Invibe Music- Souls Emerge

Posted on May 13, 2013 by laurasparkley

Located in Seattle Washington is the recording label, Invibe Music. This company not only focuses and supports talented artists, but they are very fair in their dealings with their artists. Most record labels distribute online as well as physical copies. Invibe strives to help the artist make more off their creation, by only using online distribution. This cuts major costs out and allows for the artist to earn quite a bit more. What they are doing is an inspiration, more recording labels should think about taking this approach. Not only does it help the musician and the recording label but it is also more eco-conscious.

Invibe Music’s Souls Emerge compilation album

While I will touch upon a few songs off the album, I must say the entire release is thoughtfully compiled. Invibe Music has many up and coming artists for you to discover off this album, Souls Emerge. Some of you may be familiar with Kalpataru Tree, usually it is very downtempo almost ambient music. Kalpataru Tree’s remix of Cloud Story is ambient; using many different samples woven together this song turns into an ethnic tapestry. Look, Subaqueous’s remix is a deep track. I like his use of middle eastern samples in this song, then masterfully layered in is a piano and violin solo! If you want more of a danceable bass- filled track you should check out Para Angie by Eyan Green. This track is one of my favorites off this album. The bass is dirty, but not too heavy like lots of dubstep; he keeps this track upbeat through-out. Procession by Babajaga also uses a middle-eastern inspired violin, the solo is hauntingly beautiful. This track seems to use a more glitchy alien sound. Reminiscent of psy-trance without becoming too repetitive, he weaves different samples in and out to keep the track progressing. Please check out Invibe Music’s entire release here on their bandcamp.

Kinnection feat Govinda, Wala, Medisin, and FractalEssence

Posted on April 30, 2013 by laurasparkley

Tribal Council is very pleased to announce our latest installment of our Kinnection series, in Atlanta May 2nd and Asheville May 3rd. This show series will feature the talented artists: Govinda, Wala, Medisin, and FractalEssence. The Kinnection series not only offers music, we also offer yoga, workshops, visionary art, and a lovely community. We focus on the co:creation and appreciation of our growing intelligent light family.

Govinda’s Plant the Seed Remixes.

Not only is Govinda an extremely talented musician, but close to our community. Back in September he released his full album Resonance. That fall he went on a pretty extensive tour. He visited the south east, and has been playing around the world since then; from the Great Convergence at the pyramids of Giza to Synthesis in Mexico. Resonance has many songs from Sonic Muse to Plant the Seed. Needless to say Govinda’s show is not something to miss; he plays lyrical gypsy violin solos over intelligent electronic bass music fused with middle eastern samples. What’s most exciting about the upcoming show is his recent release of his EP Plant the Seed Remixes (available free for download). This album offers remixes by Kraddy, Kaminanda, MiHkal, Nico Luminous, Wala, and may more. One of my favorite remixes is Kaminanda’s take on the song. It is luscious with the perfect amount of remixing done to the original track. Nico Luminous has a very interesting version of the song, it’s very sexy with much more bass. More towards dub step than the original track, yet tastefully done. Please check out the whole album here on Govinda’s soundcloud, and come enjoy him live.

Kalikutta, Wala’s latest release.

We are extremely pleased to invite this lovely sound anthropologist, Wala to play for us. She blends world beats, specifically with middle-eastern influence and deep sexy bass. Kalikutta is her most recent release and is packed with an interesting blend of sound. The first track Ik Onkar is hauntingly beautiful. I love the vocal she chose to weave throughout the track; she adds this grimy alien bass as the song really drops. This is definitely my favorite off the release. The whole album is reminiscent of bollywood remixed with dirty bass, please check it out here or on her soundcloud.

Two artists on our lineup are Asheville based! Medisin is a talented artist who makes very psycheldelic glitchy music. While the other is Tribal Council’s very own Clayton Garr as FractalEssence. Medisin has this lovely psytrance feel while using this very galactic sound. Sometimes he turns the tempo up to a breaks style, which will get the dance floor going. He blends the perfect amount of world beats with psytrance. Check his soundcloud for many wonderful mixes. FractalEssence has a knack for picking out the perfect tracks and blending them into intelligent and compassionate sets. Clayton seamlessly weaves many of our favorite artists together into this cohesive set. Please check out his set from Return to Roots on his soundcloud. I was lucky enough to be present with him for this set, and I had such a beautiful time dancing the night away!

