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Music
Artist:
Prem Joshua
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Bio: www.premjoshua.comBorn in Germany to a musical family, Joshua began learning the flute at the age of five, becoming a fine flautist while still a child. As a teenager he was soon performing in various Rock, Jazz and Fusion bands as a flute and saxophone player, always searching for new ways of... more
Bio: www.premjoshua.comBorn in Germany to a musical family, Joshua began learning the flute at the age of five, becoming a fine flautist while still a child. As a teenager he was soon performing in various Rock, Jazz and Fusion bands as a flute and saxophone player, always searching for new ways of expressing and expanding his music. However, a musical “discontent”, combined with his search for the spiritual, pulled him, perhaps inevitably, towards India - her culture and her music.
He remembers vividly hearing Indian music for the first time, age 16 - a crackly vinyl record of a sitar performance by Ravi Shankar: “I had never heard anything like this before,” Joshua recalls. “It was beyond my musical grasp and experience but was something of such immense beauty and depth. It felt unfamiliar and mysterious - yet at the same time like a remembrance of something I knew very well.”
This experience changed his way of perceiving music completely. Thus it was, that in the late seventies, at the age of 18, he left school, home, ended all his career plans, and traveled instead overland from Europe to India - following the irresistible pull that the East had now cast over him.
To date he has released 14 albums under his name and played on countless studio recordings. He has traveled the world numerous times and plays to an ever increasing number of music lovers, inspiring them with a musical message that reaches beyond the borders of tradition, politics, religion and belief. hide
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Click play to listen to " Secret Place (Karsh Kale Remix)"
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Interview with Prem Joshua
YM: Where did you come from?
PJ: Very deep existential question that I have been asking myself ever since the days I could tell a spoon from a fork! But I guess you are happy just to know where I was born!? I was born in Germany to a musical family but left the country at the early age of 18 following an inner call to travel overland to India. Ever since then I have spent altogether more than 12 years in India and never lived again in Germany as my place of residency.
YM: How did you get involved in music and mantra?
PJ: I have been learning music ever since I was 5 years old. Mantra came much much later - even after many years of already having studied Indian music. I suddenly discovered singing after being an instrumentalist for so many years, and since then I have enjoyed it very much. The voice is an in-built musical instrument, and I have to pay no overweight charges and get a huge flight case when I am flying to my concerts! But with singing naturally the problem arises: what do I sing about -- as "lalala" won't get me very far! I was confronted with a new problem: I had to deal with words and the message of words. I felt that I wanted to give my lyrics deeper meanings than just "baby, babyyyyyyyyy!!". Also I felt that English lyrics weren't appropriate with my style of Indo-fusion music. Soon I discovered words of wisdom and parables by great Sufi and Indian mystics in their original languages, and -- maybe inevitably -- mantras. So, my approach was rather that of a conscious search for the right message in my songs, in contrast to a pseudo-religious blind believe in mantra as a substitute for Christian traditions (sorry for my harsh words!). In this sense I have never considered myself as part of the "mantra musicians".
YM: When did you know that music was your calling?
PJ: I already know this as a child. I was "forced" to learn the flute as a kid, and simply loved it! My talent was supported by my family, even when I experimented with rock and jazz when I was a teenager. But a real shift happened in my search for "my" music when I heard the Indian sitar for the first time at the age of 16. From that time onwards I simply felt pulled towards India and its deep musical message. In India music wasn't just entertainment! It was a lifestyle, a form of prayer and meditation, it covered everything from silence to total ecstasy. I had to go to India to learn music there!
YM: Please describe your music.
PJ: In India I studied classical music on the sitar and the flute for many years -- starting to gaze into an endlessly deep well of musical worlds -- as profound and ancient as the entire Indian history. Indian classical music is very much rooted in the wisdom of the sages and mystics. It is not just sound, it is a way to convey the experiences of the inner silences. But soon I also realized that it wasn't just about copying Indian traditions. I had to find my own way of expressing music! Being a world citizen and having tasted the salt of so many musical oceans, it simply happened very naturally for me to merge musical forms from all over the planet. Of course my music is very much based on Indian raga music with its hundreds of scales and rhythms -- but at the same time besides contemporary elements of jazz, rock, hiphop, lounge, you find Turkish, Persian, Moroccan, Indonesian and other ingredients in my music.
YM: How do you fuse together so many amazing styles of music?
PJ: I don't do, it happens. Music is a discovery, a blessing, a gift, not a doing. The doing is only in practicing your instruments to become ready for the gift. But don't expect it as sometimes the gift doesn't come!
YM: How do you keep it real?
PJ: One way is constantly making an effort to improve on my musicianship. But another way is to become "real" as a person. It's a long way! Actually to receive music that really heals you have to become a nobody! It is not "my" music! Music should only play through my breath and hands. Then music turns into gratitude, into a way to give back to this immense universe.
