Medisound
by Mister Mime
September 4th 2020
From the vibrant lands of Hawaii, the eclectic duo known as ‘Medisound’ bring us their debut release ’So Blessed’, a collection of electro-spiritual sonnets that are intended to uplift, heal and nourish the soul through carefully crafted instrumental arrangements and a radical production framework that support the raw lyrical profundity of the vocals. This ingenious work of art ushers the ancient world of medicine music in a modern direction by fusing a festive energy with an organic world-fusion sound . What could very well be the anthems of a technologically advanced and spiritually conscious one-world civilisation of the future, this symbiotic collaboration of what is truly a global sound hurtles towards free expression, one love and to be in tune with the natural frequencies of existence. Aloha!
MM: What is "Medicine Music” & “Medisound”?
Tyler: There has been an evolving world of “medicine music” inspired by indigenous cultures and their traditional medicine ceremonies. These ancient tribes have used the technology of music in unison with the world of plant-teachers/medicines, to help bring about a state of wellbeing and harmony with the individual, community, and the larger elements/world/life.
MM:What’s the concept/intent behind this album?
Tyler: This album was started here in Hawaii with the idea to bring together the production qualities of the electronic music that I have been practiced in, with the multi-instrumentation/vocal/ and ceremonial-science which Aum specializes in.
MM: Would you consider it an electro “fusion” record? How so?
Tyler: Yea, I would say electro fusion is appropriate. We mean to fuse the qualities of modern production and festival-inspired sounds, with more organic sounds of nature, vocals ,and/or world instrumentals.
Track by Track perspectives from Aum
MM: Track 1) Fire in my heart: How did you think of combining the various sounds like you did in this track? {the sitar like sounds with the rest of the sonic theme of the album}
Aum: I have loved sitar for years, and began playing when I was 20. It seemed really clear and cohesive to incorporate it into these tracks. It has an energy to open the 3rd eye and raise the kundalini that flows very well with this project. I wrote this song during an extremely challenging time, as an anthem to overcome anything - to always be able to redefine and reinvent yourself, and burn away anything that doesn’t serve with the heart's fire.
MM: Track 2) Recuerda: What are the South American tribal sounding vocals, sounds super soulful! Where does it come from, the lyrics and melody? What does it mean? What about the parts of the vocals with the throat singing?
Aum: This is a track that I came to me, mostly in one night, during a master plant diet in the Peruvian Amazon. It is mostly Spanish, with some Shipibo, Hawaiian, and Japanese. There is a “flauta del Abuelo” overtone flute, a native American drone flute, djembe, and various synths. The over-toning is generally tuvan style. The overall meaning of the song is “remember, we remember - we are the light, and the master lives inside.” Other themes include unifying heaven and earth, dancing with the cosmic serpent, and flying into the new age with song.
MM: Track 3) So blessed: Why did you choose to name the album after this track? What’s the other language just before 3 minute mark?
Aum: So Blessed is an attitude I like to carry everywhere I go. I believe that the pillars of real humanity are gratitude and blessing (yin/yang) and that real humanity is built on that. It’s a reminder to find the blessing in everything and celebrate life, not to be brought down by fears, stories, dramas, etc. but to rise up and celebrate who we are and why we are here-Aloha (love) and to spread aloha. The other language is actually several languages. I will break it down here here - omateotl tlazotlamatli sat naam remolina orkomanta sawayangayay noye noye manta kuya kalla di di di, people come together with ascension frequency. Languages (in order) here: nawa (aztec), gurumukhi (ancient sikh), quechua, english.
Loosely translated: sacred duality thank you, true name (truth vibration, icaro for clearing energy as well as water and emotional body and purifying the spiral.)