FractalEssence @ Tribal Council Campout (4.14.13) by Fractalessence (Clayton Gaar) on Mixcloud

And here is his most recent mix from the Tribal Council Campout. Be sure to show up early for the yoga class that FractalEssence will be DJing.

Please check out our facebook event page for more information.

Adham Shaikh’s new release

Posted on April 23, 2013 by laurasparkley

Adham Shaikh is an intelligent and inspiring musician. With skill he aptly merges west coast bass to ambient soundscapes and many styles in between. Sometimes he is a solo project with drum machines, synths, and ipads; other times he has a ten piece outworld orkestra (a troupe of dancers, artists, and musicians). A couple years ago he released his third album called Universal Frequencies. This album was ground breaking; and consequently remixed albums were created. Refractions universal frequencies remix volume 2 is Adham’s newest release; with mixes by the Desert Dwellers, Tripswitch, Drumspyder, Kaya Project, and many more!

$Refractions universal frequencies remixes volume 2$

Refractions universal frequencies remixes vol. 2

While you should check out volume one, there are a few songs off his latest album that are notable. Tripswitch’s remix of Rug Rippin’ is eloquent; it keeps the feel of the original song while displaying his own style. It is more down tempo and bassy, but still keeps the clarinet sample from the original song. Another interesting remix is Xopianoi’s take on Desert Dub, again he original feel is kept but now there is a glitchy alien sound added. The Desert Dwellers also chose Desert Dub as their remix. Adding many alluring attributes to the song; like the filter that makes everything sound far away. Kundalini Fuel by Lexifer’s Spiral Dub brings you through an audio journey. This song keeps the middle eastern feel while adding a very electronic alien sound, this remix is more down tempo than the original.

Please visit Adham Shaikh’s bandcamp, this release is being sold as “name your own price”! Another great place to keep up with new releases and ideas is his soundcloud.

Mind, Body, and Spirit Wellness with Kelsey Sunflower

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Clayton

A balanced mind and body is the key to living in connection with Spirit Source. This connection is what establishes a vivacious and fulfilling life with a conscious awareness of Love. Love is the ultimate gift, when we are present and balanced in life. When balancing the mind, body, and Spirit, forms of healthy energy are integrated naturally. The union of the self in man with the Self of the universe is called yoga, the yoking or joining together of the finite self with the Infinite Self and the process or method for attaining this union is also called yoga.

In Ayurvedic medicine, a traditional practice rooting from Ancient India, balance is the key to rejuvenation, longevity, and self-realization. Ayurveda teaches about the doshas, or subtle universal energy fields within the body. These doshas are Vatta, Pitta, and Kappa, which together comprise an individual’s constitution. Vatta controls movement. Pitta controls metabolism. And Kappa controls structure. Ayurveda shows what is natural for each of these dosha types and recommends the best food, medicine or healthy behavior to contrast a natural state, in order to bring more balance to the body, mind, and Spirit.

Physically, listen to the body. The bodies we are blessed with are temples. Exercise is vital to the health of the body and organ systems, as well as to that of the mind. The more we take care of our physical being, the more likely the mind will stay in tune with our wants and needs and differentiate more clearly between the two. Exercise decreases stress hormones and increases endorphins, which are the body’s natural feel good chemicals. When these chemicals are released during exercise, then one’s mood is naturally boosted. Yoga works with endorphins through releasing tension, thus improving mood. Pranayama, or yogic breathing exercises, help to increase the awareness of breath. Naturally, humans breathe in a shallow fashion so increasing awareness towards the depth of one’s breath benefits the organs and systems of the body (circulatory, respiratory, etc). Yoga helps to increase lung capacity for deeper breathing. It can also have benefits of opening the nasal passageways and calming the central nervous system, which has both physical and mental benefits. And according to Kundalini yoga, opening the nasal passages also has spiritual benefits. In terms of consumption, eat what feels right, but be conscious of what is consumed. Be aware of the energy that is put into the body through food choice and how that can affect one’s energy. Treat everything as sacrament. Take the sacrament not only for your body, but also for mind and Spirit and the beneficial purposes of learning and loving Self. Embrace this process.

