pic by mark ulyseas
This interview has appeared in the February 2012 issue of Live Encounters Free Online Magazine.
Sometime ago when fate played truant with reality I found myself walking a beach I had visited over thirty years ago. Many things had changed except the fabric of spiritual life, fluttering like a brightly coloured flag on a fishing boat. It was here that I met Kalimero, a twenty year old Indian travelling minstrel. And as the sun set on yet another day, we sat on the beach and talked.
What is music to you?
Music is a means to speak the truth which cannot be comprehended with words. It is a means to connect with yourself. It is definitely more than just expression because the truth is not an expression. Anything that is expressed, suppressed etc., is not the truth because it is pressed out, because the truth has no beginning and end. It is a means to listen to the inner voice. Music is everywhere. The sound of the leaves is the truth. We can hear Om in the ocean. Sound and silence is music.
What is the responsibility of the musician?
In my opinion if I cannot listen to the inner voice, I cannot praise the Universe. A musician has no responsibility. He only is responsible to himself…he can play in private, he can play in front of 1000 people, it depends what is true to him.
When did you first hear the music?
I have not heard the music till now because I don’t know who I am and my music is a means to help me find myself.
When did you first pick up an instrument?
It was about ten years ago that I first picked up an acoustic guitar.
When did you begin travelling with your instrument?
Two years ago I went to the mountains (Himalayas) with my acoustic guitar…played alone and with other travelers.
Was there any incident that awoke within you another perspective of music/musician?
I was playing music in a room in the mountains and Shiva came to me and he said, “Go, I bless you, this is your way.”
In the last two years where have you travelled and played your music?
Pokhraa (Nepal), Naggar (Himachal Pradesh, India), Andaman & Nicobar islands (India), Goa (India), Istanbul (Turkey)…all these have their own energy. For instance, in Naggar I played for the trees.
What place do you call home?
Where I am.
What instrument do you play now?
Jadootar.
What is your message?
Speech is noise in the mind. To silence the mind and think with the heart. The truth is neither the seen nor the unseen….it is neither cause or effect…it is neither past or future. For me, it is best not to take both worlds so seriously but to listen to life…not to force something…not to react….to do something without doership. We must all find ourselves, find the music within ourselves. A true thought, a true sound helps one transcend the sound, transcend the thought.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om
