SAM

In 2006 I visited Adi Shakti puja in England. At the stall with CDs I came across an album which had a picture of a girl and a simple title SAM on the cover. I asked the stallkeeper and he assured me, that this girl is a yogin, so I bought that CD. I did not know her and did not know about her music, either. Bigger and nicer surprise came when I played that CD at home. The album became one of my favourite. Back then, Sam had her website, so I tried to ask for an interview, but I did not succeed. And today, after nearly 8 years, I am meeting Sam again. Her singing style has changed and she is in another band - Casabella. But with Sam we will return to that album from year 2002, which was her debut, and here is a short interview with Sam, which is intended for our blog.

Sam, can you introduce yourself to us a little bit?


Hi yes well for the last 2 nearly 3 years I’ve been co-writing and singing with a Latin Beat band called Casabella. The musicians are changing all the time, but we are currently made up of 7 yogis and 2 non-yogis. We have our own EP out and are currently recording our album and have been gigging around London doing our thing and having fun. I am also working with a folk rock band, who happen to be my cousins, and I am co-writing with them also and playing gigs in London.

I am Anglo-Burmese. My parents are from Burma but they are both mixed with Burmese and English blood. I was born in England and I have a brother and a sister. I’ve always loved music and from a young age was singing and putting on performances with my cousins to our family. We would write songs and perform dance routines and even put on plays... Good fun days!!

I came into Sahaja Yoga in 1998. A friend of mine was practicing and I found it fascinating and wanted to find out more. At the time I was very down on things and exhausted creatively as I’d been working in many different music projects, ranging from rock, dance, industrial dance. I was feeling as though I didn’t really know who I was and very lost. Finding Sahaja Yoga changed all that. I began to understand my role, who I was, and that my creativity was something given to me, a gift, and that I should use it.


I love listening to your album SAM. How did you get to recording and where did you find your repertoire?

I came into Sahaja Yoga with my then partner Adam Fox. We met many musicians and joined together with Daniel Wagner, a singer songwriter and Paddy Martin, a guitarist and drummer. We firstly started just for fun jamming and playing and singing each other’s songs. We even started to record each other’s songs, but realised something wasn’t really working. We sat down and discussed that maybe we need to all write together. So no one should bring finished songs, just ideas for us all to work on. It was a very interesting process and one that became the writing style for SAM.

Adam brought guitar riffs, Daniel would bring a rough sketch of a verse and chorus, I would have a melody, Paddy would bring more general guitar ideas and riffs and suddenly some very interesting songs started to form. Adam and Paddy would then go up to the recording studio (427 Studios) which we had in our house and put down a drum track and Daniel and I would write the lyrics and finalise the melodies. The songs formed very quickly and we had created our own style.

In the album I can hear the influence from the 70s, which I like very much, both arrangement and music grow from those times. You cooperated with Adam Fox in his studio 427 Studios (as did for example the group Zephyr). What was the cooperation like and did he influence you in anyway?

Adam had his own very unique production style and he was very much into music from the 70’s and rock music, such as Boston, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix so some of the guitar ideas and vibe of that time was brought into our music. We also worked with a very talented Producer, Michael Lloyd from New Zealand who was also very influential with the final sound and editing of the songs.

Some songs have a strong guitar drive of Jimi Hendrix. Moreover you put his song Angel to your CD. Did Hendrix inspire you as well as crackling of vinyl LPs in other records?

Jimi Hendris did inspire us all. It was really special to do our own version of Angel. It’s one of my favourites from the album and yes I still love the sound of vinyl LPs and the crackling!

Could you tell me more about my favourites songs? That Was Then, (very hard and special song, hard gt, bass,) Sometimes , I Believe ….