Mentally, sit in stillness. The mind knows nothing but tapes and labels formed from past lives, present situations, and the dissecting of emotions. Stillness, especially in the form of meditation, brings awareness to these senses more easily without being controlled by them. Many brain waves are scientifically proven to light up during meditation. Theta waves are most abundant in the frontal and middle parts of the brain, which indicate deep relaxation (more experienced meditators). Alpha waves are most abundant in the posterior parts of the brain, which are a characteristic of wakeful rest or awareness. These brain waves increase when the brain relaxes from intentional or goal-oriented tasks. This is a sign of deep relaxation but does not mean the mind is empty. Delta waves are most active during sleep. Very few delta waves are produced during meditation, proving that it is different from sleeping. Beta waves are goal-oriented thoughts, which also prove to be very few during meditation. The combination of waves that occur during a meditative state cause the mind to relax in a different form than sleep. The intense physical aspect of yoga, or asana, brings so much focus to the mind that it is stilled and therefore, more calm. Focusing the mind also helps one become more aware of spontaneous mental wandering and activity. In turn, this brings a more practiced and controlled awareness of thoughts. Seek to learn. Everything is interesting if one chooses to listen with the right ears. If time is taken to listen and learn, common ground is found in every interaction, or at least a lesson is presented. Every being has a different gift to exchange in a teacher/student relationship. Culture imbeds in us that in order to be successful we must be educated by schools. This is not true if one takes on the role of a teacher. Some tend to rely solely on social interaction due to lack of confidence with mental stimuli, but if you learn to become an educational seeker; fully growing in that space of mindfulness of the intellectual Self, the natural teacher will feed all humans with knowledge of the Universe. Eventually, the mind will become more and more still as the breath becomes the main focus of living yoga. This stillness energetically overviews various experiences and emotional endeavors, putting them into perspective and letting them settle with rest.

Spiritually, have a sense of a higher Self. It is not about praising a God or Allah. We are Source Energy! Joy and sadness are one in the same when living in a state of Bliss. It is all part of the journey. Think of the emotional state of being as your indicator in every moment of your relationship with nowness. This powerful now and listening is Spirit. Access it however you please, but access it fully! That is the yummy dish that satisfies more than any external object will feed. The benefits for Spiritual development are limitless and can be achieved through yoga and meditation. Certainly, one develops an individual practice. When on a mat doing asana, a development for internal focus is practiced and the Self (individualized and universal) is reviewed and managed through exceeding the mind patterns with breath. This guides us to open the channel of Divine awareness. We receive insight without thinking, it is brought energetically simply by intentional focus. Take time to maintain this aspect of BEing and life will merge with the awareness of Source energy. Breathe, and know that you are God.

Living in balance, embracing the sun and moon, the yin and yang, even the dark and light is all about the pulsing of nature. One cannot be happy 100% of the time. We must accept the inevitable, and learning to see that challenge is the most subtle form of growth. “As individuals following a collective consciousness, if you become aware and cease the resistance in admitting imbalance, we come to balance! This is real time manifestation. Training yourself to the creation frequency of who you really are… In alignment with Self: Universal Truth.” Abraham Hicks

For more information on Ayurveda and the doshas visit: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-1117/Ayurveda-Dosha-Types-for-Beginners.html

Kelsey Sunflower, Union Yoga Teacher, Asheville, NC

About the Author: Kelsey Sunflower has been an active yoga practitioner since 2009 and received her RTY-250 hour training from Asheville Community Yoga Center in 2012. “Yoga has taught me to be aware of my breath in any situation, for it is my compass home. When breathing through life, I can accept and activate all the Infinite awareness that Divine Spirit channels through me.” Sharing her practice with the world to improve and motivate the health and growth of others has been her dream since she was a child. In finding yoga, she has found this shared Oneness-bliss that transcends consciousness to a realm of fruition.

Two emerging artists you should know

Posted on March 26, 2013 by laurasparkley

Recently I found two artists who are extremely talented. Both have a future in the transformational music scene, and are two musicians to keep an eye on!

Embrace the One by Temple Step Project

The first you may know; as they have been around the scene for a little while. Temple Step Project combines the sacred sounds of the middle east with delicious bass music. You may be familiar with their music; the Desert Dwellers mix Temple Step Project’s songs into their mixes often. The sound of their music resonates well with the Desert Dwellers overall soundscape. Recently Temple Step Project came out with a new album called Embrace the One. The album is amazing; with ragas singing, tabala, and sitar woven through electronic bass lines. One of my favorite songs is Truth and Grace. With slow, intricate, sacred music (filled with great ragas singing) paired with a low whompy bass line. This one is sure to teach you how to belly dance. Heart of the Whole is another track I would specifically like to mention, but please listen to the whole album; it is sublime.This track has a very dirty bass line and is a bit more electronic than the others. Please check out Temple Step’s new album Embrace the One here and their soundcloud here.

