thoughts on music and spirituality. The secret blessing behind this portfolio project has been developing a dialogue with musicians who are passionate about both music and spirituality. Hopefully many more readers will continue to be blessed by reading the interviews within the Christian Edition, and also encouraged to explore the variety of different opinions in the other editions. Marcus Moberg: Does this mean that your work with “The Spiritual Significance of Music” should be understood as a project that will continue to develop well into the foreseeable future? Yes, “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is a progressive publication project. I anticipate the portfolio will continue to develop as many more musicians desire to share their thoughts. It is always a pleasure and privilege for me to receive responses from people who have discovered for themselves “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. When the project launched worldwide in January 2009, I continued to contact over one-hundred musicians who may also like to share their thoughts. In February 2009, I’ll be releasing an updated edition that features twenty-five new and exciting additions to the project. I am always humbled by the remarkable contributions that would love to participate in this unique project on music and spirituality. Marcus Moberg: You also write that some of the interviews conducted for the different editions can be seen as “tailor-made to different music markets”. What more can you tell me more specifically about what you like to offer readers of the different editions? I mean, as I understand you, there is a strong sense in which you wish to promote dialogue between different views on spirituality and religion? One of my aims is to help develop a worldwide dialogue on music and spirituality. Many printed publications already exist on the different views represented by philosophical and religious perspectives. These books successfully articulate the dicotomy of worldviews, whereas I wanted to produce a publication that was free from any religious agenda, provides people with the empowered ownership of their contribution, and inspires others to explore new thoughts about music and spirituality. Promoting a dialogue on these important topics is only the beginning. Sometimes philosophical and religious frameworks create a barrier to acceptance. Philosophy is intellectually-stimulating and mind-focused, whereas spirituality is exploratory and spirit-focused. I would love each edition to provide readers with greater insights from every author and musician. As an open and sincere discussion of faith and values, free from discrimination or prejudice, we are educated and enlightened. These dialogues begin to unlock our understanding of the important and iridescent expressions in life. Each edition was tailor-made to different music markets in order to attract a broad and diverse readership of the portfolio, in addition to being representational of a variety of music cultures. There are many more editions I would love to produce over the next few years. At the moment, I am focused on building an audience that are exploring, searching, and discovering “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. Perhaps at sometime in the future there will be a reservoir of responses from which others can contribute. It would be wonderful to create an epic anthology of this ambitious project. Marcus Moberg: Alright, I was thinking we would move into some more specific issues now. Let’s begin by talking some metal. Your project includes a separate Metal edition. In your previous answers you write that the Metal edition is the most popular one and that you also found it to be “the most challenging and personally rewarding” yourself. Also, when I look at the bands featured in the Christian edition, I can’t help noticing that many of them are also Metal bands. I have two closely related questions for you. Why is it that you find the Metal edition to be the “the most challenging and personally rewarding”? “The Spiritual Significance of Music (Metal Edition)” continues to delight me in so many ways. Metal Edition brings together a collective consciousness from a musical style that is very dear to my heart. I love the spiritual potency associated with Metal music, and thrive on the thoughts that have been inspired by these interviews with Metal musicians. Many online readers have enjoyed their exploration of this particular portfolio, and it brings me a great sense of joy to recognize that there exists a spiritual hunger that also resonates with Metal musicians and myself. We are all searching for answers through these one question interviews, and hopefully the quotable quotes from each musician provides food for thought, and captures a snapshot of their spiritual beliefs at one point in time. I believe Metal Edition is the most challenging because there are a key selection of artist interviews that embrace extreme ideologies and philosophies that are in direct conflict with my personal beliefs on music and spirituality. I love these interviews because together they have revolutionized the way I feel and think about Metal music. This direct contradiction has provided an exiting and thrilling challenge for me to explore the more esoteric spiritual perspectives encapsulated within the entire portfolio. Metal Edition continues to be