Interview:

The spiritual significance of music is a subject so deep and full of subjective sinkholes it would require a book. What is spirituality? I certainly know what I think it embodies, and it has absolutely nothing to do with organized and institutionalized religion. The Pope and the Ayatollah are the opposite of true spirituality in my universe. True spirituality never creates a dichotomy between man and the rest of mortal, natural living beings. Certainly spirituality does not declare that one group of humans is “special” while others are not. Why are the Jews the “Chosen Ones”? What does that suggest about the rest of humanity?

True spirituality seeks to re-unite a thread that connects all of us to the rest of life and, thus, brings us together. Music has the potential transformative power to make us feel that connection. Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, Queen, The Clash, Devo, The Talking Heads, U2, Michael Jackson, Prince, etc, all touched upon universal truths and primal feelings of shared experience to inspire and heal, not to divide and wallow in the past.

Those artists made music that showed us what might be if we followed the best part of who we are as human beings. They celebrated uncensored creative ideas through the medium of sound, and energized the listener rather than manipulating and controlling him or her. That, in a brief sketch, is the connection between spirituality and music.

“True spirituality seeks to re-unite a thread that connects all of us to the rest of life and, thus, brings us together. Music has the potential transformative power to make us feel that connection.”
– Gerald Casale, bassist, vocalist, and co-founder of Devo