Afterglow by Mystral

Mystral is the other producer I would like to mention. While he is pretty new with his releases, his album Afterglow does not disappoint. Mystral also uses middle eastern samples; but his music is influenced by hip hop. Surface Drop is the first track on the album. He uses a guitar sample in the intro and then the song drops into this heavy whompy bass line. Also mixed in the song, are inviting vocals and a flute that dances above the rest of the song. Stardust is an enthralling track, the song is very alien. His bass lines are always deep, but this track uses a Japanese harp and flute. While this song can make you dance it can also put you into a trance- like state of mind. Please check out the rest of this album here and his souncloud here.

Round 2: Kinnection Reflections

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Taylor

Whoa – the seriously swirling energies of 2013 have been keeping the TC labs consistently lively. We’re here.now taking a moment to ground after another installment of the Kinnection Series.

This installment followed our Kinnection model in its offerings as we brought in three more world-class acts for three nights of heart-opening abun-dance parties. Desert Dwellers, The Human Experience, and Aligning Minds were the master-full minds blending & serving up the delicious beats this time around. Set after set, night after night, we were blown away. This ancient language of music is so powerful & beautiful; we are constantly inspired, empowered, and humbled all at once, by the infinitude of ways it is being tapped into & harnessed.

Once again, TC power-teamed up with Vision Lab and the Infusion Tea Lounge for full-spectrum provisions to ensure that we were taken care of with soul-nourishing provisions from the Infusion Lounge warming our bellies and the Vision Lab providing pineal-expanding delights stretched on canvas. Their art gallery is constantly changing and updated with the newest pieces from the world’s leading visionary artists. Ceremony, and celebration, in a myriad of forms, to meet you wherever you are at in each moment. We set the space to meet everyone’s needs – if the day of the event comes and you aren’t feeling peak energy, or perhaps you are looking for conversation with new friends but don’t feel like yelling on the dance floor (and neither do the people dancing around you!) the tea lounge is holding space for you.

Speaking of ceremony… This installment we were graced with the ritual offerings of Dakini Puja, an Asheville-based moving prayer group. We at TC are honored to hold the space for so many individuals’ unique expressions of Life. The vision of the Kinnection Series, and of Tribal Council as a collective, is to encourage the blossoming of each of us in a way that serves ourSelves and the world. We vocalize this intention and send out the invitation to any & all, to share your visions & gifts with us as you see they/you can serve. For example, it was after our first Kinnection event that Dakini Puja reached out to us with their offerings- we all have gifts to share & receive; often all it takes is making that known.

Dakini Puja Moving Prayer at Desert Dwellers Kinnection AVL from Tribal Council on Vimeo.

In Athens, Kyle and Nelson facilitated an open dialogue on the Yamas & Niyamas, the yogic principles. David of The Human Experience then surprised us with a sneak peek into his latest project, Tha Cat’s Pajamas! Stay tuned for this one. We were also able to try out some asana yoga this round, which was met with great reception – yet another way we can meet the needs of the individual and the collective simultaneously, growing ever closer & stronger together. There are so many forms of movement to explore in this giant playground we are all on. (Not to mention The Human Experience treating us to downtempo sets for this practice all three nights.) Once again, all three nights and all three cities had something special to give & receive. We are loving the growth – in the strength and comeUnity of the tribe, “old” & “new” alike (though really we’re all old friends, just dancing into this remembrance together).

We continue to learn so much on the back-end through these installments (like how crucial coconut water and kombucha are!), and the process is getting smoother and grander with each event. As all-ways, this is an open invitation to stay kinnected – our next installment is on the horizon, and we need you to make the magic at the beginning of May.

And don’t forget to make & take that magic with you in each moment, out into the world.

