Laraaji is one of the most accomplished musicians in new age, ambient or experimental music. Although an even better description for his music is that it is spiritual, cosmic and celestial.

Like meditation, listening to Laraaji’s music is a different experience every time depending on how deep you dive in.

Throughout his career ways to incorporate his interests in philosophy, meditation and laughter into his music and it's fascinating how many pivotal moments in his creative path seemed like they found him through the laws of cosmic attraction.

His main instrument, the auto-harp (or zither) found him in a pawnshop when he was exchanging a guitar. The name Laraaji was given to him. It was a chance encounter with Brian Eno while he was playing on the street that led to the release of one of Laraaji’s more popular albums entitled “Ambient 3: Day of Radiance”, which Eno produced as part of his incredibly popular four part ambient series.

It’s truly a blessing to sit down with a someone who has been releasing music for 40 years, around 50 records and somehow is as creatively engaged as he probably was when he was 20.

Step into the Infinite Now.

Very happy to welcome producer Jay Glass Dubs from Athens, Greece to the weekly podcast. We're huge fans of his records (wax, digital, cassettes, etc)

Over the past 10+ years, he's been crafting his unique sound, a mixture of dub meets industrial, experimental, post-punk.

In the past few years he’s gaining some serious steam with a few brilliant EP’s and remixes, along debut album titled “Epitaph” released early in 2019 on the great experimental label Bokeh Versions which has been gathering rave reviews from major music media. One album that will be on many Best of 2019 lists for sure!

I’m happy to welcome him to the podcast to discuss the journey to crafting his unique sound, his daily inspirations and a few dream projects as well.

Songs Played
Jay Glass Dubs - The Safest Dub
Dimos Moutsis - Den Les Kouventa
Leonard Cohen - Who By Fire
Fugazi - Suggestion
Vicky Moscholiou - Asfalos Kai Den Prepei
Vangelis - Blade Runner theme
This Heat - A New Kind Of Water
Jabu - Fool If (Jay Glass Dubs Remix)

For show #7 i’m very happy to welcome a good friend of mine but also one a big inspiration as far as the craft of DJing and the overall role of music curation is concerned.

Lefto is known around the world for one of the most skilled, consistent, fearless DJ’s in the world. One of the few who can connect the dots between music of the past and the future, connect styles of music that wouldn’t seem like they fit together at first glance.

We talked about:

His views on the evolution of DJing when it comes to musical formats and tools
How he constantly challenges himself and his audience musically
About the delicate art of eclectic / freestyle DJing.
Some of his favorite DJ’s to play with.
We’ll talk about the new generation of DJ’s

But most of all we talk about his journey, projects and love of the craft of DJing.

Welcome to 6th edition of the Music Is My Sanctuary weekly interviews.

As a reflection of the Music Is My Sanctuary philosophy, the artists I invite cover a wide range of styles. Just in the first 5 episodes so far we’ve covered Spiritual Jazz, House music, Yacht Rock, New Age, Experimental Electronic and today: Instrumental Hip-Hop / Beatmaking.

Veteran producer Elaquent is someone whose music I’ve loved for the past 10 years and whose artistic choices and work ethic I’ve always respected a lot. After having released 15 projects / albums he’s a great example of an artist sticking to his vision, his signature sound… not chasing trends, clicks or plays. He lets his music do the talking.

He’s been a good friend for a number of years and even though I’m a DJ and he’s a beatmaker I’ve always seen our careers as evolving on parallel lines. So I’m always proud when I see he’s playing shows around the world!

We touched on subjects like :

– As an artist, what is fair to expect from your die hard fans in terms of support.
– The pressure on artists in the era of streaming and increasingly short attention span
– The popularity of Lo-Fi Beats playlists and channels on platforms like Youtube and Spotify
– The crazy news of the week that Myspace lost 17 years of music
– The fact that he’s been essentially using the same tools to make music since he started as a kid.

But most of all we talk about his journey and love of the craft.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Music Is My Sanctuary interviews. Our 5th guest is New York avant-garde / experimental composer Vito Ricci.

The incredible people behind the Music From Memory label released a compilation of his work titled “I Was Crossing A Bridge”, some of which had never even been released. His music went from largely overlooked (outside of the New York theatre scene) to later being an obscure record that collectors traded for hundreds of dollars previously to become suddenly widely available for a new generation and be critically acclaimed by some of the finest music media platforms.

Vito’s music is absolutely unique, introspective, cinematic. Sometimes it’s dark, sometimes it has humour. It’s experimental and minimal but always has a groove in there too.

We spoke about his inspirations, interdisciplinary music work and approach to musical experimentation.

A truly inspiring conversation!

Fourth episode of the weekly podcast is here!

We discuss with the legendary house producer/DJ Karizma: his music roots, daily inspirations, streaming platforms, corporation takeover of underground music and also how your own art sometimes surprises you - having a track he never thought would come out become his biggest hit ever (signed to a Google commercial, played by Questlove, etc)

Carlos Gabriel Niño (born 16 February 1977) is an internationally celebrated producer, arranger, composer, musician, radio host, DJ, music consultant, writer, poet, and event organizer, based in his hometown of Woodland Hills, California. He has been an important force in the contemporary independent music scene since 1995. A prolific artist, Niño has been involved in the production of more than 100 records and has toured with various bands and as a DJ throughout Europe, Japan and the United States.

Composer, clarinetist, singer & spiritual jazz soothsayer Angel Bat Dawid descended on Chicago’s jazz & improvised music scene just a few years ago.

In very short time, the potency, prowess, spirit & charisma of her cosmic musical proselytizing has taken her from relatively unknown improviser to borderline ubiquitous performer in Chicago’s avant-garde. On any given night you can find Angel adding aura to ensembles led by Ben LaMar Gay, or Damon Locks, or Jaimie Branch, or Matthew Lux, or even, on a Summer night in 2018, onstage doing a woodwind duo with Roscoe Mitchell. For her recorded debut on International Anthem, The Oracle, we’ve chosen to release a batch of tracks that Angel created entirely alone – performing, overdubbing & mixing all instruments & voices by her self – recorded using only her cell phone in various locations, from London UK to Cape Town RSA, but primarily from her residency in the attic of the historic Radcliffe Hunter mansion in Bronzeville, Southside, Chicago.

Benny Sings’ music could well be described as intimate lo-fi Disney hip hop songs. The terms AOR and Yacht Rock are often used to define his sunny 70’s and 80’s melodies. But it’s not all retro: Benny’s happy-sad songwriting, late ‘90s R&B beats and buttery production shape a sound bringing to mind the soundtrack to a just released indie comedy.

The new album “City Pop” is out now on Stones Throw. Get it! https://bennysings.bandcamp.com/album/city-pop