RockOm

An Interview with Adrian Belew (Part I)
By Tom Crenshaw, tom@rockom.net

Guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Adrian Belew has been at the art and craft of reinventing, innovating, and redefining the term "cutting-edge musician" since 1977. That was the year Frank Zappa walked into a bar in Nashville and first saw him performing on stage and subsequently invited him to join his band. Since that time Adrian has been an integral player in Rock and Roll history, spending time performing and recording with the likes of David Bowie, King Crimson, The Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Tom Club, Tori Amos, and Herbie Hancock to mention a few.

Now Adrian Belew has a new band, the Adrian Belew Power Trio, who are beginning a new tour performing up and down the east coast and Canada starting August 21st. The Power Trio consists of Belew along with brother and sister rhythm section powerhouse Julie and Eric Slick on bass and drums.

RockOm recently had the honor of speaking with Adrian Belew about his prolific career. Starting with his teenage days spent learning songs by the Beatles, we move on to discuss his discovery by Zappa, recording and touring with David Bowie, his time with King Crimson, recording on Paul Simon's Graceland CD, and his new Power Trio.

In Part One of this interview RockOm brings you Belew’s thoughts on the new, just released Power Trio CD entitled E. Belew also expands on how music connects others and energizes both musician and audience, as well as how there is a spiritual element to performing that’s "unexplainable".

RockOm: E marks the first studio release by the Adrian Belew Power Trio. What inspired the music for the album?

Adrian Belew: I started writing this music three years ago. It’s been a very lengthy writing process because I first developed a kind of motif, a musically chromatic motif, and the more I worked with it the more ideas I got from it. It went from being one song or piece to being a lengthy piece of music in five sections. In working with and doing a lot of touring with Eric and Julie Slick [Belew's band mates in the Power Trio] over those three years, my relationship with them was growing and I felt inspired to try and write something that worked exactly for the Power Trio. I didn't want it to be songs; what I wanted to show was that muscular musicality and the ability of this three piece band.

RO: You’ve toured with Eric and Julie for several years now. What will make this tour different from the others? What can the audience expect that’s going to be different?

AB: First of all it will be the first tour where we play much of the material from E. In fact I’m hoping that somewhere along the line we’ll have enough time to rehearse during sound checks where we'll be able to even perform the whole piece in its entirety. Also, every tour that we do I try and introduce one or two new wrinkles, such as another "new" song from the past or a song from the King Crimson catalog, something that keeps everyone excited. The band just gets better and better. It's hard to believe that a band can do that [laughs].

What I think people can expect is a ferocious evening of great music. Everywhere we go we have the same kind of reaction. First of all a lot of people can't believe their eyes and ears when they see and hear Eric and Julie, these two young kids who play way beyond their years and have a maturity about their playing in the tastefulness that they use. Then there's the old guy in the middle, that would be me. This trio has given me wings because now I'm the only guitarist. I set up a lot of loops as I play so that there’s something else to play to and it gives me the chance to fly off in any direction I want. So there's quite a lot of improvising; no two shows are the same at all.

RO: You brought up the fact that your cohorts are a little bit younger than you. Age just seems to fall away naturally for musicians working together, whereas in other lines of work it may be a hindrance. What is it about music in particular that makes the age factor not an issue?

AB: I think it's the spirit of it. Music is its own language. Music doesn't - as you say - have any limiting boundaries to it. You can be an eighty-year-old musician and still be playing or you can be an eight-year-old kid. I think what keeps the spirit that way is the sharing, the commonality the musicians have.

RO: When the Power Trio is in the zone, you're connecting with the audience and you can feel them connecting with you, is there a spiritual element to that?

AB: Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to say. There is a spiritual element too. I don't know how else you would explain it. It’s unexplainable. It's like something in the air that's shared, a type of energy and you can't see it; and when you feel it, it energizes you.

Don't miss Part Two of RockOm's interview with Adrian Belew coming in September. Register now at RockOm.net, in the top right hand corner of the homepage, to be notified when the conclusion of this interview is published as well as to stay in touch with all the interviews, news and stories exploring the connection between music and spirituality at RockOm.net.