In Love & Gratitude,
TC

Desert Dwellers and the Kinnection Series

Posted on March 5, 2013 by laurasparkley

Tribal Council is excited and honored to welcome the Desert Dwellers to our Kinnection series. Supported by The Human Experience and Aligning Minds, these shows are sure to excite ones’ senses. The Kinnection series not only focuses on conscious music, but we offer yoga, workshops, and a tea lounge all to build community and support creativity. Please feel free to read more about our intentions with the Kinnection Series here.

Amani Friend and Treavor Moontribe

Composed of the DJs Amani Friend, Treavor Moontribe, and Rara Avis; the Desert Dwellers immerse you in a vibrant, ethnic soundscape. Pioneers and an integral part in the growth of this genre; sacred bass music, or as I like to call it “temple-step.” This genre fuses down-tempo yoga flow with electronic bass beats to make this wonderful ethno-techno sound. Weaving ancient sounds with modern technology the Desert Dwellers are not only pioneers of this genre, but are audio-shamans of our time. Interwoven with flute, sitar, tabala, and bell samples they also add inspirational poetry in some songs. Like the song Spinning out of Nothingness, “we come spinning out of nothingness, scattered like stardust.”

In the beginning this collaboration of musical minds was formed with help of the Moontribe. The Moontribe is a collective in Southern California: known for throwing underground dance gatherings deep in the deserts. We at Tribal Council take inspiration from the Moontribe and similar collectives; connecting community, co:creation, and conscious events.

Desert Dwellers enlightening us with their aural alchemy at Symbiosis 2012.

My first experience of The Desert Dwellers live was at Symbiosis 2012 at Pyramid Lake, NV. I was in no way ready for the experience I was about to embark upon. I remember being told by a music enthusiast friend that I NEEDED to see The Desert Dwellers no matter what time they were on. I scoured the schedule and to my slight dismay, found that they were on at seven AM! Dancing the night away seven quickly approached; while my friends disappeared to catch a couple hours of rest before it became blistering hot again. Sleepily I made my way towards the earth stage for the most eye-opening musical experience I have witnessed. Together the three DJs rocked my world infusing middle-eastern beats with deep bass heavy beats. A couple hundred beautiful souls and I welcomed the morning sunrise with dance and praise, swaying to the stunning ethereal music.

Needless to say I am hooked for life, this music is not only perfect for meditation/yoga but is also lively to dance to. To this day they are not only some of my favorite DJs; but a huge inspiration to me and my music. They taught me to strive for the sound and genre I feel in my heart; not to try and fit into a preconceived notion of what a classical singer should do. If you would like to hear the set from Symbiosis, you can find for free download on their souncloud, along with many other sets/mixes. Also please check their bandcamp out for other releases.

The Human Experience and the Kinnection Series

Posted on March 1, 2013 by laurasparkley

Tribal Council is very excited to welcome The Human Experience, David Block, to our Kinnection series! For those of you who are not sure what our Kinnection series is; Tribal Council does a three night run between Athens, Atlanta, and Ashville. Each night we offer yoga, workshops, a tea lounge, and a show provided by extremely conscious and talented musicians. We are focused on giving back to our commUNITY and supporting co:creation with this series. To read more about what the Kinnection series is about please follow this link. We are very excited for this upcoming run because David Block has been so kind as to not only play a downtempo set for our yoga class, but he is also offering a workshop about sound, melody, & music, as well as his normal set.

Recent release: The art of the way

What excites me about The Human Experience is that he is a live electronic act; he plays instruments and composes live. Each album is a live soundscape in which he strives to portray the beauty of the human experience we call life. One of his more recent releases is The Art of the Way. The album starts with one of my favorite songs 11:11:11, it has this sultry dance feel while sharing the feeling of tranquility. More than we Know featuring Amae Love is probably the most famous song off this release. Amae Love has a powerful expressive voice that brings life to this track. Woven into this song is a simple guitar riff that adds depth and melody, and supports Ms. Love wonderfully. The last song I would like to touch upon is Ot Du Shi featuring Mindex. This tune incorporates ethereal vocals and lovely melody. The song about half way through blossoms into a harder crunchy electronic tune. I love the contrast between the two halves of the song and how masterfully he weaves them together to make this exquisite track. This album is free or by donation off bandcamp, please support this talented and exceptional musician. You can also enjoy music off his soundcloud and this link will bring you to his artist page.

