An Interview with Nutone artist Donna De Lory
By Trevor Harden, Trevor@RockOm.net
Donna De Lory's latest album Sanctuary (out now on Nutone Music) is by and large a mantra-based chant album, using ancient Sanskrit devotional prayers alongside original lyrics, all set to a beautiful and meditative East-meets-West instrumentation. Through her heartfelt, gentle and breathy vocal delivery, Donna's singing wraps the listener in a nurturing love and encourages a sense of devotion and transcendence.
Donna has not always been focused on yogic music, however. Her past pop career had her singing vocals on albums by Santana, Carly Simon and Jewel to mention a few. Most famously, Donna was known as one of Madonna's main live accompanying vocalists for nearly 20 years.
In this interview, Donna De Lory shares with RockOm about the title track from her album Sanctuary, how conscious intention transforms music into a healing force, Joseph Campbell's influence on her life and work, and what being open to the Divine Mother has taught her about God.
Trevor: I'm not an overly emotional guy but I found that upon listening to your album for the first time, as the beautiful first track rolled over into your song "Sanctuary" - and I heard how you took this old Christian folksy worship song that I grew up with and brought it into a meditative and spiritual arena - I just got kind of choked up. What is your history with the song "Sanctuary"? Is it something you came upon recently or did you have a church background that introduced you to the song?
Donna: Not really. Growing up my family was Christian-Catholic and mom is actually a recovering Catholic. She was wanting to be a nun when she was young and grew up in Catholic schools and then kind of rebelled against that. So when I was a kid I always wanted to go to church and I went with my friends to different churches or with my Jewish friends to their temple. Not that I was trying to find the place for me, but I just liked the sense of community and the devotion that you felt in that environment. I moved to Nashville when I was eighteen and I went to church there and started on my spiritual path at that time. I probably did hear the song "Sanctuary" in the church but more recently I heard it on a friend's CD.
I heard the words "with thanksgiving I'll be a living sanctuary for you" and sometimes I'll hear words that someone else wrote that really ring true, something I would write. The actual song goes on for many more verses but I didn't resonate so much with the other words. I felt like all I really wanted to say was this over and over again. And that's something I love about the mantras where you take something very simple - either the names of God or a phrase like "I am divine love" - and you sing it over and over again. I love what I've learned about mantra-based music and how I can apply that to other songs whether it's "Amazing Grace", my song "Sky is Open", "May God's Love Be with You Always" or "Sanctuary."
It's beautiful to say something that can resonate with people but not engage them too much. Music is a tool for opening and when you study the history of music I believe that was the original intent of music - to open people up, to heal and to move people. Coming from a really commercial pop background, I now look at music this way and set intentions for the music that I make. I want to have this be my gift for other people to help them. Consider what Mother Teresa did or Amma, people who are giving, giving, giving. I feel like my music is my small piece of what I can do. That song, "Sanctuary", for me reminds me of that. People come up to me all the time and say, "Please don't stop doing this. I know it's hard, you've got your family and other things, but please keep doing this."
Trevor: When we spoke with one of your label-mates and friends David Newman, he shared about the yogic use of sound as a path for healing. So that's what you're talking about here, right? That music has a healing power?
Donna: When you have that conscious intention it absolutely has a healing power. I was doing an interview a couple of weeks ago and someone mentioned a man's name, a healer, and wanted to know if I knew of him. I said, "No, I don't know this person." They said, "He exclusively uses your music to heal people. The vibrations and the frequencies in your music really help and he has a lot of experience with that." It was beautiful to hear that and I thought, "Of course!" I've personally been there with people when they've transitioned and left the body as music played or people will play my music when there's a baby being born. I hear stories like this and that is what music can be used for - these deep, deep meaningful experiences in our lives. And it's beautiful because when you use music in this way you can go back by playing this music again to that place. It's a tool to take you back to that moment again.
Trevor: In the album's liner notes you spoke to how Joseph Campbell was an inspiration for you. What did his work mean to your spiritual journey?