Also worth noting that 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-oneness is 11 times one…. I played this song with a djembe and sruti box for years before translating it electronically. I wrote it during my first trip to the Ecuadorian amazon over 10 years ago
MM: Track 4) Medicina Hip-Hop: Can you tell us about the instrumentation of this track? {What instruments were used, and how they were recorded & arranged}
Aum: 2 different native american drone flutes (a lower drone bass and a higher triple drone), a medicine drum, a djembe, some Dinê (Navajo) vocal samples with effects, digital drums, and digital and analog bass. This song came on a drive through Southern California. I wanted to explore something that would blend very traditional with hip hop and drum and bass, and take a very deep message and add a little bit of silliness in there as well, to remind us all not to take ourselves too seriously.
MM: Track 5) Deep Down in the Jungle: I found it to be a very unique track! Can you tell us a bit about the composition of this track?
Aum: This track was received around the same time as Recuerda. The story….. so there were some very dark scary “batman” like spirits trying to scare our group while in the amazon. This song came through as a statement to be fearless, and to be simultaneously relaxed and alert like the jaguar. “Beyond limit and need lies the space between, breathe deep and set yourself free” was inspired by our elder Maestro Domingo. The essence of which was that the main forces for humanity to clear are need and limit, as they place well-being outside of the self. The eastern yogis would say attachment and aversion, which is essentially a parallel message. “let your light shine bright illuminate the night and awaken to your dream” is to inspire us to conquer doubt, fear, limit and need - to stay strong and clear, and dream awake a world we want to live in.
MM: What were the challenges you faced while writing this album?
Tyler: It has been a lot of work to get this project off the ground. We came together on a new communal property in Hawaii where we took over an existing 15-acre fruit farm and smoothie/cafe business. There was a ton to do and learn, on top of building up the property to be hospitable for more community members. We ended up building a studio from an old banana processing shack that was off-grid and powered by solar. There has been a lot of setbacks throughout the process. Hawaii has been through a lot the last few years with the hurricane and the lava fissure, and the current state of the world has perpetuated this ungroundedness. All in all, it's taught me a lot about staying present and just surrendering to the flow.
Aum: This album has been a major journey. I never dreamed it would take so long to release 5 songs, but alas, bending and blending genres amidst multiple moves and natural disasters was no joke. I am so happy to release this album to the world and we have already made some good progress on the follow-up album!
MM: What are your influences: musical and non musical, for the creation of this album and generally that influence you in your life? Do you draw inspiration from other art forms or other disciplines?
Tyler: We have both been influenced by many different types of music, as well by the diverse experiences in our lives. From ambient music through bass music and psy-trance, electronic music festivals have influenced me a lot throughout my life.
Aum: Musical: everything, and the remix of it. Direct downloads from spirit in whatever way me and we as an instrument can express it the blessed way. Desert Dwellers, Outkast, Classical Hindu, Hawaiian, Amazonian, African, sounds of the spirit world, etc etc.
Non musical: love, yoga, qigong, ceremony, holistic healing, camping, very extending camping, plant teachers,
MM:What’s your take on Genres? And how do you go about drawing from and incorporating the sound that you need from various genre pools?
Tyler- The Medisound project incorporates elements from a lot of genres, and comes out something that is hard to put into any one genre. We incorporate elements of electronic genres like: bass music, psytrance, techno, drum and bass, trap, etc. As well as sounds inspired from the North American, South American, Eastern, and even Hip-Hop traditions. We don’t seek to fit into any genre, but to freely express music that reflects our influences and inspirations, and those of the global community that we are part of.
MM: What was your collaboration process between yourself and Aum Prakash in the writing of this album?
Tyler: These 5 songs have been written and sung by Aum for some years prior to this project. We thought it would be a good way to begin the project by producing these songs to their potential and getting them out to the world. For most of these songs, the production was built around the vocal structure of his existing songs. (Although with ‘Recuerda, the vocals happened to work with an instrumental song I had started.)