Aligning Minds and the Kinnection series

Posted on February 23, 2013 by laurasparkley

Tribal Council is so excited to be hosting the second instillation of the kinnection series. This is a concert and workshop series that travels between Athens, Asheville, and Atlanta, promoting health and well-being amongst the community. We are more than happy to announce Aligning Minds, The Human Experience, and The Desert Dwellers are our artists for this upcoming run!

Aligning Minds newest release: My Heart is Love

My Heart is Love is Aligning Minds’ Michael Folk and Daniel Merrill; newest album released on Gravitas Records. This album is beautiful, intelligent, and fun to dance to. The album begins with Streaming Live; with a dark and moody soundscape. The album quickly picks up, one of my favorite songs is A Noble Truth. I love the drum pad in this song, it is so sharp but keeps the song moving. Although the whole album is amazing, the last song I would like to touch upon is Bright Flames. I love that the song begins with ethereal vocals and is rather melancholy. Soon joined by the drum pad; the song develops more of a dance feel. The synth’s melody throughout helps bring the song together, and about halfway through they bring back the vocals. This whole album is put together very well, please listen to all of “My Heart is Love” here, also available for purchase.

We were very lucky to have Aligning Minds give Tribal Council an exclusive interview! We truly appreciate you taking some time out of your day to answer our questions! Thank you.

Laura Koznarek: What excites you about working with Tribal Council on their Kinnection series?
Aligning Minds: I’ve gotten to know the core Tribal Council crew through their presence and contributions at many festivals over the last year. I have nothing but love and good things to say about the people that make up Tribal Council, the work they do at festivals and in their event series. The community that they are building here in Asheville and abroad is by far one of my favorites in the area. Their hearts are in the right place and they have a fantastic vision that radiates throughout the work they do. I really resonate with the Kinnection series as it focuses on a broad spectrum experience, providing education through workshops earlier in the night then moving into meditation / yoga and finally into more movement oriented energy with a focus on music and visual stimulations. It’s a proper formula that I think more events and promoters should take note of. It’s very similar to what we strive to do with the X events that we help organize and throw, so I’m very excited to have Aligning Minds on board for this series!

LK: I see you have an east coast tour coming up! What are you looking forward to with your tour?
AM: We are just excited about getting back out on the road and sharing the music we have been working on. Excited that Matthias Sayour will be joining us on drums for specific dates, his contribution to our project is really expanding our realm of possibilities, so we’re excited to explore that on our travels. Very excited about this run with Desert Dwellers and The Human Experience, as well as the run with Papadosio. We will also be heading out to the West Coast in late April / early May, excited to reconnect with some of our musical family out there!

LK: How was putting together your most recent release? Any challenges? What came easily?
AM: Looking back on the process that went into creating “My Heart Is Love” it was a very natural progression. The whole concept and execution of it was really a working therapy in learning to allow things to become what they are meant to be. The tracks that we ended up including on it were written at various times from 2007-2012 so it’s really a snapshot of various points and states we were in throughout that time period. A lot of them were written and rewritten many times to get them to their current forms. We started choosing tracks to be included around November of 2011 and spent the next year fine tuning them, rewriting, getting the mixdowns right etc., to get them into their final forms. As with any album there were many challenges… I think once we figured out that we are our own biggest roadblock things fell into place quite naturally. I know we put an immense amount of work into each and every track and element on this album, but more than anything we worked harder at opening ourselves up to become a channel through which the music could flow. After that, it kind of finished itself. I think we learned a lot about how unrealistic our own expectations really are. We are both perfectionists when it comes to music and tend to be a little obsessive when it comes to calling something finished and letting it go, which is one of the reasons it took us so long to let go of this material and actually allow it to be released. We have a running joke about banishing tracks to the dark recesses of our hard drives when it’s not good enough. It may sound over the top to some, but this album really helped us get over that. For instance In the Wake of Forever was finished and in its current form over 4 years ago, since then it’s pretty much just sat on our hard drives. Almost like overprotective parents, the music we create becomes very personal and special to us, and sometimes it’s almost painful to share it as it truly bears pieces of our hearts that we don’t know how to communicate in any other way. So yeah, I think overall the album really embodies its name as it has taught us about loving things as they are, knowing when to relinquish control, and allowing the internal flow to the external. Surrendering to this has allowed the true essence of the music to emerge and begin to radiate outward. One of my good friends once told me we can only go as fast as the music will allow, and I think that’s very true and has certainly held true in our experience with this release.