That Was Then is a great start to the album. We worked on getting a really hard synth bass sound to give it a slight dance vibe and the unusal backwards guitar was just a quirky idea that worked. We added a vocal effect to the voice and the song was done. To the listener the song may appear to be about love, but with all the SAM songs they are about finding yourself and becoming the spirit.
Sometimes came together with a guitar line from Adam. This is a really beautiful song. Adam had this intro verse written and then when Daniel and I heard it the verse melody just came out and then the chorus. Again it was written pretty quickly and we could really feel the vibrations when writing this one. The lyrics came out very spontaneously too and were a joy to write again focusing on the spirit.
I believe was written with us all just jamming some ideas. I think someone may have turned up with a verse or something and then it just worked out. All our lyrics talk about Sahaja Yoga and that it is all around you if you just surrender and believe.

From pop-rock you came to Afro-Latin American music. Is that your development or did you find this music fantastic and are you captivated by it?

Well really it happened by chance. I’ve always liked to dance to latin style music as it has a very free vibe to it and always makes me feel joyful, but I never thought I would be working with a Latin band. If someone had said that to me a few years ago I would have just laughed! It’s funny how things happen. I just met Gianni my best friend’s husband and we just started a band with the three of us, including Michael Lloyd who helped produce the SAM album. The band then grew from 3 to 9 members. Michael and I still find it funny that we’re working together in a Latin Beat Band something we never thought would happen!

How does sahaja yoga reflect in your music life?

Sahaja Yoga reflects massively in my music life. Every lyric that I write is about the spirit in someway, even if it’s not in an obvious way. I just want to express that in my lyrics and music and it happens very naturally.

Older album of SAM you can find: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sammusic

Sahaj Unlimited - Cool vibrations from Finland

The other day I had put into my CD player one fantastic CD from Finland. I was twice at Adi Shakti Puja, organized by northern European countries and I always liked to listen to the musicians who give concerts or play at puja or just have a morning meditation. Some of them were the members of the group Sahaj Unlimited, to which I would like to devote the following lines. I always get enthusiastic, when I hear something new in music. Before I entered yoga, I used to play hundreds of CDs with all possible music genres. I got encharmed and pleasantly surprised by various fusions of especially Eastern music with Western music given by various musicians. Any mixes, the influence of ethnic cultures and infusion of those cultures in the Western music always persuaded me, that music does not know any borders and that it is a language without words. With this CD I expected another versions of famous bhajans and kawali. Yes, I was right until the moment when the CD came to playing the last three songs. I got surprised and in my face you could have seen the smile full of joy. Yes, there was again something new!!

Remix of famous Gondhari and Jogwa literally captivated me. I am always fascinated when I can find something new in music – here it was the courage to make a special version, insert a new idea and give it a new life. The SU music in these remixes goes with a full swing, you cannot hear anything similar anywhere else. The main credit goes to the Finnish producer and the owner of recording label Elastic House, Dile Kolanen. This musician had studied the Finnish Polytechnics, he teaches the theory of music and plays the electrical bass-guitar. He used to play in many Finnish bands, the last of which has the name Shava (I think we will hear about it), he is a composer, he creates musical design and loves moving pictures. Several years ago he had a dream to spread yoga through music, to make such type of CD and publish it.

We have asked Dile:

How the Sahaj Unlimited did come into existence?

Here in Finland there are many musicians in yoga, so it is quite natural to find pleasure in sahaja music. This is also the reason why Sahaj Unlimited were born.

I was pleasantly surprised by remixes of the songs Gondhari and Jogwa. I like the involvement of western instruments (bass-guiter, electric guitar), excellent rhythmical secion and joy of singing, which can be really heard. How did the idea to make such versions come into existence?

I spent much time by fusing various kinds of music. I am so happy about it. I like creating musical mixes, where you can find all possible elements from various cultures!!!


And what says Raine Salo, musician and producer about SULtd? (Click on image below)

More info about SULtd you can find on MYSPACE:

http://www.myspace.com/sahajunlimited

New CDs

Dear all,
we are pleased to inform you that we have added to the broadcast four new albums. The first one is new double album of Ahmet Selim Ergen - Hindistanbul. Second one is nice album of Anandita Basu - Janani 11 and other two are - CD of Slovakia sahaja yogis - one older album from Live concert (public program in town Trnava (SK) and last one is very good CD - Sahaj Unlimited from Finlad (please, visit our radio blog) .…

Ahmet Selim Ergen - Hindistanbul 2 CD

Anandita Basu - Janani 11

Public program in Trnava (SK) - Slovakia Yogis

Sahaj Unlimited from Finland

Please continue to enjoy the radio!