Donna: Wow, it was just his overall view of mythology and man's quest and incredible awe for this higher power. This is what he dedicated his life to study and in going back to see cave drawings and all the art. It's basically this yearning to know God, a connection to nature, and that we're all connected. We need to get back to that place, obviously, because what we're doing with the planet and each other is not respectful. Because of the damage that has been done it's especially time to wake up and to realize these things, that we're all really connected.
Plus he just gives you so much information you can go out and learn about. I first learned Sanskrit from watching him and hearing his talks. He talked about Sanskrit as the great spiritual language of the world because of how old it is and the intention put into it. I went further into studying yoga and began hearing the words again and started putting these mantras and words into my songs. I've always been on and interested in a spiritual path, whether that was studying Joseph Campbell or Yogananda or something from the Christian tradition - wherever I was.
Now it's yoga and everyone's coming together to help themselves and other people through yoga. I love yogis because they're generous and help other people. As far as the physical practice of yoga in our country is concerned, I think it's great if there's a yoga center on every corner because it's just going to make people be more compassionate and have some of this intention. It's OK even if it's just "Namaste" at the end of a class, at least you're bowing to some thing that's greater than yourself and I think we need that.
Trevor: On a personal, non-musical note, I see that you have two children. Everyone agrees that children become like our gurus as they have so much to teach us. What are they teaching you right now?
Donna: You don't know love until you have children; every day I'm being taught something. I'm learning just "being" and not having to "do" all the time - just being in that moment. I'm really feeling time passing quickly now so I'm trying to hold on to these moments. Even when I look back to pictures of my 6-year old daughter when she was a baby, I don't even remember! It's going by so fast. I say to my husband, "Did you take more pictures? Did you get the movie of them?" I'm realizing this is the good stuff, the stuff of life.
It's the interesting thing about life, as you go you realize what's really important. With all those years that I spent striving for something in my career and all those desires, now I'm trying to just "be" instead of wanting so much all the time. I'm just so grateful I'm right here.
Trevor: Speaking of mothers, the culture in which we live here in the West has a very masculine view of God overall. You have "Jai Ma" on your album and so what do you think we're missing in our understanding by only having a Father figure or more specifically what has being open to the Divine Mother meant to your journey?
Donna: I think we're missing the nurturing aspects of the divine. I was watching a video of Amma and they were asking her, "Why do you think people love what you're doing so much, just coming and getting a hug?" She was saying that if she can make both men and women feel more of that nurturing Mother energy, that's what she wants to do. Her hugs are opening those people up. I guess with my music, I want to do that same thing. And by me being a mother now I'm starting to understand it and have more of that to share in my lyrics and music. Since I had my daughter who is six, "He Ma Durga" has been my theme song or mantra. It was really powerful for me and for other people too. When I sing it, people are holding themselves and being compassionate toward themselves.
That's what's missing; we don't have that kind of nurturing support to love ourselves, or know God is the ultimate lover who loves and holds you. And that is what Amma is doing; she's loving everyone. Anyone who comes up there for a hug, she gives them the same amount of love. Whether you're a celebrity or the poor and dying, it's that ultimate love. Also Mother Earth gives us that all the time and we don't see it, though some people do. She's giving us that and we keep doing what we do with the earth and not being conscious, and the Mother's still there giving me another chance to have a child and this life and creation.
I think I'll always sing those mantras because it's so important to me. When I think of doing another mantra CD I think, "I have to keep singing Mother." I just worked on a compilation CD that is specifically made for doctors giving this music to their patients. On it I basically just sing, "Mother, Mother," in English, Spanish and Italian. Sometimes just saying the words "mother" is so beautiful. If we can say these mantras and get out of our heads about our own mothers, but instead recognize that nurturing love that is there for all of us, then we can really feel it. Everyone feels it inside somewhere so I love that music can bring that more to people. At my shows I love when it's exciting and people are dancing, but the most powerful thing is when you get people to open, whether they're crying or want to go give someone a big hug. After I play my music, that's how I feel; I feel like my heart is so much more open.
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Tags: Amma, Divine Love, Donna De Lory, Healing, Interview, Jai Ma, Joseph Campbell, Love, mantra, Mother, Motherhood, nurturing, Nutone Music, Openness, Power, Sanctuary, Sanskrit, Spiritual path, traditions
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