LK: How is working with Gravitas?
AM: Gravitas has been amazing, we feel very fortunate and honored to be working with them and have such a dedicated team behind us. One of the best things about it so far is the level of transparency that they give you as an artist. It truly feels like we are all working together to make things happen - they are there when you need them, but don’t try to interfere or make the music conform to any vision of their own. It’s been a breath of fresh air to say the least and we look forward to working with them as things progress. They just put out the new Goldrush album which I highly encourage checking out, he’s been one of my personal favorite artists for the last few years. It’s a beautiful thing to come together under one roof with people who inspire and encourage each other to move forward. Between Gravitas and Re:Evolution Media, we feel perfectly at home and excited about our team and affiliations.

LK: You constantly incorporate new musicians into the ensemble, how does that change your music?
AM: It helps keep things interesting. The people we incorporate are usually artists that happen to be in our lives and around us at the time. We’re constantly working on music and tend to surround ourselves with other musicians, instrumentalists, vocalists etc. It’s usually a pretty natural result of hanging out with another musician(s), playing around with an inspiring idea and vibing on it together, then recording their input or reaction. Sometimes that will turn into a tune, simple as that… but alot of the time those recordings get re-interpreted and work their way into multiple ideas in the future. After a while, there’s a resource built up of expressions, personalities and visions from all these people that have come into our lives and inspired us. More recently, endless possibilities and opportunities are opening up thanks to the addition of Matthias Sayour as the drummer and beat maestro for Aligning Minds. Matthias is one of the best drummers we’ve ever met, he really gets our music and knows when to go all out and when to just lay low and add flavor. We’ve worked with a few different drummers in the past and he is by far the most on point and honed in individual we’ve had the pleasure of working with, a true ancient beat shaman both on the kit and in his daily life.

LK: Who inspires you/your musical influences?
AM: We get asked this a lot and it becomes harder and harder to answer each time. Haha, alot of our influence honestly comes from everyday life, our sons/family, experiences, nature, books, conversation, music we find, film , the internet, etc. Living in such an abundant and beautiful world coupled with the amount of information, technology, art and music that is immediately available at our fingertips, it’s really hard to not be continually inspired these days, almost overwhelmingly so.

Musically, artists such as Leftfield, Orbital, Aphex Twin, Sasha, Tipper, Milosh, Polar, Prefuse 73, Boards of Canada, Telefon Tel Aviv, Ochre, Ulrich Schnauss, Hybrid, Shpongle etc. all played major roles early on. I could keep listing but you probably get the idea… we are just into anything that is ‘deep’ – explorative, melodic, ethereal, experimental or just plain weird. Currently it’s our friends and peers that are inspiring us the most musically, everyone on our agency @ Re:Evolution Media, our label mates at Gravitas, the artists we are fortunate enough to work with and share the stage with…That’s where we seem to be pulling the majority of our inspiration from these days.

LK: How do you find yourselves working into this new transformational festival scene?
AM: I think it’s a pretty natural fit for us. It feels like the reality of the “scene” is finally merging with what we have always envisioned is possible. Life isn’t just about 1 thing – whether it be music, art, spirituality, etc. Life is a full spectrum experience and that’s how events should be too. We see these festivals and temporal societies as experiments in moving towards more permanent living communities and feel like we are personally learning how to share our gifts and talents with the collective whole, in hopes of creating a sustainable reality for ourselves, our families and our community. We are all in this together, and we’re in love with the fact that every year this becomes more and more prevalent at the events we attend and play. I think we have a lot to contribute to the movement and I also think we have a lot to learn from it. We’re honestly just genuinely excited to be here and to have the opportunity to be involved.

LK: I love the intention and intelligence behind your music and beats, and I see in your biography that it says “All ideals aside, this is music from the imaginations, hearts and souls of producers who want to use music to unite people and assist in positive growth and change.” Could you talk a little bit about your vision with Tribal council?
AM: Tribal Council is a perfect example of the type of intention-based collective we initially envisioned being a part of when we started Aligning Minds. A melding of spirit, art, music, education, technology and action in an ever expanding community. When we imagined and conceived of Aligning Minds, our original vision was to create music that in itself would create an experience of truth, connectedness, unity, peace, understanding and growth. We had this intuition that if this was accomplished, it would attract a synergetic energy in many forms that would perpetuate it, tying it into an infinitely larger picture. Seeing how true that is and continues to be is a beautifully thing to watch unfold. There is this major sense of actualization occurring right now that is growing in frequency at an almost contagious rate all over the world. People are getting involved and really making things happen in order to realize this beautiful and inherent vision that seems to be awakening inside all of us. So it’s quite an honor and a pleasure to be involved with collectives like Tribal Council who are actively creating this reality that is a powerful amalgamation of it’s working parts. We’re just happy to be able to be one of those working parts that can serve this greater whole.