Radio team

Sahaja Yoga in Hawaii

A new method to start spreading Sahaja Yoga in a country: online:

http://sahaja.hilolana.com

Let's wish them good luck!

Casabella

Casabella is an exciting 9 piece Latin-Beat band that has been rocking festivals, dance floors and clubs with its vibrant songs and groovy rhythms.With musicians from Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, the word „fusion“ takes real meaning with this colourful, young, and soulful band. Gigging regularly in the London circuit and festivals, Casabella is finalizing its first CD which is due for release in 2009, with a repertoire of new songs written by lead singers Gianni and Sam.

Casabella's e­nergetic live performance has something for all tastes: pop, Latin, Brazilian, reggae, all with a jazzy flavour given by Jivana on Trumpet and Kim on Sax. The main influences for the drums and percussion section are Cuban, Brazilian and afro beat and they have proven to get even the shyest of spectators grooving on the dance floor!!!

Casabella were formed in 2007 and started by Italian guitarist and vocalist Gianni Rossi, vocalist Samantha Grant of Anglo-Burmese descent and New Zealand keyboard player, Michael Lloyd.They began to write a mix of Latin fusion music taking in all of their influences from rock, pop, reggae, afro-beat to Latin and began gigging around London. During one of their performances they met Thierry Deneux a French drummer and percussionist who after hearing their music for the first time wanted to join the band immediately.

This 4 piece then continued writing, performing as well as going on to meet new band members South African bassist Winton Palmer, French trumpet player Jivana Hunt, Jamaican percussionist Derek Ferguson, Brazilian percussionist Manitu Szerman and saxophonist and percussionist Kim Eersel of French/Moroccan parentage to complete the 9 piece line-up.

Where did such distinct musicians meet? Gianni as a musician playing Afro and Latin music, and Samantha, formerly pop and rock singer?

Gianni: You will be surprised but Sam and I came from a similar music background and generation time. I started playing in bands since I was 17 doing all sorts of alternative, indie rock music. Just after I started SY meditation in Italy I had the desire to compose music for live gigs where the audience could dance and feel happy. When I came to London I started playing in an indie music band but soon I decided to start my own project and I was lucky to met Sam, who is my wife's childhood best friend, and it just flew magically.

Sam: Like Gianni I have been in bands since the age of 16. I was singing in a new wave rock band until my early twenties and gigging around London. I have also been in many musical projects over the years from my own album ‘SAM’, to TV work, to all types of music ranging from dance, pop, rock, to ambient music. Singing, writing and performing from a young child has always been a passion of mine and is in my blood. When I started to meditate I was looking for a new direction, something deeper, music to touch people. We formed the ‘SAM’ project working with 3 other yogis and when that project came to it’s natural end I wanted to try a new style of music, something I hadn’t done before. By chance I met Gianni who is married to my best friend. We jammed and we just seemed to gel vey well musically. Gianni’s cool latin style mixed with my western melodies just seemed to work. It was the start of Casabella and I knew we were onto something special.

Casabella´s music is lively, raging and wild, it bears spontaneity of Latin American music, it is a mixture of all possible genres and it brings the joy of dance and motion. Do you compose songs together, or do you complement each other or are the songs the individual work of each of you? Does the band have its share on the songs?

Gianni: I had quite few songs that I wrote in Italy and Sam arranged them and added her singing style and translations in English. Then we wrote new songs together very spontaneously. I respect Sam very much as an artist and person and we share ideas and listen to each other suggestions. The songs were quite strong just acoustic but without the whole band we could never have reached the level that we are now. Sam and I leave the band members to express themselves and they add their own creativity in every single song.

Sam: It was very inspiring to be free to express myself and add and arrange my own parts to Gianni’s already existing songs as I could hear that they were already very good. I too respect Gianni’s musicianship and when we started writing songs together it just seemed effortless and the songs just worked. As Gianni has said the band add their own creativity to each song. With all these elements it has helped us to get to this level and when we are one the vibrations just flow.