personally rewarding because it has introduced me to a greater admiration of Metal musicians from their individual beliefs, and launched me closer to exploring more Metal music. For these reasons, my favourite interviews in the Metal Edition are with members of: Breath Of Chaos, Dawn Of Azazel, Dog Fashion Disco, DragonForce, Faith No More, Fantômas, Gorgoroth, The Locust, and Pitchshifter. “The Spiritual Significance of Music (Christian Edition)” includes a colossal amount of Metal musicians who resonate with the Christian faith in their life and lyrics. These musicians were invited to contribute to this portfolio on music and spirituality for two important reasons. Firstly, I wanted to capture the great controversy between Christian beliefs and incredibly diverse expressions of musical styles, more specifically between Extreme music and Metal music. Secondly, I started to discover a deep authenticity and sincerity in the responses from Christian Metal musicians, where their faith significantly influenced, informed, and inspired their musical expression. I found that they could accurately articulate incredible responses about their faith and music, and I desire to learn more. Christian Edition continues to be a blessing as I feel it educates and enlightens me with each new read. Marcus Moberg: What can you tell me more generally about your views on the relationship between Metal music and spirituality? When inviting Metal musicians to contribute towards “The Spiritual Significance of Music”, I was very intentional about contacting bands that I believe had a spiritual reference in their name. It was my desire to include Metal musicians that not only had a threshold interest in spirituality, but were actively pioneering their own spiritual path in life and music. Metal Edition includes many musicians with a spiritual concept, thought, or reference within their band name. For example, Angelcorpse, Armored Saint, Atheist, Black Crucifixion, Blasphemer, Blessed By Fire, Burning Saviours, Circus Of Damnation, Crave For Light, Crest Of Darkness, Denial Of God, Disbelief, The Eternal, Evocation, Eyehategod, Faith No More, Godphobia, Guardians Of Hell, Heretic Soul, Horned Almighty, In Heaven, Judgement, The Light Of Dark, Metal Church, Mortal Sin, Orthodox, Paths Of Possession, Prayer Of The Dying, Purgatory, Resurrected, Resurrection, Satan’s Revenge On Mankind, Sodamned, Soulburner, Tarot, That Old Black Magic, and Witches Sabbath. I believe Metal music to be a powerful and potent source of spiritual energy. The inherent relationship between Metal music and spirituality is a strong bond that can only be broken by belief. Belief is the core theme that engages the question: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” Answers from Metal musicians have provided a multitude of important perspectives on this thought-provoking question. Belief centers itself on the faith of the contributor, and this provokes a response that is in most cases direct and honest, delivering a sense of integrity expressed by a sincere response to the interview question. I also believe Metal music can include elements in lyrics and music that are extremely destructive to a spiritual path that desires to embrace faith, hope, and love. Aggression, hate, and pride are potential obstacles within Metal music that would distract any seeker from exploring goodness and peace. In this case “Pursuing Passion” and “Experiencing Ecstasy” are two elements that resonate strongly with Metal music. These two thoughts are explored in greater detail within the final Encore of “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. Marcus Moberg: Your previous answers touched on many issues relating to the relationship between music and “creed”. Now, I am going to ask you a complicated question. In your view, is there a difference between “music and creed” and “music and spirituality”? If so, how would you describe that difference? I am thinking about a possible difference between Christian and other musicians when talking about music and spirituality. Yes, I believe there is a difference between “music and creed” and “music and spirituality”. Let’s consider the differences between creed and spirituality. Creed can be considered as a set of religious beliefs or principles, whereas spirituality can embrace the quality or condition of being spiritual. Creed can involve rules and regulations established by doctrine and dogma, whereas spirituality can considers the pluralistic benefits of faith and values. Both creed and spirituality are powerful influences in the way we live, much like music. Christian Edition has been the strongest in the portfolio series to capture the interplay of controversial perspectives concerning music, featuring viewpoints from an entire spectrum of one faith. However, I’ve discovered an incredibly positive harmony between the themes in Christian Edition, and the expressions of spirituality encapsulated within Authors Edition, Metal Edition, and World Edition. There will be innate differences between the lifestyles represented by these musicians and yet a simple rhythm reoccurs throughout the many responses in this portfolio. My hope is that the Encore to this publication project provides people with valuable insights into some of these similarities and differences. May we continue to learn something new from each interview. Marcus Moberg: In