Mose is a producer & DJ primarily playing organic, midtempo/downtempo steady beat music, spending much of his time in Guatemala where cacao ceremonies, kirtan, and ecstatic dance have had a major influence on his production and DJ style. It is there, on Lake Atitlan that he founded the weekly Cacao Dances where members of the community have the opportunity to journey deep into dance within a container of deep intention free from alcohol. Having been nomadic since 2011, Mose has developed a sound all his own through interactions with cultures from around the world. For him, music is an opportunity to journey to deep spaces. Mose finds a way to fuse the organic elements of tribal traditions and modern medicine music with his unique production techniques in order to create an entrancing journey for relaxed listeners and those eager to move their bodies. Whenever he is producing or playing, it is his intention to be taken; to let go into the depths.
For Mose, it is an ongoing practice to open his channels, allowing something more than himself to flow through. The entrancing steady beat of the drum is something that has taken him to beautiful places within himself over and over again, and his production process emulates this. He always reminds himself that if he doesn’t “get high” from the music he’s making, how could he ever expect anyone else to? For him, great music is that which opens these altered states of consciousness in a substance-free way.
This Face the Current Music Feature is published in Issue 22 / Winter 2019. Order PRINT here, or continue reading this article below.
Music is a tool to convey that which can not be communicated through words. As an artist, I see music as an opportunity to explore more subtle realms of experience and to transmit these experiences through a more emotive expression in sound vibration. For me, all art comes from a realm beyond the individual and so we as artists have an opportunity to dive deep within to find something new, something unique to our experience of life, and to put that experience into form. I think the form that this expression takes is colored by our own unique personality but the greatest art is that which is colored least of all by the personality. The most compelling music I can create is an expression of something which extends far beyond my own personality. I do the best I can to get out of the way for this expression to come through me and into the physical realm in its purest possible form.
For me, every time I create it is an opportunity to touch this special energy and it becomes a practice to open myself as much as I can. The more connected I feel to the unity of all things, the easier it is to enter into a flow state. The flow state is where the magic happens. It is here that I begin to merge with the music I am creating. The creator becomes the created, subject merges with object, and a sense of deep peace and connection to all of life arises. My own process of creation, and more fundamentally, my process in life as a whole, involves going into retreat in order to cultivate a stronger connection to this way of experiencing life. Over the years, I have gone into solitude for months at a time with different intentions each retreat, but always with a fundamental yearning to connect more with this all-pervading unity.
Photo by Amir Weiss
I find that by disconnecting from the external world I am given an opportunity to deeply connect more with the internal world. By exploring this internal world, I discover more about myself and more about how I fit into this bigger, unfolding picture. By having a clearer view of this bigger picture, I can see more precisely how I as an individual can find greater alignment to support a more balanced and thus more beautiful life.
While in retreat, I explore the depths of mystical qabalah, dream interpretation, the borders of science, religious ideas, philosophy, psychology, and the spaces between these disciplines. My interactions with the dreams become a major part of the guidance for these retreats and the tree of life (from qabalah) is my map.
I quickly find that I have support from an invisible realm to help me find this greater clarity and to give me answers to the questions I feel arising from deep within. I typically go about my day pretty spontaneously in retreat. I wake up without an alarm and immediately try to remember my dreams to see if there might be a message there to weave into my day. A morning tea is typically part of my ritual and once I feel up and activated, I like to dive into my production process.
Lake Atitlan
I usually produce in a very casual posture, many times just lying down in bed with a pillow to prop me up. I am sure this contributes to my more laidback approach to production. I like to sink back into the comfort of being and let the music flow. While in retreat, I may enter that creative process for a few hours before giving space for any other inspiration that might arise. Sometimes just taking a walk in nature can be the most spiritually connected activity of my day. I think by allowing everything and anything to be, it helps me feel more aligned and thus, allows the music to flow.
Music becomes a primary tool of reflection during my retreat process and always helps me to learn something new about myself by expressing these energies arising within; it all comes in waves.
Sometimes beautiful melodies and pulsating rhythms effortlessly flow out and reflect back to me just how blessed I am to be a vessel for such vibration. Other times I find myself blocked, pushing, trying to create when the inspiration just isn’t there. I learn from these experiences just as much as the more effortless ones. I am shown to let go, to release from needing any particular outcome, to allow the music to come when it is there, and to give my attention and focus to something else if it isn’t. I really do my best to be of service in this process of creation and if the inspiration is not flowing, it is clear that it just isn’t the moment. When this happens, it just means it is the moment for something else! By detaching myself from any particular outcome with anything that I do, I find that everything that I do is more effortless. I find that life flows through me and the support is there stronger than ever. It is only when I think that I know what is best, or when I allow my selfish personal desires to drive my actions, that I start to feel friction arising within my experience.
My intention with anything that comes through me is that it brings more love into the lives of those that it touches. I am continually seeking deeper levels of peace in my life and so, it is important that I am at peace in my creative process. It is this vibration that I am exploring in my own life that then comes through in the music, because the music is just a reflection of my vibration in those moments of creation.
The Space Between Solstice
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Mose spends much of his time in Guatemala where cacao ceremonies, kirtan, and ecstatic dance have had a major influence on his productions and DJ style. It is here on Lake Atitlan that he founded the weekly SunSet Cacao Dances where members of the community have the opportunity to journey deep into dance in a container of deep intention free of alcohol. Having been nomadic since 2011, he has developed a sound all his own through interaction with cultures from around the world. He finds a way to fuse the organic elements of tribal traditions with modern production techniques in order to create an entrancing journey for both relaxed listeners and those eager to move their bodies.