How did you get to music and playing? What were the grounds of your music? What did influence you?

Gianni: I started playing guitar when I was 15. The first LP I bought was “Ummagumma“ by Pink Floyd and we went to listen it in a dark room with my brother and friends to listen all the special effects on that album. As a teenager I was into Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin but I kept on following the new music coming, so I went through west coast, country, Brazilian music, jazz, blues, blues rock, rock, punk, new wave, garage rock, reggae, ska, afro beat, indie rock, grunge - you name it. I had a lot of heroes when I was young but now I think it is just a projection of your mind - we are all human.

Sam: I started singing as a child in my bedroom and writing melodies and songs from about the age of 7, I wanted to be a DJ and I used to record my songs on an old tape recorder and pretend to play them to the nation!! As a child my cousin’s and I used to hold concerts for our parents and perform songs we’d written together, it was fun. My first serious influence was the SKA movement. I just loved the energy and the style of the bands. I then got into punk and new wave with bands like The Clash and Blondie. Then when I was about 13 I saw U2 on the tv and was completely blown away. Their passion and connection with the audience was something I’d not seen before. The ‘War’ album had a massive affect on me and I knew then that I wanted to be writing and performing in a band.

You give a lot of concerts and let know about yourselves. That is very good. Your profile on Myspace is one of the very extensive and now you have already your own EP disc. Do live concerts give you the feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment?

Gianni: We are 7 yogis in the band plus 2 non yogis that have experienced meditation but they are not practicing. Well, you know most of the time when we play live we are like one, very strong, it is like taking a pill of happiness we all feel really good after a gig and the audience too.
There is a lot of work done behind the scenes to manage a 9 piece band and to build what we have achieved so far. There is a lot more to do but I am trying to be detached as much as possible. We are also working on some afro dance choreographies with 2 yogini to add more to our live performances.

Sam: Yes our drummer once said ‘a Casabella gig is like taking a happy pill’. It is such a good analogy. He is not a yogi but for him to feel the joy inside each time we perform is amazing. It means that we are touching people, we feel good and so does the audience. It makes all the hard work worthwhile. Working with 7 other yogis in the band gives us a real strength. I can feel the collectivity and the feeling of being one. The 2 yogini dancers will also add something very special.

Does Sahaja yoga play any role in your music and a musician life? What are your plans for the future?

Gianni: If you listen to the lyrics they reflect the essence of sahaj. I would like to represent a life style out there in the world where it is possible to live and enjoy yourself without drinking and taking drugs. Meditation is the only ways to keep your subtle system clean and be able to get the most from your life. Casabella name is dedicated to Cabella village in Italy and that is the root where most of us are coming from. I would like that we can break through the minds and conditionings of people to help bringing a new era in our planet, together with every single project that Mother is working on, where we all have a role.

Sam: Sahaja yoga plays a very big role in our music. The lyrics are sahaj and with our music we want to tell people about another way of living, a life of peace with complete joy and self awareness as the spirit. A life does exist without stress and the need for alcohol and drugs. If we surrender we can be touched by the divine vibrations.

“If anyone out there wants to support Casabella, for gigs or helping to promote Casabella music, please get in touch with them through this radio station. Casabella's CD is available on Itunes and CDBaby”.

Links: MySpace, CDBaby, YouTube,

The IPO - Millennium and Blossomtime

We will finish this month by a close look at the trilogy album, which was recorded and published by The IPO during the years 1995–1999. I had both articles hidden in my computer and believed that one day I will use them and let the readers know after all these years about the reviews on these wonderful songs. We pay our attention to the albums Blossomtime and Millennium. Many of you have certainly those albums at home and you can listen to that music on our radio. Let´s together read those reviews which were published on the internet in the nineties.