the “Encore”-section you mention the “song child theory” and the “mutual friend theory”. What more can you tell me about these theories? During “Encore” I only briefly mention two extremely important theories that have surfaced during “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. I’m so happy to hear that you’d love to learn more about my “song child theory” and “mutual friend theory”. Both of these conceptual “theories” arose from conversations with friends when discussing the reoccurring themes from the interview responses. Here is an extract from theme two “Initiating Intention”: “Whatever we expose ourselves to will ultimately influence the way we think and act, just like a baby that absorbs influences from its environment. Songwriting is sometimes akin to giving birth. It can be a painful and laborious process, but what incredible beauty is born. As the song matures and goes out into the world, it meets many people, and the song never knows who it will grow up to be, who it will meet, and what influences it may have in the world. Songs can have a contagious influence; this is the song child theory. Music can also be like a mutual friend. When two people discover they both love the same music, it is like they have found a mutual friend that they can talk about together. Music can have a communicable influence; this is the mutual friend theory. Both illustrate the ways in which music can have a powerful influence in the lives of others.“ “Song child theory” suggests that a song is born into the world, and the creator does not know where that song will go, who it will influence, and what life it will live. For example, one of my favourite songs is Secret Chiefs 3’s cover of “Renunciation”, originally composed by Ananda Shankar. I first heard this incredible song when a friend had mailed me a video featuring Secret Chiefs 3 performing live on an Australian television show called Recovery. This would be my initial introduction to the beautifully mystical sounds of the Secret Chiefs 3. I remember watching this live performance, and being completely mesmerized by sounds of eastern-fusion music, and the incredible skill shown by each musician, many of whom I recognized from the art-rock band Mr. Bungle, most notably guitarist Trey Spruance. I then discovered that “Renunciation” was originally composed by Ananda Shankar, and wanted to hear the original version, and discovered a desire to explore more music from both Secret Chiefs 3, and Ananda Shankar. So I bought Secret Chiefs 3’s “First Grand Constitution And Bylaws”, “Second Grand Constitution And Bylaws”, and hunted for a 2CD compilation of music by Ananda Shankar. This began my fascination with Indian music, and Middle-Eastern musicology. Many years later, Secret Chiefs 3 would tour the world and often perform “Renunciation” as their encore song. This example of the song child theory shows that when Ananda Shankar composed this song, he would not know that in the late 1990’s Secret Chiefs 3 would recreate this amazing song, but also how that one song would provide the open doorway for me to explore the fascinating cultural expressions of world music. In this sense, the song child had matured and taken on a life of it’s own by being performed to many audiences worldwide, and introducing them to the sounds of “Renunciation”. “Mutual friend theory” works in much the same way. If I enjoy a particular sound of music I’ll go to record stores and live concerts, most likely meeting others who enjoy the same listening experience. When there is common-ground between two people, a friendship and relationship can develop. I’ve found music to be a wonderful way in which people can connect. It seems to happen everywhere I go. For example, just last night I had an incredible time on the dancefloor at a club where many people where dancing and singing along to music they know and love. Some people I’d never met before, but there was this magical connection in the room where people were connecting musically. This can also happen with music-makers and music-lovers. Music is a barrier-breaker where many people can connect because they enjoy experiencing the same sounds. Music unites people, and creates a connection regardless of religious or political values. No words need to be shared. Simply experiencing the sound for itself, together with others, can be an incredible way to receive peak experiences. Another example; a few months ago I attended the Nine Inch Nails show at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. During those songs there was a powerful feeling felt amongst many of the audience members. A feeling of kinship, like we were one. Mutual friend theory proposes that when two or more people love the same songs, music becomes a mutual friend. This communicable influence can create a powerful connection between people. Marcus Moberg: Although we touched on this issue earlier on, now, looking back, what are your general thoughts and reflections on your project? And where and in which directions do you see it (or would wish to see it) develop in the future? For example, how are people in general been reacting to your work? The online response to “The Spiritual Significance of Music” has been positively overwhelming. Every week, and almost every day, I receive an e-mail from someone who has discovered the project, and is appreciative that this portfolio exists. It