The Adrian Belew Power Trio kicks off their tour August 21. Check out the tour schedule here at Adrian Belew's home page. Also check out the Adrian Belew Power Trio on:

Myspace
Facebook
Twitter

Photos by Daryl Darko

On this week's podcast episode, out today:

This week's Featured Artist, The Morning Birds, talk about "singing their truth" through music, their new album Inspiration Point and a car accident that changed the band's direction.

Also included is an interview with Inspirational Speaker and Unity minister Rev. Justin Epstein about how music helps focus your energies and channel it toward God.

CLICK HERE to visit our Podcast page to download this and other episodes of the RockOm Podcast.

This is a continuation of yesterday's post, "Fabeku & Sacred Sound Healing." See PART I here.

RockOm: Do you have a ritual or some way that you prepare yourself for the sessions?

Fabeku: The main way I prepare is that I’m constantly hanging out with sound. The more time you spend with sound the more familiar it gets and the more comfortable you are with it. My morning ritual is that I get up and I work with sound for half and hour to an hour or so, playing with the singing bowls or chanting. So, it’s this constant immersion in sound for me. Before each individual session I spend some time getting quiet and connecting and asking my allies for support and assistance in the session. Once the individual is there I spend a couple of minutes sitting with what that focus is for them.  All of the sounds that come through during a session are just a reflection of their focus. During that time they’re surrounded in this space where everything they hear is a reflection of what it is they want.

RockOm: Where are you going with your work? What are your intentions for your future or your practice and other areas of your career?

Fabeku: I just finished a CD called Remembering Through Resonance.  It’s a singing bowl CD. I’m working on another CD with drums and some other instruments and definitely plan on working on other CDs in the future.  I’d love to do some traveling.  I’m going to start traveling, doing some workshops and sessions, and performing singing bowl concerts. I’ve got 35-40 singing bowls that I’ll pack up and take with me. I'll set up and spend a couple of hours playing the bowls and giving people that first hand taste of what the sacred sound is all about!

Be sure to catch the full audio portion of our interview with Fabeku on the RockOm.net Podcast.

More from Fabeku:

"Sacred sound supports healing, because it is informed by the intention the individual sets. And when I do each session, at the beginning, I pray that every sound that comes through the session be in total alignment with the highest expression of their intention. So we're basically creating a container of sound that can hold this intention for this, so they can then hold it for themselves."

"Sound works at the energy level, it works whether someone is there in person or doing the session at a distance. This work has been profoundly effective for people, and the truth is I've not seen any difference in efficacy between working with someone in the same or working with someone that's thousands of miles away. It's a different experience being present, of course - more immersive - but the work itself isn't limited by distance.

I've done a lot of healing work over the years, and sacred sound has been the most powerful, most effective and, at the same time, most accessible and most gentle medium I've found for supporting change in people's life. And the changes I've seen have been amazing.

In a broader sense, this work ties in with my love of music and has deepened and expanded my love of sound in all forms. My library of music includes everyone from Krishna Das, to Morrissey, to Debussy. Music moves me in a way few other things do, so my work with sacred sound feels like a natural extension of that love of music, and its power to touch and heal and change us."

Find Fabeku online at www.sankofasound.com

"Your basic orientation at a soul level is to rock out with as much goodness as possible. Sacred sound speaks to that, and clears away the stuff that’s made your inherent tendency to gravitate toward goodness hard to see, hard to feel and hard to recognize in your life."
[Fabeku Fatunmise]

Most of us find ourselves caught up in the day to day (if not hour to hour) undulation between ecstatic joy, intense levels of frustration, elation with life’s beauty and then back to inevitable suffering. How can our emotional state turn so quickly from one that is positive into one so negatively charged? Or conversely, how do we become rigidly fixed in circumstances that seem to never change and that drain us of our freedom to choose happiness?

Many are discovering a simple, yet profound way to be shifted into a higher awareness of being and out of negativity using sound and music. Through this process, the inertia is reversed so that one can strike a new balance in life or break through barriers, learning to realize one's true potential. Let's take a closer look at one practitioner of these sacred arts - a professional sound healer from southern Ohio.