YM: Who/what are your biggest influences?
PJ: My biggest musical influences I have to divide into two groups of musicians, those who deal with sound and the other ones who deal with silence: On the side of sound I'd like to mention few masters like Miles Davis, Ravi Shankar, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Led Zeppelin. On the side of silence I'd like to thank such great mystics like Osho, Rumi, Hafiz, Ramana Maharshi, Bulle Shah, Eckart Tolle...
YM: How did mantra get so “cool”?
PJ: I like this question! Up to now musical styles were very excluding. So-called spiritual music had to be very un-sexy but "holy", rock was wild, rootsy but had to be without "brains", jazz was cool but somehow also cold and intellectual. My desire is to make music for all the chakras! Let it be rootsy, sexy, powerful, full of heart, inspired, please your intellect -- and eventually leave everything behind and make you fly out of your brain!
YM: Which countries receive you the best and why?
PJ: To my big surprise we have become quite big stars in India! India is definitely our number one place and we are the number one world music band there! This honors me, humbles me, makes me feel proud and fills me with gratitude -- all at the same time! After all, this is the country that has given me so much! I can only give my music in return, and Indians love it! In my music they find their own tradition and roots reflected in a very new and international way, that's probably why they love it so much. You can find my albums all over the country and with my band we have many concert bookings now in India -- as the country is developing fast into a very modern place on this planet. After India it would have to be East-European countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Poland, etc. This is totally new terrain for us but the response is just phenomenal! So much is happening in these countries! New openings! But people still have a lot of heart. And then we are going strong in the yoga scene all over Western Europe. It is really time we also come back to the US!
YM: Where is your favorite place to play?
PJ: ... in my home in Tuscany in my small music room sitting on the floor with an incense burning, playing my sitar or my flute or my saxophone or singing -- but any concert hall can quickly turn into this room! No problem!
YM: What does your yoga practice look/sound like?
PJ: My musical practice is my yoga! Have you ever sat in that weird triangular yogic position that sitar players use for several hours a day? Then you know it is yoga! Practicing music is a daily ritual for me, it is a prayer, it is an exercise in awareness, in stamina, in patience, in devotion... Besides that I am not doing any particular form of yoga except the "5 Tibetans" every morning.
YM: What is your favorite part of your job??
PJ: Writing interviews! Just kidding! Being a musician in the field of Indo-Fusion music the "job" certainly doesn't end with just playing music! In my international quartet everyone is taking over an important part in getting us concerts, doing the travel logistics, opening us up to new areas. Playing niche music and surviving with it is certainly not a job that puts you to sleep! But I love the whole package!
YM: What do you love?
PJ: I love what I do and feel immensely grateful for being able to do it! And I love taking long siestas in hot Tuscan summer afternoons!
YM: Who is on your i-pod?
PJ: This makes me aware again of the fact that my i-pod is full of days and days of excellent and selected music -- but it remains switched off almost all the time! You know why? Because I neeeeeeeeed silence! I love silence! Any moment of silence is a gift, a luxury, a quiet celebration! Silence is the door for real music to enter!
YM: Thank you for joining us! Where can we find out more about you??
PJ: www.premjoshua.com
YM: Where did you come from?
PJ: Very deep existential question that I have been asking myself ever since the days I could tell a spoon from a fork! But I guess you are happy just to know where I was born!? I was born in Germany to a musical family but left the country at the early age of 18 following an inner call to travel overland to India. Ever since then I have spent altogether more than 12 years in India and never lived again in Germany as my place of residency.
YM: How did you get involved in music and mantra?
PJ: I have been learning music ever since I was 5 years old. Mantra came much much later - even after many years of already having studied Indian music. I suddenly discovered singing after being an instrumentalist for so many years, and since then I have enjoyed it very much. The voice is an in-built musical instrument, and I have to pay no overweight charges and get a huge flight case when I am flying to my concerts! But with singing naturally the problem arises: what do I sing about -- as "lalala" won't get me very far! I was confronted with a new problem: I had to deal with words and the message of words. I felt that I wanted to give my lyrics deeper meanings than just "baby, babyyyyyyyyy!!". Also I felt that English lyrics weren't appropriate with my style of Indo-fusion music. Soon I discovered words of wisdom and parables by great Sufi and Indian mystics in their original languages, and -- maybe inevitably -- mantras. So, my approach was rather that of a conscious search for the right message in my songs, in contrast to a pseudo-religious blind believe in mantra as a substitute for Christian traditions (sorry for my harsh words!). In this sense I have never considered myself as part of the "mantra musicians".
YM: When did you know that music was your calling?
PJ: I already know this as a child. I was "forced" to learn the flute as a kid, and simply loved it! My talent was supported by my family, even when I experimented with rock and jazz when I was a teenager. But a real shift happened in my search for "my" music when I heard the Indian sitar for the first time at the age of 16. From that time onwards I simply felt pulled towards India and its deep musical message. In India music wasn't just entertainment! It was a lifestyle, a form of prayer and meditation, it covered everything from silence to total ecstasy. I had to go to India to learn music there!