Going into this project, I hadn’t had a lot of experience with recording or mixing instruments and vocals, so it was fun to figure it out along the way. We tried to record and incorporate custom sounds as much as we could. We ended up recording guitar, djembe, doumbek, sitar, native american flutes, an abuelo flute, shruti box, didgeridoo, and the vocals from Aum as well as the female singers OmniLove and Xango Shola
Aum: All of these songs except “Deep down in the jungle” were recorded in 432hz, not 440hz. This felt important to establish the frequency (as close as possible) with natural harmonics and cycles - and not just go with the standard that was put in (literally by the Nazis) and has no real natural harmonics. Of course, using synthesizers, there is only so much that can be done, but the attempt was made to get closer, and we are already looking for methods to get even closer with the follow-up album (possible use of tuning files etc). Tyler and I met some years ago, and he got a vocal sample of me and made a whole song out of it. When we met again on big island years later he played it for me and I was blown away. We started work right away. I'm an ace of spades and he is an ace of hearts and we are both capricorn, so very driven where we are passionate. It’s been amazing working with Tyler because we have some great overlap but also some places where we are very unique. I write and free-flow and sing in many languages with many instruments, and Tyler has a ton of technical skill and is super organized and detail oriented. It's a really fun match.
MM: What is your connection with nature and spirituality? How has the place where you are from and where you live influenced you as a person and your music?
Tyler: I grew up in Mount Shasta in Northern California. Mount Shasta has been a major inspiration in my upbringing for beautiful nature, the elements, and for the joy of outdoor music events. Through my 20’s, I traveled and spent time with indigenous elders to learn more about the wisdom of tribal life, which included knowledge of plants and ceremonial practices. I have been inspired by the traditional technologies of such cultures, and the ways in which they use music to help heal, awaken, and inspire people to really celebrate life. Since moving to Hawaii 3 years ago, I have been able to deepen my connection with the powerful nature here, as well as with my spiritual practices, and community. Living in community has been teaching me a lot about myself, and fortifying my daily practices and cultivation of presence and perseverance. There is plenty to be inspired by in Hawaii. It is a microcosm of the work we are all doing on a global level; Learning to live harmoniously with each other and with nature, how to overcome disasters and trauma, and how to transmute it all into beautiful art.
Aum: I could write a book on that question, a few people have actually requested it so maybe one day, lol. In short, I come from the light, from the stars, to the Earth with a purpose to live aloha and spread it like wildfire. I’ve spent months on end deep in the forest, in Hawaii and the amazon, as well as sacred sites around the world and the Himalayan foothills of India. I look for what's real and deep in all cultures I visit and live with, and while many things vary, there are a lot of parallels. The parallels are where I look the deepest. The elders have shared with me that the spirit world is generally sending us around 30,000 messages per day, but that most people do not even pick up 3 of them. It's become a mission then of remembering; remembering the connection with nature, great spirit, great mystery, and our part in all of that, and cultivating the relationship as an extension of self and a divine reflection. In the process I have come to a couple things that are really important and meaningful: love is truth (as it has no opposite), hate/fear/anger are just the absence of love (not the opposite), and also that most things are a lot simpler than we think. Much of which is deep and meaningful is actually very simple and clear, and we will benefit a lot when we stop making things more complicated then they need to be.
As for music, it’s been a key element of who I am and why I am here. Nikola Tesla said, “If you want to Understand the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” That resonates for me to the core. Also sound is connected with the Ether element, from which the 4 material elements emerge and are connected by and through. “abracadabra” - I create as I speak. Music can carry us through worlds of emotions, dimensions, help us to overcome illusion and find empowerment, harmony and joy. Medisound was the name I received for this project during a long fast in the forest without food or water, to express the medicine of sound and the capacity to empower , harmonize, and create through music. Oh Yes we are so blessed
You Can Follow Medisound on:
https://medisound.bandcamp.com/album/so-blessed
https://open.spotify.com/album/5JDynURlSKe81nQg7F1ZhT?autoplay=true
https://www.facebook.com/pg/MedisoundMusic/posts/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPOodHWMwHhbabo0F4xLJJg
All Images courtesy of Medisound