seems there is a spiritual hunger in the world, and this book series exploring music and spirituality has struck a chord with many people. Perhaps it’s because both music and spirituality are invisible forces that have a profound influence on our daily lives. Maybe it’s also because these are universal themes that resonate with many people. From the very beginning this project was always destined to be a printed book. So due to popular demand, I’m very happy to announce that I’ll be printing a very limited edition of the portfolio. I’ve selected 100 of my favourite interviews and have packaged them together in a collector’s portfolio. My hope is that this will be the beginning of a book series exploring music and spirituality. There’s definitely a demand out there for a book of this nature, and I hope many people will be blessed by the project. My reflections on the project are only now starting to be realized. I continue to enjoy every stage of this ambitious project, and now it feels like the new season where the book series can blossom. I feel this is by far the best direction for a progressive publication project to develop in the near future. It will be wonderful to bring “The Spiritual Significance of Music” to musicians and writers worldwide. Marcus Moberg: Lastly, I was wondering if there is anything you personally would like to add to our interview. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Website: www.musicandspirituality.com |
INTERVIEW BY CULTURAL CREATIVES |
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CULTURAL CREATIVESblog features questions and answers about the creative process. “Cultural Creatives” is a term coined by sociologist Paul H. Ray who stated that “Cultural Creatives are people who are deeply spiritual without being dogmatically religious, and who enjoy technology and economic prosperity but not at the cost of the environment or community. They understand the world holistically and are deeply committed to non-ideological politics that emphasize practical solutions.” Cultural Creatives tend to embrace change and feel a deep connection to the earth and environment. They want their work to have meaning and contribute to the upliftment of society. The Cultural Creatives Blog is managed by author, freelance writer, and spiritual seeker Laura Faeth. Interview: March 9th 2009 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Cultural Creatives: Hi Justin, can you tell us a bit about yourself, your business, and/or your passions? My name is Justin St. Vincent, and sometimes I like listening to music. Those that know me will testify to the fact that the last sentence was the under-statement of the century as music is the soundtrack to my life. I have two primary passions: music and spirituality. I love to learn about people’s framework for faith and values, and I love to listen to weird and wonderful music. Xtreme Music is where music meets spirituality. After several years of research, I decided to share my extensive portfolio of exclusive interviews online. This publication project is simply known as “The Spiritual Significance of Music”, freely available via Xtreme Music: www.xtrememusic.org Cultural Creatives: Please share three interesting/crazy things about yourself. During my younger years I had the privilege of traveling to over 100 countries. I still have the travel bug and would love to travel more, and I just recently had vision-correction laser surgery on both my eyes, now my eye-sight is crystal-clear, it feels like a whole new world. Cultural Creatives: What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? Cliff jumping several times off the southern most tip of the Big Island of Hawaii into the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean. The scariest thing was climbing back up the cliff with the aid of a rusty ladder that felt like it would snap at any moment. Just as well it wasn’t shark season. Cultural Creatives: Name your top five books, movies, songs, musical groups, and/or websites. Are there any books or movies (genres) that you avoid? Top 5 Books: “The Bible” by God, “The Spirituality Of Music” by Selina Thielemann, “The Secret Power Of Music: The Transformation Of Self And Society Through Musical Energy” by David Tame, “Sacred Sound: Experiencing Music In World Religions” by Guy L. Beck, and “The 7 Secrets Of Sound Healing” by Jonathan Goldman. Top 5 Movies: 1492: Conquest Of Paradise, The Mission, Sneakers, West Side Story, and When Harry Met Sally. Top 5 Songs: “Ashes To Ashes” by Faith No More, “Ambugaton” by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, “From Rusholme With Love” by Mint Royale, “Circumambulation” by Secret Chiefs 3, and “Rosewater” by Bottle Top 5 Musical Groups: Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Estradasphere, and SPEkTR. Top 5 Websites: www.xtrememusic.org, www.facebook.com, www.myspace.com, www.bbc.co.uk, and www.wikipedia.org I avoid horror books and movies like the plague. Why fill your mind with nightmares? Embrace the beauty and miracle of life. Cultural Creatives: Based upon the description of a cultural creative, do you feel you are one? If so, why? I am probably a closet “Cultural Creative” as I didn’t know this personality type existed until the read the description. I personally resonate with the phrase: “people who are deeply spiritual without being dogmatically religious”. Cultural