YM: Please describe your music.
PJ: In India I studied classical music on the sitar and the flute for many years -- starting to gaze into an endlessly deep well of musical worlds -- as profound and ancient as the entire Indian history. Indian classical music is very much rooted in the wisdom of the sages and mystics. It is not just sound, it is a way to convey the experiences of the inner silences. But soon I also realized that it wasn't just about copying Indian traditions. I had to find my own way of expressing music! Being a world citizen and having tasted the salt of so many musical oceans, it simply happened very naturally for me to merge musical forms from all over the planet. Of course my music is very much based on Indian raga music with its hundreds of scales and rhythms -- but at the same time besides contemporary elements of jazz, rock, hiphop, lounge, you find Turkish, Persian, Moroccan, Indonesian and other ingredients in my music.
YM: How do you fuse together so many amazing styles of music?
PJ: I don't do, it happens. Music is a discovery, a blessing, a gift, not a doing. The doing is only in practicing your instruments to become ready for the gift. But don't expect it as sometimes the gift doesn't come!
YM: How do you keep it real?
PJ: One way is constantly making an effort to improve on my musicianship. But another way is to become "real" as a person. It's a long way! Actually to receive music that really heals you have to become a nobody! It is not "my" music! Music should only play through my breath and hands. Then music turns into gratitude, into a way to give back to this immense universe.
YM: Who/what are your biggest influences?
PJ: My biggest musical influences I have to divide into two groups of musicians, those who deal with sound and the other ones who deal with silence: On the side of sound I'd like to mention few masters like Miles Davis, Ravi Shankar, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Led Zeppelin. On the side of silence I'd like to thank such great mystics like Osho, Rumi, Hafiz, Ramana Maharshi, Bulle Shah, Eckart Tolle...
YM: How did mantra get so “cool”?
PJ: I like this question! Up to now musical styles were very excluding. So-called spiritual music had to be very un-sexy but "holy", rock was wild, rootsy but had to be without "brains", jazz was cool but somehow also cold and intellectual. My desire is to make music for all the chakras! Let it be rootsy, sexy, powerful, full of heart, inspired, please your intellect -- and eventually leave everything behind and make you fly out of your brain!
YM: Which countries receive you the best and why?
PJ: To my big surprise we have become quite big stars in India! India is definitely our number one place and we are the number one world music band there! This honors me, humbles me, makes me feel proud and fills me with gratitude -- all at the same time! After all, this is the country that has given me so much! I can only give my music in return, and Indians love it! In my music they find their own tradition and roots reflected in a very new and international way, that's probably why they love it so much. You can find my albums all over the country and with my band we have many concert bookings now in India -- as the country is developing fast into a very modern place on this planet. After India it would have to be East-European countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Poland, etc. This is totally new terrain for us but the response is just phenomenal! So much is happening in these countries! New openings! But people still have a lot of heart. And then we are going strong in the yoga scene all over Western Europe. It is really time we also come back to the US!
YM: Where is your favorite place to play?
PJ: ... in my home in Tuscany in my small music room sitting on the floor with an incense burning, playing my sitar or my flute or my saxophone or singing -- but any concert hall can quickly turn into this room! No problem!
YM: What does your yoga practice look/sound like?
PJ: My musical practice is my yoga! Have you ever sat in that weird triangular yogic position that sitar players use for several hours a day? Then you know it is yoga! Practicing music is a daily ritual for me, it is a prayer, it is an exercise in awareness, in stamina, in patience, in devotion... Besides that I am not doing any particular form of yoga except the "5 Tibetans" every morning.
YM: What is your favorite part of your job??
PJ: Writing interviews! Just kidding! Being a musician in the field of Indo-Fusion music the "job" certainly doesn't end with just playing music! In my international quartet everyone is taking over an important part in getting us concerts, doing the travel logistics, opening us up to new areas. Playing niche music and surviving with it is certainly not a job that puts you to sleep! But I love the whole package!
YM: What do you love?
PJ: I love what I do and feel immensely grateful for being able to do it! And I love taking long siestas in hot Tuscan summer afternoons!
YM: Who is on your i-pod?
PJ: This makes me aware again of the fact that my i-pod is full of days and days of excellent and selected music -- but it remains switched off almost all the time! You know why? Because I neeeeeeeeed silence! I love silence! Any moment of silence is a gift, a luxury, a quiet celebration! Silence is the door for real music to enter!
YM: Thank you for joining us! Where can we find out more about you??
PJ: www.premjoshua.com
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Comments
It's my favorite!!! Great!!! Secret Place, thanks Prem.
Where i can find this song? Somebody knows?