1995 Blossomtime is the first collection of songs from the diversely talented musical group, the IPO. It may sound on first listening like contemporary music, the kind that fills the airwaves. But listen again. This is world music – world music with roots, contemporary stylings and solid musicianship. A passing band graces the opening moments of this CD, like a collective memory or a dream. The music strains to touch our ears wrapped in a cool, refreshing wind, reaching out.

At first, like a ragtag mariachi band coming over the hill on their way to a wedding, then like an army of warriors announcing a new age, this overture gives tribute to the bedrock of IPO's genesis. It is with the unlikely rhythms of this spirited Indian village folk song, sung for generations, that this musical curtain rises. The words in the Marathi language – although we don't understand them – ask for spiritual awakening.

In a second homage to their antecedents, a voice, cloaked in the same winds of time, speaks the words of the visionary poet William Blake: „To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower…“. And then, without delay, off we go… Blossomtime does just that. It blossoms and unfolds with the grace of a flower, each petal of a new color – urban rap (Paradox), playful pop (My Bubble Went Pop), even relaxed Latin lounge (Only the Spirit) and driving folk ballad (Horseback Ride). Blossomtime, for all its stylings, stands strong with one vision.

Best articulated in songs like Better Than Anything I Know, Great Moments of Joy and the anthem-like These are the Times, there is a call. With the immediacy of one voice, the songs together tell us „It's happening Here and it's happening Now“. „I know you've waited so long / These are the times“ one tune tells us. „We understand that life is in the palm of our hands“ echoes another line of lyrics. Everything is arranged for a new world to begin, as described in The Garden – a place not of the future, but a place of prophecy, set to begin right now. „People are ready“. That's the other theme laced through this work: „Everybody Knows“. Everybody knows something's wrong with the world, so the desire for change must be collective. Or, as the song Paradox recites, „They're dreaming of a tropical paradise, ‚cause the world we live in ain´ t so nice“.

The song Ananya speaks out with clarity. „Everybody knows that love is the truth / Everybody knows that their lives are sacred / …Everybody wants to become one with one“. With feelings like these, it's not surprising that Blake is cited before any singing even begins. Or that his painting, Glad Day, a portrait of a reborn Humanity, graces the the face of the CD jewel box. It is as if this music is more than just something to which we can listen. It should also be felt, but not just emotionally.

The music of Blossomtime is, as the liner notes invite, for us to enjoy as it registers and resonates, resounds and rejuvenates through us. „All we have to do is listen / to the flow of love within“. Blossomtime, with a fresh affirmation of the human spirit, is something more than just the music. Blossomtime is aimed at a mass audience, so it entertains. But the depth of its reach is way beyond the measuring stick of popular music.

1999 MILLENNIUM is the latest recording from The IPO containing no less than 19 songs by various musicians from various countries in various styles. One of the interesting things about it is the way in which these songs flow on from one another with surprising fluency and unanimity of tone.

The CD opens with the soulful WHEN EVER which takes us back a full 2000 years, what better place to start, and then it comes right up to date with the lyric: „The truth is manifesting one thousand million stars“ the central message being „the Comforter will come!“ GOD IS CLOSER, a German rap song (in English) follows on. Slick and catchy, it embodies a rather startling statement about the Holy Ghost/Comforter. The lyrics announce: „To rescue the seekers, She traveled all over the world. She was also in your city. Haven't you heard? It seems the whole thrust of this musical ensemble is about startling statements and heartfelt announcements. (See what you think.)

Indeed, you could say that the whole CD seeks to deal with the questions: Can Pop be sublime? Can Rock Music, which is so associated with clubs and drugs and, to put it in a nutshell, the material body, be made into something transcendent, something spiritual? It doesn't let up there, COMFORTER the third track speaks of a meditation: "In that moment you showed me, just what it means, to go beyond time and space, and everything in between.“ The lyrics are serious in what they say, finishing up with: „Do we realize…this is the final revolution. The final revelation!“

Jeremy Clancy's THE REVOLUTION, with fine, stinging vocals continues on this theme „Don't you know the revolution.....is within“ refining the process further to „We're talking about love, love, love, love, love.“ This track has a tremendous undercurrent of real power and glory. Surely this would be the pop single? LIKE HEAVEN and WHY DON'T YOU TRY? by the Austrian singer Sia are two most beautiful and jazzy tracks, „Calm, peaceful, Oh so joyful“ they explode with flavor and are worth the price of the CD alone.

