Interview:

Music has always been at the center of my spirituality, or at least at the center of my method of expressing my spirituality. Making music for me is a spiritual event, not because I will it to be, but because the act of creating something from nothing, regardless of the song or sounds at hand, is a spiritual “event” by its very nature. The “spiritual significance of music” would be the very existence of the spirit, and of music, and people making music would have to be a spiritual endeavor, would it not? To even separate the two into opposing camps, or at least different camps, would be an academic mistake in my opinion. Whether or not the role of music in modern society is what it once was, I don’t know, but I do know that if you are the one “responsible” for making music, that it is a spiritual event. There is nothing I would rather be doing, than making sounds and music with people I enjoy. Nothing. There is a level of engagement there that is almost unparalleled for me. To make a song that describes a human event, especially some time of mourning, or grief, or any of the “darker” emotional situations we as humans find ourselves in from time to time, is as rewarding as anything I could imagine doing in this life. When that song actually reaches another human being, the compassionate art of music is working. It is making someone laugh, or cry, or feel better about themselves or their life miles away, years away, from me. In that sense, music transcends time and space, though it requires both, to be enjoyed properly! Music has the power to bring people together, not unlike “religion” in the traditional sense. Music IS my religion in a way. The spiritual significance of music is the significance of music as spirituality.

“Making music for me is a spiritual event… Music IS my religion in a way. The spiritual significance of music is the significance of music as spirituality.”
– Joel Hamilton, guitarist in The Book Of Knots