MORPHEUS MUSIC INTERVIEW - JULIO DE BENEDETTO

08.06.09 - on release of Living At A Higher Frequency


Q: Can you tell us how you initially came to be a musician.
I think I have to go way back to school to the age of 8 or so when music was a mandatory part of the curriculum and I remember playing violin and clarinet. I would not say that it was then that I became a musician, it was some of the foundation. For me it was when I started playing the drums at age of 15. I was in a school concert with the lead clarinet part and I was not doing it well so I was relegated to keeping time on a ride cymbal. A simple and not as glamourous part but it was the beginning of my musical journey.As far as being an electronic musician, well that goes back to when I was about 12 yrs old and I permanently borrowed Jean Michel Jarre's "Oxygen" and Wendy Carlos's "Switched on Bach" from my mother's record collection.....those sounds! I recall being fascinated by the black boxes and all those knobs on a thing called a Moog on the Switched on Bach record cover. Years later the name Moog would have much more significance for me than it did then. Even as a younger drummer I was always checking out what synthesizers were being played, wether it was a live concert, a television music show or record sleeve. In a music shop I would always head straight to the keyboard department, still do to this day. Anyway all of this was the foundations of what would come some 20 yrs later, when I sat down with a computer, recording software and a keyboard.
Q: What is it that interests you about making music?
It's the musical journey which in itself is many things......firstly its the sounds. A simple chord played on a piano can be quiet beautiful, that same chord played on a synthesizer.....well its hard to put into words, let's say it can take you as far as you can dream, and beyond. Secondly the structure of the music, the actual composition, how say that simple chord or single note can be the foundation of the entire piece of music. It's really a process of discovery where each section of music suggests a way to move forward without really showing you the way and its these moment(s) that the magic happens.


Q: Your album Living At A Higher Frequency is a five year project – how did the idea to release this album come about?
I started composing electronic music around 1998 and never stopped until the end of 2006. Thats a lot of music. I took a bit of a break from playing, but I would go back and audition the music from time to time. There was a lot of good music and some not so. The time away from composing gave me a much better perspective. Then my friend and co-producer Remy Gravel and I were talking about living a better and healthier life and he said those words "Living at a higher frequency." That put the idea into my head which would eventually become the compilation of tracks taken from this large source of music I had created. The actual music was taken from 2001-2006 period, the early music did not make it. Q: How do you feel about the album now that it is complete – what satisfies you most, what responses are you getting?
I am very happy with it.....there is a good representation of my music on the album and the production and design came together really well. What satisfied me the most is that the CD actual came into existence and how it did. Response wise......people are saying that as a debut CD the quality of music is very impressive. Generally people like the combined atmospheres, melody and rhythms. I'm getting feedback that the music is relaxing and calming to listen to too


Read the rest of this interview at Morpheus Music
www.morpheusmusic.co.uk

Resonant Drift - Interview

Morpheus Music has just enjoyed an interview with Resonant Drift posted here: http://www.electronicmusicmall.com/Html/interviewresonantdrift.htm
Musicians Bill Olien and Gary Johnson discuss their new album The Call.

Fluid Audio kick starts it’s catalogue with ‘Hope’, a compilation sprawling across 13 tracks from established artists, Digitonal, Hol Baumann, Ishq, Bersarin Quartet and James Murray, as well as up and coming producers, Field Rotation, Iambic, Snakestyle, Playb, Halogen and Ben Beiny.

As suggested by its title, ‘Hope’, embodies a concept of positivity and the alleviation of strife “through the creative translation of emotion into sounds sent to soothe [and] images formed to inspire”. Artists were asked to create compositions that reflected their interpretation of the term Hope, producing varied yet cohesive results with a profound resonance. 50% of the profits are donated to Toybox, a charity providing aid, shelter and support for homeless children in Latin America, the majority of which are estimated a life expectancy of around four years on the street.

Coupling all of this with the CD’s bespoke artwork and carbon neutral manufacture provides a consumable and tangible product that serves to aid a constructive cause through the medium of music.

Although we are living in a world of injustice - where the rich get richer, while those in need get left behind - there is often an inherent hope in those who suffer the most. Where people have the least they value more, the simple things that others take for granted. While some are disconnected from the true meaning of life, there are others who appreciate the beauty and awe of the world and what is has to offer. In these souls is a spark of light that no corrupt power can extinguish. Despite the negativity that we are all faced with in life, the human spirit can always overcome. Whether this is in the innocent laughter of a child, the compassion shown from one suffering human being to another, or through the creative translation of emotion into sound, the joy of life is communicated all around us - we need only be willing to open our hearts to it.

Track List:
1.Forever - Ishq
2.Hopeful - Snakestyle
3.Regenzeit - Field Rotation
4.Fingersand - James Murray
5.Turn The Seasons - Iambic
6.Was uns Bleibt - Bersarin Quartett
7.Acoustics Of The Piano - Playb
8.Sunriser - Halogen
9.Start Again - Ben Beiny
10.Flags - Iambic
11.We Three - Digitonal
12.Time To Change - Hol Baumann
13.A Part Of You - Ben Beiny (Digipak bonus track)

Ethically Produced
The CD is ISO14001 certified, all paper & card used is FSC certified, all produced by a Carbon Zero CD manufacturing company, via the award-winning CO2 Balance. The scientific data to calculate the embedded carbon emissions of the CD/Packaging, and offset an equivalent amount of CO2 by investing in 100% additional carbon-offsetting schemes with immediate & many secondary benefits to communities that simply would not happen unless we paid for them. The premises used to create the CD/Packaging is also 100% carbon neutral and powered with green electricity, and business travel emissions are also offset.

