Music

Going Beyond Consciousness

Being a big fan of meditation and altered states, I wanted to create some music specifically for accessing the higher states of consciousness, and for slipping into other dimensions as with shamanic journeys and astral projection.

My criteria for meditation music is it must be minimal, no movement or beats, calm and peaceful, and ideally not made with a synthesiser. I think there is just something organically magical about acoustic instruments that can’t be replicated electronically.

Beyond was created to take myself beyond my current sense of consciousness and beyond what I could imagine. It does the job for me, and I am happy to share it with the world.

Beyond is from The Calm Album. Free or pay what you please here.

Enjoy:

Picnic at Hanging Rock Video Clip

I fell in love with this tune when I first heard it in the movie Picnic at Hanging Rock. It is so peaceful and innocent, yet when set with the movie it becomes beautifully haunting.

The original is by renowned Romanian panpipe player, Gheorghe Zamfir. It’s an exceptionally technical piece, with so much history and musicality in it, that I was a little scared to stuff up, but I knew that I could create my own version of it that would hopefully stand on its own, without taking away from the original.

I recorded this piece on tenor recorder because I wanted that airy woody sound, and I wanted something lower than my usual flute. But recorder is not my main instrument, and tenor recorder requires quite a stretch of the fingers, so it took a few takes to get right.

Once I was happy with the recording, I had to wait for the perfect weather to shoot the video. I was hoping for some thick winter fog in the bush, but time was running out – COVID restrictions in Victoria were about to toughen up, and wearing a mask (even in the bush) was about to become mandatory.

I had a window of 2 days while my kid was at school before masks were to become a requirement – both days were forecast for rain. I didn’t mind my camera getting wet, as it is fairly splash-proof, but I didn’t want my camera gear getting wet. I had a new gimbal stabiliser that I was still getting the hang of, and I didn’t want it to get wetter than necessary.

Fortunately I had scouted the area already, so I pounced on the first day I had available. There was a light drizzle, so I wore my rain jacket while walking, and gave the splash proofing of my camera a thorough test.

Of course, it would have been ideal to go to Hanging Rock for the video, but it was too far to go with the current restrictions, but this local area has plenty of value.

Beautiful gum trees emerging from beds of bracken. A kookaburra. Raindrops in the sunlight. Winter flowers emerging. Even a rare koala!

Luckily I got enough video before the rain really came down. Check out the video below, and get the single here 🙂

The Siren Call from Frozen 2

When I saw Frozen 2 at the movies with my 5 year old earlier in the year, the simple tune spoke to me. The storyline told my own story of never fitting in, always playing in the realms of magic rather than logic, always off on my own solo adventures communing with nature.

This simple yet exceptionally beautiful tune, combined with the gorgeous imagery of stunning landscapes was something I had to recreate. My way.

I’d never recorded a cover song before, and I put it off for a long time. For some reason I thought it would be too expensive or simply impossible to do legally. But as it turns out, if you just ask, the answer might just be Yes.

Since flute is my instrument, I recorded a few takes on it, resisting my natural urge to overcomplicate things and mess it up.

I added a little synthesizer for depth, some birdsong I recorded out and about, plus my signature overuse of reverb.

I filmed the video all with my phone in local parklands, except for the stars at the end – there’s a photo from my local beach, and a time lapse from my backyard. Considering the low resolution of my phone, I think a dreamy effect was achieved.

Enjoy:

The single is available in my shop, and of course all the usual platforms you get your music fix from 🙂

All About ASPECTS

This is a different EP for me. I didn’t want to make a full album of 8-12 songs, only to really be in love with a few tracks. At only 4 songs, I wanted to make sure that each song was my absolute favourite.

I wanted to push my own boundaries, going beyond simply feeling good or sharing an expression. I wanted to combine the darkness within with the peace that comes from accepting it, embracing it, and willfully stepping further into it. I wanted to explore the richness of the macabre. I wanted to sink down deep into the weird. I wanted to walk alongside the dark. I wanted to become all of this and more.

During the preparation for recording, I step into the void. I do nothing. I feel everything. Angst, frustration, awkwardness, trauma, cosmic connection, the stories of the lands, the parallels with other worlds, the inability to fit in here, the sense that I will always be that lone wolf walking between worlds, and finally – the knowing that comes with accepting that this is so fking perfect, relishing in it, and fully walking in this world as that lone dark wolf that I am.