Creatives: What made you first want to become an artist, writer, a creator? I have always enjoyed collecting things, organizing information, and writing books. Creating is part of being, and this seemed like a natural vocation. I also believe in serving others with excellence. Cultural Creatives: Does spirituality play an important role in the creative process for you? If so, how? Spirituality is the central part of my being. It informs what I say, what I do, and who I am. Spirituality is the source of my creative process, it is what influences and inspires me to create for others. Cultural Creatives: What is your first memory of creating something you were proud of? My first memory of creating for others was writing a series of books with characters based on my friends at primary school. Each of the five books were self-produced and written with the desire of sharing these experiences with others. We used to share reading these books among classmates; writing for others is truly a wonderful way for any child to develop and explore their imagination. Cultural Creatives: What three words best describe the feeling you get when your creativity is flowing? Focused, Inspired, and Passionate Cultural Creatives: What sparks your creativity? Art and film, life and music. Cultural Creatives: What was/is the biggest obstacle you’ve faced? How did you overcome it, and what did you learn from the experience? We create our own obstacles. Two personal obstacles are greed and pride. To overcome this I decided to freely release “The Spiritual Significance of Music” as a blessing to the world. This experience allowed me to feel a new sense of personal freedom, and I learned that the cures for greed and pride are generosity and humility. Cultural Creatives: Putting your vision into the world can be scary. Many of us wonder if we’re good enough. How do you respond to negative self-talk? What tools do you use to help work beyond your self-doubt? Positive affirmations are a powerful way to break negative self-talk. It takes discipline and patience, but this is by far the best way to work beyond any self-doubt. A few tools for breaking self-doubt, and to step outside of your comfortable zone, and you will be rewarded with the new experiences that come from embracing the present moment and enjoying everyday life. Cultural Creatives: Are there any archetypes (hero, warrior, goddess, messenger, trickster, fool, savior, wanderer, magician etc.) that you resonate with which you feel have helped guide you on your creative journey? Does someone or something sometimes act as your muse? I enjoy reading The Bible for sourcing spirituality, a compass for faith, hope, and love. Jesus Christ is the archetype, and becoming the archetype can be the most challenging and rewarding experience for anyone’s creative journey. God is the ultimate Creator, and my ability and desire to create is birthed in Him. Cultural Creatives: Are there any recurring motifs in your sleeping dreams, and if so, what do you think they symbolize? Is there a bigger message for you? Do your nighttime dreams ever spark your creativity? I no longer remember my dreams or nightmares. I’m sure this is both a blessing and curse. I feel that my creativity is sparked by experiences in reality, and realized in the musical moments of life. Cultural Creatives: In what ways do you promote your work? Promoting “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is oddly enough not a priority for me. I allow others to freely share their thoughts on this project, and always welcome their feedback. It is a self-perpetuating portfolio that continues to grow exponentially. Promoting it seems to be superfluous as many musicians and readers are happy to share their discovery of the project through individual blogs, mailing lists, and personal websites. I enjoy the grassroots promotion of this project, and feel little desire to declare this work to the world. Cultural Creatives: If you use social networking sites, have any been particularly helpful in helping you spread the word about your work? If so, which one(s) and how? I use two main social networking sites: Facebook and MySpace. However, I don’t actively promote my work widely on these networks, as I prefer people to randomly explore, search, and discover “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. Cultural Creatives: What’s your favorite Internet tool either for promotion or enhancing your creativity? My favorite Internet tool for creative enhancement and development is searching for new information on Google or Wikipedia. I find these fantastic resources for continued inspiration. Cultural Creatives: Cultural Creatives tend to want their work to impact society in a positive way. Is changing/improving society with your work part of your goal? If yes, please elaborate a bit on your vision. “The Spiritual Significance of Music” was designed to be a soul-stirring and thought-provoking project that explores music and spirituality. It brings a blessing by introducing people to spirituality. Cultural Creatives: Have you been able to earn a living while pursuing your creative passions? Is there anything from a business perspective that stands out as a key or catalyst to your success that you’d like to share? Yes, I have a full-time career, together with this project that has quickly become a full-time passion. Involving over 500+ musicians in this project has been the catalyst to bring music-makers and music-lovers closer to exploring “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. I greatly admire and appreciate all of the authors and musicians who have freely contributed their thoughts towards this project. One key to success is to serve others with excellence. Cultural Creatives: Justin, is there a question you’d like to ask anyone reading this? Yes. “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” Feel free to read my answer by exploring “The Spiritual Significance of Music”, freely available via Xtreme Music: www.xtrememusic.org Thanks for all in advance, it’s greatly appreciated. Cultural Creatives: Thank you so much Justin for taking the time to share your thoughts on creativity with us today. |