Fabeku Fatunmise (www.sankofasong.com) is a gifted and talented sacred sound healer who has worked with sound and music on a transformational level for close to two decades. His practice involves helping individuals learn to shift their energy and become "unstuck." Speaking with him about his work one is struck immediately with his intensity, his personal vibrancy, and enthusiasm for life and for his work. Fabeku explains his passion for sound healing this way...

"Sacred sound healing ties in with my love of music and has deepened and expanded my love of sound in all forms. Music moves me in a way few other things do, so my work with sacred sound feels like a natural extension of that love of music, and its power to touch, heal, and change us."

Fabeku's spiritual background is largely rooted in shamanism, which has maintained a clear relationship to the power of sound for thousands of years.

"Ten years ago, my study of shamanism deepened when I met an extraordinary elder from Africa - Chief Adebolu Fatunmise. Baba Bolu graciously accepted me as his student. He allowed me to learn from him, to be initiated by him, to be accepted into his family."

Today, as part one of a two-part series, we share with you portions from RockOm's recent interview with Fabeku (the full audio of which will be made available in this afternoon's RockOm.net Podcast). Fabeku explains his calling into sacred sound healing and how we can all benefit from sound and music through an understanding of how energy can be shifted into high gear through work with a practitioner. It is then that we can begin to utilize our own abilities to use sound and music, at any time, for "shifting stuff."

RockOm: When did you realize you were being called into sacred sound healing?

Fabeku: I wish I could say I had this big vision, that the "sound healing angels" came to me, but when I first started studying shamanism (some 18-19 years ago) it was through drumming. I bought a hoop drum and realized I could shift the way I was feeling and I was taken by that. I started talking with friends and they thought I was completely nuts but said, "Well, drum for me." And so I did and stuff shifted for them. It evolved out of the work I was doing for myself and seeing how sound shifts stuff for people. I love music and I love to see concrete results when people come to me for sacred healing work.

RockOm: The tagline for your website is “Less struggle, more awesome.” What is it about sound and music in particular that helps us get "unstuck"?

Fabeku: Sound and music bypass the mind. When it comes to sound healing, in particular, it works at the energy level. Everything starts as energy. Sacred sound and music help us go to the roots of what’s going on and change what’s happening there. Sound and music give us access to that blueprint. People can make really big changes, really fast. Stuff can really shift in a flash!

RockOm: Tell us about your sacred sound sessions and what takes place in the course of a session.

Fabeku: There’s two ways to do a session; one is in person, and one is at a distance. It goes back to that energy level - where we’re working. It really doesn’t make much difference if one is in a room or a thousand miles away. The results of stuff shifting are really the same. For distance sessions we spend some time focusing on the intention, and this is really a key part of the equation. It’s what differentiates between making noise and making sound that makes a healing effect.

Be sure to catch the full audio portion of our interview with Fabeku on the RockOm.net Podcast. Also see Part II of this interview.

Fabeku Fatunmise's website

By Trevor Harden, trevor@RockOm.net

"Shout, shout, let it all out..." [Tears for Fears]

One small quirk that I just love in a piece of recorded music is a good belly shout - "Whoo!" or "Yeah!" It has to be authentic sounding and the more "background" it is, the more it resonates with me. Maybe that's because the more distant the shout is the more I feel like it was unintended, as if one of the studio players just couldn't contain his or her joy or energy.

I've tried to examine why I am so enthralled with the recorded vocal bellow and I think it comes down to this. I'm a pretty inhibited and shy guy, especially with my emotions. I rarely let loose or (as Eric Clapton puts it) "let it all hang out." I'm not much of a dancer and I'm not exactly comfortable being vulnerable or making an ass out of myself - especially in front of strangers. I'm honestly working to change that because I don't really think that's the most artful way to navigate life. But you are what you are and this is where I presently find myself.

So maybe it's the emotional abandon and the uninhibited "devil-may-care" attitude that accompanies such a spontaneous and unbridled howl that piques my interest. Since I've not felt that much in my 30 years or at least haven't really allowed myself to get that consumed, I'm really envious and simultaneously energized when I hear another's unrestrained yell.