Matt Malley's LOVELY ETERNAL with its haunting vocals and maybe the best original line on the CD: „Your silence is louder than any devices of our own“, is particularly effective. This is real poetry delivered in the folk/rock genre. In praise of the eternal it overflows with bhakti (devotion). Ville Tantu's inspiring Finnish interpretation of some lines by the ancient seer William Blake, titled MERRY HEART, has a stunning chorus in what, I guess, is Finnish but sounds like Sanskrit, proves that modern styles can infuse ancient poetry with life. Folk music, with its ancient traditions, is maybe more easily or more obviously suited to the expression of spiritual subject matter, and several of the tracks here, including Doug Nicely's pleasant, sunny ON THE GROUND, recorded in L.A.,

Chris Marlow's OUT OF MY HEAD with neat guitar solo from Paddy Martin, Debbie Eckman' mystical GURU MANTRA and Daniel Wagner's SHE DOES IT ALL, featuring Joanne Levine on cello, come somewhere between folk and rock and make for uplifting, provocative and inspiring listening day or night. Provocative, because the songs sing of the feminine aspect of the divine, the Comforter, Counselor, Redeemer, the Mother, Guru and Holy Ghost, no soppy ‚here today-gone tomorrow love-lost songs here. „Sing all you people, sing from the Heart, sing like you've never done before“…and why…well these are special times, Millennium Times.


TRUE REFLECTION „Like a lake I will calm me down. Still my soul to that Holy Sound“ is perhaps the albums most introspective track as it echoes the innermost desire, „A true Reflection in my Soul I'll see.“ Following on in a similar tone is Ciaran McLaughlin's ac­complished STILL LIFE SUPREME, again reminiscent of a meditative experience recorded in song. Driving rock, you're probably asking? Don't worry, for those who enjoy playing a bit of‚ air guitar, we have your song here, recorded in Pennsylvania, USA. BORN OF FIRE, doesn't beat about the bush, starting right out from creation itself, the story brings us to the present day with the finale: „The secret of Selfhood is alive!“ Similarly, YOUR NAME in a rocky U2 style delivers up some striking guitar and lyrics: „A rising force of love that non can defy“. Try it!


Rap, yes we have that too. Shoebeat Rap a phenomenal song, a mystical lyric: „when the Mother's in your heart and the Child is in your head“. A song with an attitude, yet a song invoking a meditative state/experience. Instrumental, well that's how the cd finishes. a triumphal traditional song set in a modern composition, recorded in Italy. World music for sure. What's more the music comes with a 16 page booklet which seeks to discuss the Millennium time and also the subject of much of the music. The feminine aspect of the Divine. Read on – it's all here!

New CDs

Dear all,
we are pleased to inform you that we have added to the broadcast three new albums. The first one is older album of The IPO - Eternity (please, visit our radio blog). Second one is nice album of Nirmal Sangeet Sarita - Bandagi and other CD is Avahan – Various Sahaja Artists .…
Please continue to enjoy the radio!
Radio team

Nirmal Sangeet Sarita - Bandagi

Tracks:

Khud Ki Kudi Ko Kho Kar,

Khoje Tu Jise,

Muzrim Aadil Ho Gaye Hai,

Nakhuda Ko Dubte Beach,

Laharla Sahaja Cha Pataka,

Bramha Shodhile,

Maauli Ne Thotavile,

Matajiche Swapne Sahaj,

Muzrim Aadil Ho Gaye Hai

Various Sahaja Artists - AVAHAN

Tracks:

Mahamantra,

Raag Bilaskhani Todi,

Aa Tujhko Dikhaun,

Awaz Uthayenge (Chinese),

Maa Charno Par,

Aaya Hoon Darbar ,

Abhir Gulal ,

Hame Maa Se Pyaar Kitna,

Chala Nirmal Nagari Jaau,

Nasik Cha Jogwa