|
|
Chillout Lounge Music by Bhakta
About Bhakta
Bhakta was born
in Holland and raised in his grandparents' home as a member of
a tumultuous extended family. His childhood resembled more
of a gypsy circus than a proper Dutch upbringing, and was an ideal
setting for music, art, experimentation and communication.
At age 15, Bhakta left
home for India to explore meditation, and subsequently lived for
10 years in India and three in Japan. Those years of meditation
became the backbone of his music. The influences of Eastern cultures
and his own path in life wind into the world of sound through his unique
style of classical-chill, experimental-ambient, and electronic-dance
music, on his albums India all Over, Snow on Venus, Drowning in
Grace and Open Transmission.
Following a successful career in
the 90s as a producer and mixing engineer in Europe, Bhakta and his
partner Disha, (vocalist on the
globally loved album Drowning in Grace), moved to Byron Bay on the
East coast of Australia
where he works in his home studio recording, composing and producing
many local and international artists.
|
|
Bhakta the Musician
The story and adventures behind the
man. Excepts from an interview with New Life Magazine, Italy.
Born and raised in a small village ('Boxmeer')
in the south of Holland, in my grandfather's big family (that's:
23 people at the dinner table, every night)...and in the same house
we had two hairdressing-salons, upstairs for the ladies - my grandfather
and three of his daughters took care of that department - and downstairs
for the gentlemen: run by the oldest of his sons and two younger
brothers. It was the sixties and it was a time which left some
good memories, I remember heaps of laughter and drama, and freedom...I
mean the situation was pretty uncontrollable...and I remember people
telling great (but impossible) stories or playing live-music after
dinner. Life gets better all the time.
So one moves on. And life really does take care ... So by the time I
reached fifteen I was visited many nights a week by a strange phenomenon.
For two years the moment when I would go to sleep at night I was visited
by the roaring sound of an ocean...filling up the room leaving me helpless
and bewildered and with just one quest: I knew I had to let go!...but
'how'...the quest was burning deep until one night I had a conscious
vision of being initiated by Osho ... life taking care ... so I went
to India and a year later I arrived at Bombay-airport with $450 and no
visa...(what visa?) But they were friendly and within 15 minutes I had
a temporary visa. Meeting Osho is beyond words...
and after returning to the west I have been involved in meditation, music & art
ever since. India is ... well, India!
So I lived there for ten years, a quarter of my life. Mainly, when not
traveling and recording sounds and local music, I stayed in Osho's ashram
in Poona where in 1987 I started the art-department, devoted to art and
meditation. I was mainly playing music and painting at that time and
fell in love with zen-meditation & zen-art. So, ha!...I went to Japan
and lived in Kyoto for nearly three years. The first four months I bought
all the works of the Japanese poet-masters I could lay my hands on, and
read them in a different temple or temple-garden everyday, (Kyoto has
over 7 thousand temples). As a matter of fact my first year I lived in
a Buddhist temple. After that very confronting time I came to the understanding
that there was a goal-orientation in whatever I thought was meditation,
I got lost in a spiritual trick the mind likes to play: starting to believe
that 'Meditation' and the 'Original face' can be achieved...and the very
effort becomes one's meditation... a tough learning that one...a good
zen-hit though! So, life does take care and all my energy went into music & meditation
after this hit. At this time I started to get interested in recording
music, to sit in complete stillness, and with sound go deeper into this
present moment...
F or the next seven years I moved between playing live music and mixing
jobs in Europe, and mixing projects in the Music Studio in Osho's Ashram
in India.
There I played and recorded with many great Indian master singers and
musicians, "Open Transmission" is actually featuring quite
a few of them, Ashok Bharti, Millind Date, Avinash...! Being in the studio
is like being in a temple for me... and starting from stillness, just
being and receiving...for years I would start every recording of a track
in the studio with the sound of the ocean, and I would take it from there,
until a moment of vastness, or timelessness descends...'diving until
the pearl is found'...and still now I start of with something 'vast',
something that rips and expands me, and that can be literally a sound
from anything... sound as such is like a color....depending where you
put it within the silence to emphasize silence itself...and within this
silence any sound is ok, 'organic', 'a bird landing on a tree', 'Bhakta's
finger touching a drum or a synthesizer' ... in the end, it's all about
Silence ... that's the golden secret, then whatever music you do will
carry that flavor.
Something I would like to add about "Open Transmission"...the
first track on the album is the first piece I wrote after the 11th of
September...so originally I was gonna call that track "Peace" because
I had the idea to record a 1000 different voices saying the word "Peace"...1000's
of times over and over again. Later I decided for the monks in Swayambhunath,
Nepal reciting the Heart-Sutra-(breathing in misery, exhaling bliss)...and
call it 'Third Eye" so it might penetrate a bit deeper this time.
New Earth Records got the message!
...Sound is life, as such, and I want to taste it so deep that it should
be possible to enjoy it in dance and within stillness. That reminds me
of a zen story where these two monks decide to ask their master the ancient
question of smoking and meditation...the first monk asked : o honorable
master, can I smoke when I meditate. The master lost it, he was furious
and threw him out ...
The other monk goes to the master: oh venerable master, can I meditate
when I smoke... The master said: "Of course you can meditate while
you smoke..." So, I like to meditate when I dance, here at night
on my deck overlooking the valley, in the rainforest in Australia, half
an hour from Byron Bay, with a million stars in an endless Silence ...
News about his latest projects
In
the past two years Bhakta won 2 Dolphin Awards for Best
World Music, 2 Koori Achievement awards and a MusicOz award;
Drowning in Grace was a finalist in the "best production" and "best
female vocal" categories, and Bhakta is currently getting much acclaim
and radio play in Europe and the US with his world beat album Open Transmission,
released by New Earth Records.
In 2004 and 2005 several of his tracks were included on popular compilations
such as Zen Connection 3 and Momo by One World / New World, Goddess Groove
by Music Mosaic, and Sutras of the Heart by New Earth Records.
Bhakta is passionately devoted to creating music for the awakening soul,
and he is presently working on several exciting projects to be released
in 2005.
SOON TO BE RELEASED:
• The Temple of Glowing
Sound featuring Darpan
Sacred Journey Music with vocals,
harmonix and crystal bowls by Darpan beautifully supported
by Bhakta's music and production.
• The Lighthouse
Experience featuring Byron Artists
Bhakta featuring a selection
of awesome tracks by 21 great artists from Byron Bay.
• Belly to Belly
Bhakta's long awaited classic follow
up to India all Over, Bhakta's own compositions and production.
We like to make CD's for your well-being,
relaxation, dancing, celebration, and meditation.
Enjoy a journey around our site and may the music you hear touch your
being and inspire you.
When we can we update our gallery,
change pictures and add new free downloads, so you might discover
something you didn't see on your last visit.
We will also give you the latest news of CD releases and upcoming live
gigs of MyMasterMusic artists.
|
