Uniting the FreaKS - Friday 8/28 - BrooKLYN SuMMER SToMP!

One thing I've puzzled over since moving to NYC at the end of 2004 has consistently been the divisions between all of the sub-groups of freaks in this city. The underground is divided by self-constructed walls that create false divisions among our various groups.

For the psytrance community, I've found it even more curious because there's such an emphasis on being open and welcoming, on one hand; but such disdain for those who don't appreciate our music. I'm guilty on this count, myself - and maybe I'm even worse than the average arrogant NYer, because with each passing year I grow increasingly dumbfounded by the new "full-on" - - which, to my ears, resembles the commercial trance of the late 90s.

But I'm happy to report that someone pressed my reset button. Last month, at Eclipse Festival in Canada, the world began again for me, and for Vish.... in a lot of ways. It's the first North American festival I've attended where I felt GOA. Real, physical Goa - and Spiritual Goa.

Yet, at the same time, the music was 75% AWFUL for me - a negative i did not expect. Banging, ear-splitting, three-layer commercial trance tracks for nearly the entire first 48 hours of the main stage; repetitive minimal techno for about 50% of the second stage. But despite this what a blast we had! And that was my big discovery - or, reminder. Goa was always more than the music.

6362MetaForce had a stall to sell our merchandise there, and we were blessed to have been placed in between two unbelievably wonderful trance families. On one side: Michelle, Claire & Adam, of the Fairies Pyjamas (Toronto); on the other, Andre, Marie & Freddy of Psychonauts (Montreal). We spent about 72 hours in a completely harmonic, blissful, psychedelic zone ... bonding completely and snugly.

Music-wise, I should not neglect to say this: Gaudi ROCKS. Unbelievable performer and such a killer guy! We had a blast with him, with SuKhush being blessed to follow him on the Lunar Stage. We - 6362MetaForce & the Fairies - spent Sunday afternoon with him on a mat in the sun, and he convinced Vish and I to stay one more night and give the Sunday night line-up a chance.

I should also not neglect to say: Zen Mechanics is KILLER. I love Wouter - Vish and I felt like we found a long lost brother from the Netherlands. He is a ray of sunshine in every way - & his closing set for Eclipse on Monday won't be forgotten by anyone who was there.... not ever. Wouter's ACTUAL brother - Joris - was with him, and was adopted by me and Vish. An amazing hippie bass player who had never encountered nightpsy before - - but emerged from our car back in Montreal having been given a tour of the nightpsy world by vish for the 3-hour drive - - in Wouter's words, "Converted to a darkpsy freak!" We spent a final day in montreal with the 2 of them that sealed us for a long time coming.

Finally - I am happy to be wrong and admit this: there is still psychedelic morning music out there in the full-on world, hidden deep beneath the banging commercial traks! Julien Seyer Loiselle met me on the main stage dancefloor in the middle of Sunday night and convinced me to keep an open mind to Earthling - so I did. And what did I hear, but psychedelic sounds ripping through his main stage melodic trance. Well-produced, well-constructed - - - old school goa morning music. I met Earthling afterward to thank him for restoring my faith in his genre - and berated him at the same time for doing so, since the sets after his were too much a disappointment after hearing a master at work .........!

All of this is to say: I rewound, and re-encountered the original feeling that rooted me to Goa in 2000-2003. Vish did, as well. We both came back even more excited to throw our next party on 8/28 - with its line-up of multi-subgenre psychedelic music: progressive, dubstep & nightpsy - - with some NY performance art by Reverend Billy thrown in.

I hope more people feel welcome - - - because I'm dying to welcome them! - - - and I look forward to seeing them SToMP the floor to music they may have never encountered before.

Our Summer 2009 Collection is HERE!

It has taken us nearly a year to pull the new collection together - - and as we look at the new pieces, we almost can't believe our eyes! Even after spending so much time to ensure that our pieces would be perfect, we feel stunned and happy to see the incredible quality of our new fair-trade leather and suede, and the killer-ness of the new designs!

When our shop went up in flames in Delhi at the end of 2008, we really spent time to think about how to set ourselves up again in a way that would be more sustainable - and more meaningful to us. We spent months seeking out fair-trade leather and a facility to work with us in India that conforms to fair labor laws. We decided that it was critical to find a team that agrees with us about keeping chemicals to a minimum, and respect at a maximum.

It was incredibly frustrating at times. It's hard enough to work in India in any field. Working with an Indian production team from oceans away is even harder - and insisting upon standardization and fairness - both in dealing with people and materials - rendered our work maddening at times.

This collection is the child of a difficult gestation - borne of a lot of sweat ((and gnashing of teeth)) - but also so much love! The love definitely won over the rest of the process, and it's apparent in these pieces. We are proud parents!