If you are reading this, then I know that you relate to some of this, or all of it, or maybe even more of this than I can fathom. In which case, I bow down to you. You are BEYOND.

Want to know a bit about each song?

Before we went into lockdown (well, really half lockdown here in Aus – we had many freedoms, and they have recently opened up further) I was writing a book. I’m still kind of writing it, but in all honesty, when lockdown began, I put down the pen, and the music poured out of me.

The first track is called Weatherless, and this is the basis for my next book (if I finish it – covid music is still coming through).

Weatherless is a dry barren grey land. It is rocky and the only trees around are dead. Pale grey branches are scattered across the land. It is bleak. And if you really open your eyes, it is dead fking beautiful.

Liminal is the next song, and this is the strange world in which I create music, or books, or anything.

It’s that pause between breaths. It’s that break between thoughts. It’s looking over the valleys from the top of the hill, and your breath is taken so far away you can’t speak or even think to take a photo. It’s the splitting of the consciousness as you walk away from the physical and step into the metaphysical. It’s the vibration of your soul as it touches you from the astral plane. It is that wordless and formless aspect of self.

Corridor of Skulls is up next, and goes back to this book (maybe a shorter story?) I am writing.

In this Weatherless land, which is parallel to my own every day life, I walk around and see the ground littered with skulls – human and animal. Brittle femurs stick out of the ground. An ageless ribcage upended next to a leafless grey tree. These bleak thoughts and visions run through my mind as a walk down a sunny street. It is so bizarre. And also, when I embrace it, it is oh so beautiful.

Something M is the final track on ASPECTS, and it is quite different to what I usually share.I am a flute player by trade, and my potential for piano virtuosity ended after a few lessons when I was 3 years old. I already knew the notes. I just wanted to put my feet on the pedals because I wasn’t allowed to at home (too noisy!). Something M features my minimalist rhythmic way of thinking, with additional rhythms and melodies weaving their way in and out.

Ever listen to a song and tap your own drum solo or sing in harmony? That’s me, with about 1000 other layers. Something M is that something that takes your own a journey filled with side-journeys. It’s cinematic in style, and reminds me a little of the Game of Thrones or Westworld soundtracks, with a side of Philip Glass.

Putting it all together…

I recorded about 6 or 7 songs in the first 2 weeks of lockdown, but ended up scrapping a few because they either weren’t working, or they were good, but second best. Once I had worked out the songs, I needed to create the cover.

In my mind, I had what I see as the Weatherless land. I knew I had to go out and take some photos nearby where I knew I would get The Perfect Landscape. But of course, whenever I try to force something into The Perfect Idea, it all falls to pieces. Suddenly bushwalking was no longer allowed, and where I had in mind was in the middle of a bushwalk. This walk was only a 20 minute drive from my house, but I didn’t want to be someone who tries to find loopholes in the rules, only for the government to create tougher rules. So I sucked it up and browsed through some old photos.

I found a few beach photos from last summer that did the trick. The sand dunes on the cover are from a beach not far from here, and the lighting just happened to be perfect on the day. It was a long summer sunset, with that perfect golden glow on the dunes, but with dramatic grey clouds up above.

Of course, I can’t use Photoshop without utilising about 500 of it’s bazillion possibilities, so I added some stars that I think I took from my backyard. If you look closely, you’ll see the Orion constellation in there. He’ll look upside down to my northern hemisphere friends. There are also several other layers in the sky to create texture.

The CD

Even though ASPECTS is EP length, I wanted to create a CD for it as a work of art in its own right. I love records and CDs and their album covers. It’s a complete package! Vinyl isn’t a feasible option for me at the moment, but I do hope to make a few vinyl records at some point.

If you have been following me for a while, you’ll probably know I am big into a minimal waste lifestyle. I am that person who emails companies when we’ve received junk mail in the letter box, that has a clear No Junk Mail sign, and explain to them why I can’t compost their glossy piece of landfill, and should not have to be responsible for their waste of resources. I will email the same company over and over until they quit sending me rubbish.

So of course, ASPECTS most definitely does not come in a jewel case. Why do they call it a jewel case? It’s plastic and it scratches and breaks and it is rubbish. So ASPECTS comes in a gatefold sleeve made of 100% post-consumer waste. And of course, it is recyclable and compostable. The CD isn’t though. No one has invented Earth-friendly CDs (vinyl is another story, albeit cost prohibitive).