INTERVIEW BY LAURA FAETH |
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LAURA FAETH is an author, freelance writer, metaphysicist, and spiritual seeker from Superior, Colorado. Her first book “I Found All The Parts: Healing The Soul Through Rock ‘n’ Roll” (2008) is available from Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing and SoundOfYourSoul.com. This publication offers readers a greater understanding of how rock music relates to alchemy, magic, numberology, reincarnation, sacred geometry, sound healing, and Tarot. She has also written articles for American Chronicle, Law Of Attraction News, Los Angeles Chronicle, No Niche Magazine, WomenOf.com, World News Chronicle, and World Sentinel. Laura Faeth is a member of The Sound Healers Association, the Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR), and Colorado Independent Publisher’s Association (CIPA). Interview: February 3rd 2009 Auckland, New Zealand |
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Laura Faeth: Can you tell me a bit about your book, “The Spiritual Significance of Music”? “The Spiritual Significance of Music” explores the dynamic relationship between music and spirituality. After several years of extensive research, I have produced a portfolio series structured around exclusive interviews with authors and musicians. I greatly admire and appreciate all the contributors to this project, and it has been a real blessing to be introduced to an incredible variety of perspectives on music and spirituality. Laura Faeth: What inspired you to put together such a massive project? Inspiration is a funny thing. Sometimes inspiration can begin like a spark, and then it quickly rages like an uncontrollable fire that is birthed in the soul, and blossomed by the spirit. I imagine it was probably my passion for exploring music and studying spirituality that propelled this project forward. The anthology grew over many years, and continues to develop at an exponential rate. The colossal and epic nature of this massive project is attracting many music-makers and music-lovers. It is truly wonderful to witness a diverse audience being exposed to “The Spiritual Significance of Music”.Laura Faeth: What is your own background with music? How has it inspired you personally?Music found me at an early age, and has been miraculously life-changing ever since. By my university years, music had sparked an intense interest and it was then that I was invited to be a radio DJ. I started to produce my own radio programs under the audaciously vague title of Xtreme Music on Xtreme Radio. That spawned a successful portfolio of award-winning radio shows on both sides of the Atlantic, achieving a worldwide listenership over a four-year involvement with student radio. My enthusiasm for the power of broadcasting continues into my professional career in radio and television advertising, marketing, and sales. Exploring new music and researching spirituality worldwide are personal development goals that I love and naturally hold close to my heart. Laura Faeth: How did you gather responses to the question, “What is the spiritual significance of music?” Email, an interview in person, a variety of ways? “The Spiritual Significance of Music” involved over three-thousand interview invitations being sent via e-mail, and around one-hundred personal letter invitations were mailed to individual musicians. E-mail was the best method to compile hundreds of interview responses. Each response explores the intimate nature of music and spirituality. I then produced a brief biography, editorial edition, and layout preview for each contributor who very kindly provided fantastic feedback from their interview invitation. Every response was then checked and cleared, ready for proofing towards “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. Laura Faeth: Based upon the responses you received from over 500 musicians, authors, healers, etc… to your question, “What is the spiritual significance of music?” what major themes emerged? It is incredible to witness the wonderfully iridescent responses to “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?”