LK: How has your style developed since you first started Aligning minds? AM:That’s a great question; our style has definitely come a long way since we started producing Aligning Minds material in 2003/2004, but overall our style as a whole has remained pretty similar. . Dan has always had more of a taste for faster, groove oriented stuff – and I have always been fond of the more experimental, idm, downtempo glitch sorts of vibes. We’ve always tried to find ways to fuse our tastes together into something new and unique that makes the most of the diversity we both bring to the table. I think that stands true today as well, although as we both individually grow and develop over time the differences are sometimes more recognizable than others. It’s a constant growing process of embracing and utilizing that. Over the years we gain more of a sense of what Aligning Minds “sounds like”. Although often we seem to like to rebel! Or try anyway, haha. Our tracks definitely have more cohesion and convey more of a story now, just a bit more realized I think. Our production quality has also evolved thanks to experience and also the evolution of the tools we use. I think playing out live and being involved in the ‘EDM’ scene over the years has given us more incentive to write material that has the potential to get a crowd moving as well. We definitely think about the dancefloor a bit more often now, although we never limit ourselves to it. I think we will always stay pretty rooted in creating head, heart and soul music.

LK: What other exciting projects are you working on?
AM:We have a lot in the queue; release wise we have a steady flow of remixes that we are working on that will be coming out at various times this year. We’re working to put together a follow-up remix album of “My Heart is Love” featuring some of our favorite fellow producers, as well as another EP or two later this year. We’ll also be doing some more events in and around Asheville, including another XAVL event, and will be contributing work to a charity cause through an organization called Groupees, along with Desert Dwellers and Random Rab. Oh, and some official music videos are under way. All that should keep us busy for a while!

LK: Where do you see your music/band in five years?
AM: We try not to look too far ahead, we just strive to be present in what we’re doing now or in the pretty near future… Five years is a long time! For us, even though having goals, ideals and a vision for the future can be helpful, we work best when we just let things unfold. Staying in the flow. We intend to continue putting out music first and foremost – a steady stream of releases, collaborations and remixes are taking shape for 2013. We’re also taking steps to take our live performance to the next level and are starting to work with some live visual designers to map out a proper stage / projection mapped system. The primary thing holding us back right now is funding, but once that hurdle is removed we can make that happen. Incorporating a live 3D projection mapped stage environment to create an immersive visual environment for the audience is intuitively the next step. Generally we’re interested in exploring new ways to create a perceptual experience that inspires new visions and realities in the perceiver. We would also like to create a portal for people to submit their own visions into the environment, such as user submitted video content.

They leave us with a truly poignant quote: “Truly fertile Music, the only kind that will move us, that we shall truly appreciate, will be a Music conducive to Dream, which banishes all reason and analysis. One must not wish first to understand and then to feel. Art does not tolerate Reason.” – Albert Camus

Threshold of Night by Subaqueous

Posted on January 30, 2013 by laurasparkley

Threshold of Night is Subaqueous’s new album. Filled with deep, dark bass lines and beautiful spoken poetry this album is sure to please. One hundred percent of the sales will be donated to Rainforest Action Network; focused on the preservation of the Amazon Rainforest and it’s indigenous peoples.

The first track on the album is called Shimmers in the Dark featuring Jamila. With beautiful poetry woven in and out this down-tempo track is sublime. What really caught my ear is the Peruvian pan-pipe samples used; which helps link the music to his cause. Star Silk is filled with traditional Indian bells and wonderful percussion. This guides the listener to an exotic imaginary land of sound, that is exquisitely composed by Subaqueous. With the deep bass-line constantly flowing; it helps make the album more cohesive. Each song uses sound clips from around the world, which gives each song a diverse ambiance. Please donate, and help save the rainforest by purchasing Subaqueous’s new album here.

::Tribal Council::

Art.Music.Community.Celebration.Co:Creation