We are still waiting on our full stock - but limited colors and sizes are already available and photos are on our site! Come have a look......

http://www.6362metaforce.net/store/home.php?cat=5

And they're here just in time for the festival season! So as we write this, we're wishing everyone a fantastic season of adventures and parties! We started our summertime 2 weeks ago at TantriK NYC, and continued this past weekend while hosting Sensient in NYC.... Now with the pieces in stock - we're ready to roll!

Eclipse Festival, here we CoME........

BooM

Spring Therapy?

Spring is such a weird season. I've never gotten used to it. I grew up in LA, where we didn't have Spring; then I spent a few years in the Northeastern US, struggling with all four seasons. Winter attracted the majority of my distaste, and Spring just seemed like its drippy tail-end.

Following that time, I spent a decade in 3 altogether different seasons - Dry, Hot, and Wet. Now, those were seasons! Somehow those turns of the barometer enhanced my well-being instead of challenging it in the way the Northern hemisphere seasons did. Plus, I have to admit: it was strangely liberating to join more than a billion people who didn't need cherry blossoms to feel complete.

In the few years I've been back in New York City, I've faced April and May with gritted teeth. I guess these months are not so different to the Autumn - but somehow I love Autumn, and don’t feel at all troubled by its dropping temperatures. It's not just Autumn’s colorful leaves that I love; it's the slowing down of things after the sun has baked us, inside and out, during the long Summer. Autumn brings a chill to the air, but we can still be surprised by her bright sunny days. We are grateful for them, mindful as we are that they may dissolve at any time into the frigid air of winter.

Spring is the opposite of Autumn. It’s the time of 'rebirth' – but that process is painful, for both mama and infant and all that observe the process. We're anticipating the sun and joy of the summer, but in reality, we're stuck with the blah of gray, crying clouds..

Occasionally, a bright, sunny day bursts through – and when it does, huge expectations accompany it! We grasp onto those sunny days so tightly, knowing that Summer is around the corner. But by doing so, we only disappoint ourselves.

For me, Spring is a time of great chaos. Something crazy happens to me, internally - something that mirrors the wild vicissitudes of Spring’s daily ups and downs of precipitation and temperature. The chaos that I feel puts me at odds with the culture here in New York City. Spring is like a cult leader, here – an earthly goddess who maintains a flock of millions of adoring sheep, no matter what weirdness she inflicts on them.

Part of me wants to be a lamb, too – but after 37 years on earth, I know that I’m not cut out for it.

Recently someone told me that I’m not alone: Chinese medicine addresses the chaos of Spring and has specific remedies to calm the craziness within. I loved learning of this, and it became a strange source of comfort for me this year. It’s nice to know that I could find a Chinese herbal practitioner who, unlike an allopathic shrink, wouldn’t just tell me I'm 'manageable' and prescribe me antidepressants.

Spring, Spring, Spring. Crazy mama, always jerking us around. I guess, on the bright side, you make me appreciate Summer all the more!

SuKhush at Gelato Art/Video Salon for the Spring Equinox!

SuKhush is excited to welcome SPRING 2009 with our friends in the Gelato! Art/Video Salon tomorrow in Bed-Stuy!

If you are in New York City this weekend, please join us! SuKhush will play from about 10-11:30pm, but we are preceded and followed by an amazing parade of talented musicians and artists from around the world. The event starts at 3pm and runs until the wee post-midnite hours!

More info on Gelato! can be found here: http://gelatoartsalon.wordpress.com/

SuKhush is a live music/DJ collaboration between husband and wife team, Vish and Rachel, the co-founders of 6362MetaForce. SuKhush features live flute improvisation over electronica DJ sets, in styles ranging from ambient to global grooves, and from chill-out / psychill to breakbeats. SuKhush also collaborates with percussionists, saxophonists and other instrumentalists.

SuKhush began as a solo project by Rachel, who is a DJ and flutist, and who has played the C flute since childhood. She trained classically for 10 years before moving on to jazz, experimental and world music. After many collaborations and explorations, she found her calling in electronica projects. More recently, SuKhush has evolved into a partnership between Rachel and Vish. An accomplished DJ, Vish spins the tracks while Rachel improvises live, to create a forward-moving and light-filled interweaving of the organic and technological realms.

SuKhush is a Sanskrit word meaning complete contentment – a sentiment beyond joy or happiness. That’s the feeling that SuKhush performances and sets always strive to generate.

To sample the SuKhush sound, download a free set here: http://tinyurl.com/SuKhush-Redux-Download-Set.

You can also hear older SuKhush sets at: http://www.sukhush.podomatic.com.

BooM from BrooklyN!