Music

YM: Who is WAH!?
WAH!: Wah is the name of the musician (me) and also the name of the experience (transcendental bliss) in the music. My music and my path are intertwined!

YM: How did music find you?
WAH!: I was born into a musical family. My mom’s a professional violinist, performing in orchestras and a chamber music trio in the NYC/NJ area. She started me on violin at age 2, I asked for piano at age 5, I picked up a guitar at age 8, etc. We had no TV. My Dad liked to play guitar, trombone and harmonica. The house was always filled with music. Either someone was practicing or the stereo was playing or someone had a guitar and a folk tune going.

YM: You are very eclectic, who are some of your influences?
WAH!: Bob Marley, Steel Pulse, Macy Gray, Joni Mitchell, Oumou Sangare, Ravi Shankar, can I remember back that far?

YM: What are some of the elements that make up your music?
WAH!: Folk and chant music of India, jazz scales, reggae groove, pop vocal delivery and chord structures

YM: How has your music changed since you first started?
WAH!: Well, I started in an ashram. The ashram consisted of about 8-10 working professionals who wanted to do yoga and share food. None of them had any musical training. I was the lone musician and had free reign to sing, record, play and inspire my fellow housemates with music and mantra. I had just graduated from Oberlin College/Conservatory and had some training in African and Indian music. I decided to dive into it more and took more lessons. I got into raga and polyrhythm and a lot of stuff that no one could really appreciate – what they wanted and needed was a melody they could sing the mantra to. What I wanted was a creative outlet. Somewhere in the middle. Folk music seemed to like the happy medium. Simple melodies. Devotion. Longing. Reggae beats and Indian folk music (bangara and North Indian folk) seemed rooted in the same rhythms; it was easy to weave the reggae beats into Indian folk music.
Well, ten years ago when I started touring fulltime, we needed a drummer who could carry his drum in a single luggage case. We used tabla, djembe, and finally cajon. In 2006, a faulty microphone caused me to stand up during a concert and I never sat back down. The music begged for drum kit and that is what we’ve been using ever since.

YM: What issues in today’s world most concern you?
WAH!: Water and soil.
Like, why are we drinking spring water from Fiji and Norway? What's up with THAT carbon footprint? And why, when the water gets scarce, do we ration water to the farmers? (while everyone in LA continues to go to the carwash once a week?) Our soil has mostly been stripped of minerals. Pesticides and fertilizers have rendered many farms useless. In fact, I’ve been doing benefit concerts for Amma’s charitable effort called Farmers Aid. Apparently failed crops are leading to suicide by pesticide – the farmers are using the pesticide to kill themselves and their families when they see no hope for their farms.

I think we will return to local farming. and maybe even the resurgence of the Victory Gardens during WWI and WWII – each home had a little herb or vegetable garden in the yard – I think we need to start that again.

YM: If you could pick anyone in the world to be president of the U.S.A, who would it be?
WAH!: I don’t think we will be united much longer. The States will become more independent or secede. Government needs to be localized again, it’s too big now.

YM: How can people calm down and become more peaceful?
WAH!:Become interested in each other, find people, talk to them about what’s meaningful, get involved, make a difference, help out with something. Good actions create peaceful minds.

YM: Do you believe in Mantra?
WAH!: Yes!

YM: You have a new book out, tell us about it.
WAH!: Dedicating Your Life to Spirit is a compilation of lectures, classes and teacher trainings, performances and festivals. We put it all into one book so you could get a taste of all the aspects of devotional lifestyle. There are 4 yoga classes, lots of lectures and a chapter on chanting.

YM: How did you decide to shift to writing after so many years of being a musician?
WAH! �I have never stopped writing. My father was a writer and a scholar. I grew up with strong tendencies to write – stories, poetry, music, research papers. When I first started putting the book together, a journalist friend of mine recommended writing magazine articles so I could familiarize myself with the editing process. I wrote for LA Yoga, UK Yoga Magazine, Journey Magazine and others. My friend was right! It was essential to master the editing process and get my writing muscles working again.

YM: What is new with your music?
WAH!: I just signed with Nettwerk Records (Dido, Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan). The album (called LOVE HOLDING LOVE) will be released this Fall; it has 8 chants and 6 songs in English. It’s clubby, down-tempo mantra. We have been performing most of these songs for the last year or two, my fans are already familiar with the “new” sound.

YM: What should people expect something when they pick up a WAH! CD?
WAH!: I expect to be connected to spirit when I hear a WAH! CD, that’s what I expect, but besides that, I use all the best industry people I can get – from musicians to mix and mastering engineers – so you always get a top notch product.

YM: What is IT all about?
WAH!: Uncover your darkness, add some light. Keep reaching for your most refined vibration, and don’t give up

YM: What is currently playing on your I-pod?
WAH!: Jai Uttal/The Art of Kirtan. Michael Hedges/Oracle. Abraham-Hicks lectures. Sri Lalita Sahasranamavali.

YM: What is your favorite meditation?
WAH!: Outdoor Fire Puja with brother James.

YM: What is your favorite yoga pose?
WAH!: Vasishtasana half backbend, half platform. Strong but elegant.