Wave Arising: The ‘Monday Is OK’ Mix

With all that in mind Seb’s Monday Is OK mix sits somewhere on the soundscapes side of things.

Listen below:

Who are you:

Someone who has spent a whole life tuning into music and who discovered Improvisation on Livesets around 1991.

Where are you:

Good question , I’ve been trying to figure that out since I got here.

What are you:

Also a good question but it seems when you look deeper it goes a long way. It can be kind of freaky when you truly see through. So I suppose I am someone treading water till I get the courage to go back.

Tell us about the Monday mixtape you’ve put together for us. 

This Monday mixtape comes from a process of improvising with loops n Fx. It is basically the dub technique developed by people like King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry , Scientist …..being applied to Ambient music. 

 Every time I just hit record and trust. I trust in the source that brought us the blues and soul (amongst many other things ). Even though I am deeply indebted to and influenced by Afro American and Jamaican culture, I have always tried to hear their call and find a way to respond that doesn’t copy. I try to evolve the music through the meeting of how their music feels to me and my connection to the source. In this way there is a two way connection between what they have channelled and what I channel. I personally feel ( And it is just my point of view ) that music comes from the same source . We live in a world of opposites that would imply some kind of initial division of a “one entity” . Whatever that one is, it stands to reason we are all a part of it. So, this mix is me using the Dub Technique to connect to this source that loves us and allowing it to communicate. My side is that I set up a system that would channel ambient this time. Every ritual needs elements that define the kind of connection we wish to connect to. 

If it were to be drawn what would it look like? 

Probably one of those pictures where people chuck paint around and see how it lands. Then look for the patterns that emerge. 

If it were a food what would it be? 

Water

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?  

Anywhere you can, be.

What should we be wearing. 

An open mind

Where was it recorded? 

In my Kitchen

How do you feel about Mondays in general, excited…or?  

The moon is beautiful.

Who got you hooked on electronic music? 

One night in 1988 at Clink street when I went downstairs into the warehouse and heard Acid house for the first time. 

Who would you say are your biggest influences and what are you hoping to achieve with your music?

Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sun Ra, James Brown , P-Funk, King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Phuture, Marshal Jefferson, Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, Colin Dale, Farley jack master Funk, Public Enemy, Mos Def, Company Flow, Frank Zappa, John Lennon, Led Zeppelin, Early ( Peter Gabriel )Genesis , Hawkwind, Sid barret, Crass, Dead Kennedy’s, Chuck berry, Steve reich …………..

I started improvising on the liveset in the underground warehouse 1990’s parties while tripping. That has defined my connection to the music ever since. I witnessed the popular vote on many occasions deviate from the original psychedelic experiences of the late 80’s early 90’s rave. I was always sad when the scene represented underground consumerism more than some kind of ritual process. I can’t hide from what I’ve experienced and I know we need to continue to create spaces and art that helps us see through and see ourselves. So if I can manage to step out of the way and let it through, I trust the music will show the way. So I guess I am trying to let the music achieve what it needs to achieve .

What were your original aspirations as musicians and how do you think you’re shaping up?

I was eight years old when I first heard the Beatles, before that I had only heard classical music. I wanted to play the drums but in an orchestra you’re basically a punctuation mark. When I heard rock and roll I realised that there was another kind of music for drummers. I love the language of percussion. I love where repetition takes us. The first time I heard “Vermont Counterpoint” ( Also “music for 18 musicians” ) by Steve reich I was blown away. Funnily enough this was at exactly the same period I heard “Acid tracks” from Phuture. It was obvious to me that I needed to follow the path of rhythm and frequency as opposed to harmony and melody. Then Coltrane , Sun Ra and Miles’s “bitches Brew” brought in the free improvisational angle. After that I was blessed by Dub. So its just been one thing after another. I just hope I manage to keep it going till I transition. I guess you could say after 32 years I am still here so that’s about how it is shaping up. 

If you were trapped on a desert island with one other person, who would you choose? 