My hope and prayer for you and I is that we all become comfortable enough to allow life, energy and joy to flow through us - so much so that when the moment is ripe we will be so overfilled with gratitude and ecstasy that we can't help but to shout. And in the meantime, maybe we can take a few moments here and there - in the solitude of our cars or amongst the noise of a rock concert - to practice letting loose a gigantic, therapeutic wail. It might do us good.

Want to hear what I'm talking about? I have linked to three songs on the audio website Grooveshark if you'd like to take a listen:

• "Mannish Boy" (Muddy Waters), throughout, such as at 0:32
• "Hell" (Squirrel Nut Zippers), at 1:37
• "Boots Like These" (Ben Harper and Relentless7), at 0:00 and 0:46

By James Heflin for The Valley Advocate

Doctors are discovering that music has very real power to heal

It's hardly news that listening to music can make you feel good. In a valley full of all stripes of therapy, music therapy is one of the most intuitive types around. But doctors, including one just down the road at Mass. General Hospital, are discovering the scientific side of why that's true, and what potential exists for specific medical uses of music. They're also discovering the details of why, for instance, playing rock at ear-bleed volume brought Manuel Noriega out of hiding during the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama (one wonders how often they played Van Halen's "Panama").

Research efforts and the clinical use of music have offered very specific results so far. In a recent MSNBC story, author Bill Briggs enumerated much of that research. Briggs reports that, though we may not necessarily realize it's happening, heart rates sometimes change to match a tempo. That's according to Dr. Claudius Conrad, a senior surgical resident at Harvard Medical School, who told Briggs, "Research has already shown that if you play a piece—like Mozart—at a certain slow beat, the listener will adapt their heart beat to the beat of the music."

Wild as that alone may sound, that's just the beginning. Briggs continues: "Based on interviews with neurologists and cardiologists, the journey from an instrument string to your heart strings goes something like this: Sound waves travel through the air into the ears and buzz the eardrums and bones in the middle ears. To decode the vibration, your brain transforms that mechanical energy into electrical energy, sending the signal to its cerebral cortex—a hub for thought, perception and memory. Within that control tower, the auditory cortex forwards the message on to brain centers that direct emotion, arousal, anxiety, pleasure and creativity. And there's another stop upstairs: that electrical cue hits the hypothalamus which controls heart rate and respiration, plus your stomach and skin nerves, explaining why a melody may give you butterflies or goose bumps. ... But what surprised Conrad is that the patients also showed a 50 percent spike in pituitary growth hormone, which is known to stimulate healing."

Several studies are underway, and music-savvy doctors are employing music (primarily classical, it seems) in hospital rooms and even surgical suites to aid healing.

In an age when nanotechnology, tissue-cloning and even human-machine interfaces point toward a high-tech, sometimes anxiety-producing vision of the future, there's something quite comforting about the notion of a very old and pleasant form of human interaction proving so useful. Maybe the future will be more Ursula LeGuin than Robert Heinlein, and that's probably a good thing. Rather than weird vision enhancements and Swiss-Army-knife robot arms, maybe we'll get implants to dial up the right tune to calm psoriasis, dilate blood vessels, or recover from heart surgery.

A related story on the same site points the way: turns out that the perfect tune for timing CPR compressions is the BeeGee's "Stayin' Alive." The possibilities for a personal health playlist seem endless, and surely one's gut instinct, the same one that tells us that music's power is obvious, can point the way. I don't know why, exactly, but it seems like Cream's "White Room" would probably aid constipation. Need a good dose of sedation? Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."

So it's probably more of a rocket-science thing than that, but taking musical-medical matters into one's hands certainly seems to offer promise. It may even provide an alternative to single-payer healthcare if the Congress doesn't come through. We could put Bono in charge—much as I like him, he seems to nearly be a politician already. (On the other hand, hearing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" during surgery might not be the most comforting idea.)

Kidding aside, research seems to point toward the efficacy of the harp in particular, with its unfettered vibrations of many strings. That kind of ancient tug at the heart strings, like the warmth of cello or the timeless drone of didgeridoo, makes sense as a helpful regulator of health, and connecting the ancient to the contemporary ought to make future medicine a lot more pleasant.