Eco-conscious disc manufacturing:
ISO 14000 & 14001 compliant CD manufacturing
100% Re-use of scrap polycarbonate salvaged from CD & DVD replication

Eco-conscious printing:
Sourcing of paper stock from FSC Compliant (Forestry Stewardship Council) mills and printers.
Wood fibre procured within the Sustainable Forest Initiative guidelines: every acre harvested is reforested - 400 Million tree seedlings planted each year.
Paper products are typically recyclable, compost-able, and under the right conditions biodegradable.
No wood from old-growth or endangered forests.
Vegetable based inks
100% alcohol-free printing.
No Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from inks or coatings, and use of quick dry glues with Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) being eliminated.
Collection and recycling of paperboard, inks, coatings and other waste from printing processes.
60,000 tons of paper and board shipped from one supplier alone to recycler in one year.

Treat This CD With Care :)

What The Artists Say:

Iambic:
My two tracks, Flags and Turn the Seasons, were intended to give the listener a blank canvass to paint their emotions of Hope on. It occurred to me before writing the tunes that each individual lives in hope for some thing or other, hope is what prevents many peoples lives from becoming mundane, or keeps them hanging on when times are tough. So my two tunes - both being quite different - represent each aspect of Hope.

Playb:
When I was asked to contribute to this compilation it quickly came to my mind to remix 'Acoustics Of The Piano' because of the special circumstances with which it was created. I was experiencing hard times, the kind when you feel that there is no way out though you cling to some kind of hope regardless of how difficult things get. Children who are born in disadvantaged situations stir up so much admiration within me. I see sadness in their eyes but at the same time a passion to live. I am proud to be associated with this project, and proves that music is a tool to make people aware of social injustice.

Field Rotation:
Regenzeit (German for rainy season) describes the meaning of rain from different points of view. In the temperate zone of the earth rain is part of the daily weather, nothing special. For millions of people in tropical and subtropical regions rain gives hope – the hope for a better life after the aridity, an efficient harvest and the end of starvation, the hope for enough rain to refill the fountains and riverbeds to survive the following dry season. Regenzeit is about all the people who pray and hope for rain.

Ishq:
Hope for me rests in a belief and remembrance that we are all eternal beings and live forever. When we die we do not - we awake into a new world and all we take with us is the love and essence of ourselves whether positive or negative. The false prophecy we call death is simply that - one of the root causes of mankind's drive toward destructive selfish materialism and consumption. To 'take', 'have', 'be', 'want' NOW.....at the expense of others with no consideration for the whole or the future or the planet is the result of a hopeless belief in death which motivates many to build castles made of sand and seek unnecessary levels of wealth and power so in turn they may feel 'protected' from death. Fear fundamentally of death make humans greedy. Greed - the opposite from sharing is a result of a hopeless belief in death deep within us and breed into us and taught to us. We are told and taught a lie from birth....Fear creates greed which results in many living lives of hopelessness as others live like kings
My hope is people will remember more 'before' this life and remember the eternal self which lives forever as this will help free us from the slavery of materialism and the selfishness which misleads us. We can build a world of equality where we all share and we all profit and all rise as one.
Its very simple - Share and we create HOPE and love. HOPE and faith in eternity leads to us to want for nothing more than to help others and so we may all evolve.
I hope we eventually realise this on earth and share and remember who we really are when the body is left behind.

Snakestyle:
With the music I make, I try to create something that gently catches your attention, hypnotises you, helps you think, and takes you to a place where you feel reassured. It's great that there are people out there who genuinely believe in music and its ability to give people hope and make a difference. It inspires me to keep going, to keep doing what i do, and I hope that people find a sense of hope while listening to this project. Best wishes. Snakestyle


Some Facts:
An estimated 40 million children live on the streets of Latin America's densely populated cities (unicef).

Observers from our partner in Guatemala say that street children there have a life expectancy of around four years on the street.

Unicef reported in 2004 that in Guatemala in the first 10 months of 2002, gangs or security forces killed 408 children and youths, but most street children were killed by drive by shootings.

THINK ABOUT IT!

Kirsty Hawkshaw Vs Elucidate - Face to Face

Kirsty Hawkshaw Vs Elucidate - Face to Face

Kirsty Hawkshaw returns with a bang with an all new collaboration with Elucidate, entited Face to Face.

Also combined in this 320kbps mega bundle are remixes by Matt Lange, Timothy Allan, Ken Loi (Elucidate original mix) and Swedish Drum & Bass label owner of Secret Operations, Seba.

Solar Fields - Cruise

Zero Cult - Dreams In Stereo

A voyage through stereo images and space frequencies!

Emil Ilyayev aka Zero Cult has connects his name well with a special space ambient electronica style and its one from the top Israel producers on this kind. Finally after long waiting, he delivered us his new third studio album freshest than ever.
If you liked his two previous “Art of Harmony “and “Ikebana”, surely u will love that too. It’s a blend of previous two, spiced with new grooves and atmospheres plus a remix of Side Liner’s “once upon a time” track.
This new album would be official presented live to listeners, 12 July 2009, from Zero Cult at chill out stage of PNF Festival in Israel. Along with other top local names as Shulman and Capsula.

Don’t miss this new ambient chill gem!

D Batistatos - Weeper On The Shore

Sounds and impressions of underwater colours.

Dimitris Batistatos returns with a freshly updated and contemporary second studio album.His debut album "Architect' was an introduction in what follows from this talented Greek artist who has done his downtempo debut through Nova Natura compilations.
"Weeper On The Shore" is another great chill out experience flirting with world fusion, lounge and dub electronica,pleasing us once more with his unique style, perfect for sunsets and listening in nature.
"Weeper On The Shore" includes remixes from the cosmicleaf roster, Cydelix and Zero Cult and firstly presented at Gathering of the Tribes 2008 in Germany.

Music with attitude from Cosmicleaf Records.