I would just want to be alone as then no one else would be trapped. 

How long would it be before you eat them?  

Seeing as I would be alone I would obviously look for food of some kind . Outside of basic survival there would be a hell of a lot of time for introspection. So I guess the fact there is no one around to eat, I would finally have time to just let go and trust. To look inside and face myself. 

What was the first electronic record you heard and how did it make you feel?

I guess Oxygen by Jean Michelle Jarre. I must be around 6 or 7 years old and in the front room of my house in Scotland on sunny morning late 70’s. It felt sci-fi and intriguing . Sort of dark blue and green colours swirling in my head. Definitely a feeling of otherworldliness .

How does your brain work when making music? How does it work when you aren’t?

A) As a kid I spent years trying to play the drums and then it was just feeling in , That bit has never changed but when I discovered psychedelics the “feeling in” became more intense. As I melted into deeper levels of consciousness it became apparent that there was something wanting to come through. I started to become aware of the need to dedicate my time to opening a door for this. Ever since then it has been go on stage and trust, go into the studio and trust, play on a piano in a station and trust, Grab a piece of junk mess about and trust.  

B) When I’m not making music . Much the same way,  I am a surfer. “The best surfer can’t do shit without the wave ! ”. So I am constantly trying to jump on a wave and trying my hardest not to fall off. I got a lot of bruises at the moment though but then,  don’t we all !! The world is going through some rough water these days. 

What were the first and last records you bought?

First record was “Rock and roll music 2” by the Beatles , 

Last records I bought were Frank Zappa “live in Sweden 1967” , Ariel Pink haunted graffiti “House arrest” and “Dave,  Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich “( I bought all three at the same time )

What are you obsessed with at the moment?

Creating a space where people can come together and look inside with no doctrines , dogmas, books etc. just silence music and dance. It would be great if we can learn from each other rather than “the experts”.   I want to break things down to us, just us , no bullshit. No fancy terms and things we got from something we didn’t experience. We can be influenced by concepts, books, learned people etc. but , seeing as we are all connected to the same thing, the same source ,  I want to learn from it directly.  I trust that if we come together and open, it will be there, as it is when we improvise in music. 

What’s your answer to everything?  

As much as that is possible, Trust and Respect. 

Anything else we need to discuss.

I’d like to talk a bit about Wave Arising if I may. I think it is important to give a little background on how we came to be here. We were in a project that was pioneering the meeting of Meditation culture and Rave culture. Rave Culture comes from the blues/Soul/Gospel traditions (as most of the good popular music of the last century does). Even when we are on the side of the Blues there is a deeply spiritual connection going on. The rave scene is full of people experimenting consciousness . 

Our experience in the project led us to see how deeply meditation connects to how we express ourselves in Rave. Especially improvising brings us into the same territory as meditation. It was weird to realise how close this can be. 

When we started it was a fairly new thing and as a musician I was blown away at how people danced when they had been in silence for several days. I was also reassured to see how deeply people danced without drugs or alcohol. Something which made Kynsie ( My partner in wave Arising and life) laugh. She, being a dancer knows this is obvious. However, for me as a rave musician this was a revelation. 

It seemed for a while we as a group were all going the same way but as a very clever Taoist once said “there are thousands (if not billions ) of ways to climb the mountain”. For us it was obvious that music and dance should not just be the add on after a session of sitting meditation.  It was a way of meditation in itself !! We couldn’t find a place for this in that project so we have created this new space. 

It is funny how when we go into this kind of territory there comes a point where you need to trust your intuition. As much as we can share there are some things we have to face alone. A group experience especially in a retreat can really help us find the courage to look deeply at ourselves. 

So , Wave Arising is a project that fuses dance and music in retreats, workshops and produces dance, art, music and video. We are concerned that this process of introspection also carries with it a social aspect that recognises the need to respect our differences and listen to each other. Many people suffer from dominant cultures and we aim to create a balanced safe space where people can connect through listening to each other.

Pre order the new album on digi and vinyl HERE