. Many major themes emerged from authors and musicians including the power of sound, the healing nature of music, and the incredibly powerful influence and impact music has on the human spirit. Authors Edition provided an extremely intellectual treatment of well-documented and well-researched findings in sound and spirituality. The reoccurring aspects were fascinating because responses were coming from different expressions of faith. This greatly benefited my intention to create a portfolio offering readers a holistic exploration of thoughts on music and spirituality. Each contributor has offered a unique thought, which has been highlighted in their quotable quote from their interview response. Hopefully the project’s “Encore” conclusion has encapsulated the major themes that emerged throughout the each edition of the anthology. Laura Faeth: Were there any major surprises, or responses that you didn’t expect? Always. I was frequently challenged, inspired, and surprised by many of the interview responses, especially those that differ greatly from my personal beliefs about music and spirituality. Nevertheless, I feel that I’ve learnt something new from every contributor, and I greatly value their input towards this publication project. Metal Edition repeated provides me with food for thought, and has been the most popular edition with online readers. This challenging edition continues to attract many more explorers towards each of the portfolios freely available online via Xtreme Music. Laura Faeth: Can you share excerpts from two or three of your favorite responses? Why are these particular insights so meaningful to you? I love the brutally honest response from Billy Gould, bassist in Faith No More, who says: “Personally, I’m not sure whether there is any spiritual “side” of music, but there is a spiritual significance of life…” I enjoy this interview excerpt because it was this response that initiated my thinking away from “The Spiritual Significance of Music”, and focused a personal belief towards the spiritual significance of people. I also love the spiritual potency that Rigel Walshe, bassist and vocalist in Dawn Of Azazel, credits towards music: “Few things in the modern world can rival the significance of music.” A couple of weeks after this interview response was received, I had the spontaneous pleasure of meeting Rigel at a Stigma gig showcasing cover-songs on winter’s night at the Rose and Crown on Customs Street here in Auckland, New Zealand. There are literally hundreds of insights that are meaningful to me, but it’s much more fun to be the silent witness seeing readers exploring the insights they enjoy. Laura Faeth: Is there any performer or band that you would have liked to have received a response but didn’t? There are many more musicians that I would have loved to feature within this interview portfolio. Three major influences that are not included within the anthology include: Mike Patton, Trey Spruance, and John Zorn. However, the project continues to amass an amazing amount of interest from music-makers worldwide, so the exciting news is that there will be plenty more musicians added to the portfolios every month. Laura Faeth: In the Encore PDF (available on your website www.xtrememusic.org) which summarizes your findings, you use the acronym P.I.C.T.U.R.E.S to illustrate that The Spiritual Significance of Music paints P.I.C.T.U.R.E.S on a canvas of silence. Can you take one of the letters, say P for Pursing Passion or T for Touching Transcendence, and give an overview of what that means to a music lover? You are absolutely right, “Encore” does try to encapsulate a summary of this anthology, based on the acronym P.I.C.T.U.R.E.S: PursuingPassion Initiating Intention Cultivating Community Touching Transcendence Underscoring Unity Receiving Resonance Experiencing Ecstasy Sourcing Spirituality This was one of many ways I wanted to offer readers some conclusions from “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. It also provides a framework for my personal perspectives to answer the question: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?” I hope that music-makers and music-lovers are blessed by some of the thoughts expressed in the “Encore”. It was produced to give seekers with some answers, and to encourage readers to explore more. I continue to enjoy producing additions to these portfolio because it providers readers with a reflection of various perspectives, without any religious agenda, and without promoting one belief system above another. In doing so, I hope this portfolio series offers a holistic approach to exploring music and spirituality. Touching Transcendence can be the ultimate experience for a music lover. It is also strongly associated with Receiving Resonance and Experiencing Ecstasy, and it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between these important aspects of “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. Every music lover experiences sound in a special way because music resonates with the human spirit, and your spirit is as unique as your finger print. I enjoy Touching Transcendence as it is the purest and most profound feeling that can be an absolute and abundant blessing to the soul. Some music lovers may believe that Touching Transcendence brings them closer to God. Laura Faeth: What is your intention with The Spiritual Signficance of Music? What impact do you hope it has, and where are you headed personally…another book? My intention is simply to bless readers worldwide with an exploration through music and spirituality. I anticipate music-makers and music-lovers will enjoy exploring, searching, and discovering “The Spiritual Significance of Music”. My hope is that many more musicians will continue to invite their friends, family, and fans to explore this epic anthology of exclusive interviews. |