The Journal

For most of my recent albums, I’ve created a matching journal. Some have been lined, some blank, some hardcover, some softcover. I am big on journaling. I write all my ideas on life, I map out most of my tunes in there, I commune with the universe and channel other beings. I started creating journals simply because I’ve always had a journal, so it’s just something I need. And I like my album covers, so if I like them, maybe other people do too? Maybe other people also like to listen to music and write or draw or whatever?

So I love to create beautiful journals for me to write beautiful things in. And I like to share them with an album release!

The ASPECTS journal is paperback, with saddle stitching so it’s stronger for stuffing into bags and throwing around. (I used to work for a music publisher, and one day the boss told me off for ordering the wrong binding on her notebooks. She specified it had to be saddle stitching so it wouldn’t fall apart when she threw it across the room in fits of anger.)

The ASPECTS journal is blank, A5 size, and at 64 pages is slim enough to not weigh you down when you need to write at the beach, and has just enough pages to keep you going until my next release 😉

Release date is the solstice, which also happens to be a new moon.

Being the winter solstice down here, a new moon feels very fitting. It’s dark. It’s cold. It’s bleak. It’s precious. It’s beautiful. All ASPECTS of the cosmos are visible when there is no light from the moon.

Have a listen to the first song, and order ASPECTS here.

Something M

This piece of music has many firsts for me, but I’ll tell you the story of it first…

You know, at first glance, most people think my music is beautiful in the sense that it is light, perhaps glorious, and even blissful. There’s definitely an energy of working with the “light” if you know what I mean.

But most people don’t realise that I cover the full spectrum of our emotions, the full spectrum of humanity, and the full spectrum of what it is to be real. That is – there’s a lot of “dark” in there too.

There’s a lot of bleakness, of feeling alone, of not belonging, of not being of this world, of wandering around on this Earth like an imposter.

And through all that – there’s a sense of permission that it’s actually OK to feel like this. And that it can even be beautiful. Like when we listen to sad songs and they make us cry because they are so sad, but they are so beautiful at the same time. Like when we listen to an opera about someone who’s just killed themselves and they sing and it is the most exquisite thing we’ve ever heard. Just as there’s a beauty in watching roses gradually die and dry in a vase, there’s a beauty in the rich tapestry of life that weaves in the full emotions of humanity and Mother Earth, and there’s a beauty in feeling it all.

I feel this on a depth of so many layers, it is almost impossible to tell them apart, but man is it beautiful. Something even… magical.

And then… Something M was born.

Something M from ASPECTS

Something M has many firsts for me:

Layering piano sounds – I’m not a pianist – this is challenging for me!
No acoustic instruments – This is all done on a synthesiser. Yes I played the notes, but yes I also acknowledged my piano skills were shite AF and I needed an easier keyboard to work with that I could then force to be in time (oh the mess that was happening when I was trying and failing with the piano!)
Introducing other orchestral sounds – Again on the synth I was able to do this, and I love the effect! I feel cinematic AF.
Allowing myself to show the darker side of life – Can you hear any Game of Thrones / Westworld influences in there?
Rhythm and melody – Working with the synth allowed me to express so many rhythmic layers that I usually hear in my head, but am unable to do on the acoustic piano due to my rubbish playing (and let’s not forget the weird buzzing on some of the piano notes which means I need to play quietly on these notes, which knocks out my rhythm due to the delay in sound, and sometimes no sound, that comes out when very quiet). While working with these multi layers of rhythms, I was also able to add the slower melody over the top, which is also what I hear in my head when I play – all the rhythms and melodies and songs of the godzzz 🙂

Enjoy 🙂

There is only one thing that is REAL

The only thing that is REAL is your very self here, right now. The only thing that is REAL is this present moment. The ONLY thing you can be sure of is your essence here on Earth, right now in this present moment.

Truth is, you don’t know if the blue sky looks the same for others as it does for you. Colour is only your interpretation. Government is a human construct. The economy is liquid. Borders are imaginary lines on the surface of the Earth. Daydreams and night dreams intersect with one another. What is hot for one, is cool for another. Death is merely an aspect of life.

We are all connected by the fabric of the cosmos, held together by threads of stars. If we all breathe as one, then we can only be REAL right now.

Plant your feet in the Earth. Feel her caress your skin, your bones, your body, your shell of existence. It is with immense gratitude that we get to experience this. It is like nothing else in this world.

Reality may be a figment of our imagination, but we can at least be sure that now is REAL.

Be here now. It’s the only thing we know is REAL.

Music available from Selected Soundscapes.