This issue’s interview is with French turntablist, Dj Nelson! Dj Nelson ( Amouzou Amédomé) is a phenomenal and incredibly innovative musician. He’s recently been awarded the 2011 DMC World Championship award, which, for a turntablist, is monumental. However, we were mostly impressed by his humility, his sincerity and the love and joy that he seems to exist in. He seems to be living truth that we can fulfill our dreams and even have fun while doing it! Anais and I really enjoyed this dialogue with Dj Nelson, with his Ancestors, with Kontomble, and the Spirit of his Lineage! Please enjoy listening to this interview..

Dj Nelson’s bio..

After being born and raised in Germany, DJ Nelson moved to Strasbourg, France at the age of 13.
In 1995, he made the discovery of his first two turntables while he was cleaning up his basement. One week later a dj mixer was given to him. That’s when it all started!
In 1997 he discovered the DMCs (Disco Mix Club, by far the most known DJ Battle). That’s when his passion and his motivation for mixing and scratching were born.

But his love for music was born way earlier: his older sister and his father, who were listening to artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Tina Turner, the Beastie Boys, Janet Jackson, LL Cool J and others at that time, influenced him strongly.
After that he went through a grunge/fusion stage where he enjoyed listening to groups such as Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine until 1993, when he discovered Wu Tang Clan, a crew that was going to change his vision of music and of the entire Hip Hop culture.

In 1998, Strasbourg’s number one radio station RBS invited him several times to show his skills on air. One year later they gave him his own show which he called “Streatbeats”. The show celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2009.

His first victory during a battle in 2003 gave him a taste for competition. So he decided to get more deeply involved with the elaboration of battle routines and shows. In 2005 he won the TKO (Turntable Knock Out) championship. Since then he’s participated in several of them. In 2008, he won the French DMC champion title as well as the DMC world champion title, and he did it all again in 2009!
The only thing that was missing was the DMC World Champion title.
And he made it!! On October 6th, 2011 DJ Nelson became DMC WORLD CHAMPION!!!

DJ Nelson is all over the world with his energetic DJ sets: France, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, England, Togo (Africa), Morocco, Qatar and recently Brazil. These are some of the places where you can find him.
Nelson shared the scene with artists such as Reakwon (Wu Tang Clan), The Game, Fatmanscoop, Heltah Skeltah, Q-Bert, DJ Total Eclipse, DJ Pone, DJ Goldfingers, just to mention some of them.

In order to communicate his passion and his technique as well, he has been doing workshops for kids in partnership with Arachnima, an association that has been active for over 10 years in Strasbourg’s so-called ghettos / problem districts.

He juggles with different music genres like Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, Soul, Funk, Electro, Breakbeat and Dancehall and always adds his personal and very unique technical skills to it.
Get ready for takeoff, DJ Nelson is on his way to the top…can’t stop wont stop!

Dj Stats:

-DMC Supremacy World Champion!!! O2 LONDON 2011
-Vice DMC Supremacy World Champion!! London septembre 2009
-Champion DMC Supremacy France / at la Vapeur in Dijon september 2009
-Vice DMC Supremacy World Champion! London September 2008
-French DMC Supremacy Champion/ at the Rex Club in Paris September 2008
-French DMC Cup Champion / Hall Olympe de Gouges in Paris June 2008
-TKO Champion / at the Olympic in Nantes in April 2007.
– Who’s The King Champion / in Grenoble in April 2006.
-3rd at the TKO Championship / in Nantes in April 2006.
-TKO Champion / in Nantes in April 2005.
-2nd at the Who’s the King Championships / in Grenoble in November 2005.
-2nd at the DJ Battle in Nancy in February 2004.
-2nd at the DJ Battle at the Bâteau Ivre in Strasbourg in December 2003.
-Champion at the Bâteau Ivre DJ Battle in Strasbourg in February 2003.

Radio Show:
Dj Nelson host and DJ of « StreetBeats » on R.B.S. 91.9 FM in Strasbourg ( http://www.radiorbs.com/ ) every Saturday from 2 pm to 4 pm. Tune in, its worth it!

At the Crossroads is the intersection of spirit and art, music and spirit. New interviews posted monthly with different artists and musicians! stay tuned..

October’s Featured Interview is with Marques Wyatt. Aside from his accomplishments as a musician, artist, producer, Marques is a kind and genuine soul. In our interviews at Ancestor Bridge we make way for Spirit to have voice as well. In our interview with Marques, the ancestors seemed especially strong. We are honored to share this interview with you..

We’ve moved into audio interviews. Please press play below to listen

Marques’s bio.. Sonic love travels in many dimensions—through visceral pathways of the senses, as a uniting force on dance floors everywhere, in movements spanning entire eras to unify—whether souls, states or nations. And as sonic love relates to house music, Marques Wyatt is a seminal force.

A robust musical foundation had been laid for the Santa Monica born and bred impresario from an early age: his jazz-loving father exposed him to the greatest musicians of the genre, the eldest of his three brothers performed in a psychedelic funk band, and his other two brothers seasoned Marques’ musical palate with prolific soul artists of the era such as Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder.

Always a music fanatic, Marques had acquired over 2000 records before he ever approached the decks. Much of this collection was assembled during his teenage clubbing days in Los Angeles as he noted record names at the DJ booth while his friends scoured the dance floor for cute girls.
During this era, Marques’ close friend and DJ Tracy Trinh proposed a deal after admiring his vast music collection: if Marques allowed Tracy to use his records for gigs, Tracy would make him mix tapes to play in his car. Marques agreed, and eventually, Tracy showed Marques how to use the equipment. After a relatively short period of time, Tracy invited Marques to DJ with him. Marques recalls, “It was my first gig ever, and I really rocked the crowd. I had never seen a DJ get an ovation, and neither had anyone else present, really.” Post-ovation, Tracy turned to Marques and said, “Man… you have the gift. It’s time to get yourself some decks.”

Following that first gig, doors began to open for Marques as his blooming reputation spread via word of mouth. Marques performed as a mobile DJ throughout Los Angeles while attending college. Rather than pursue a degree in civil engineering, he followed his true passion for music… a passion that drew him to New York. During a trip to the city in 1986, Marques ventured into the legendary World Club. Mesmerized by the rhythmic emanations from the speakers, which happened to be the pitch shifting of one Frankie Knuckles, a magnetic force pulled Marques to the DJ booth, where he spent three hours captivated by Frankie’s deft pairing of disco-derived sounds, raw percussion and gospel vocals. A bond formed between the music lovers, as Marques was inspired by Frankie’s humble and purposeful presence. In years to come, Marques’ keen tastes were further forged in the house fires of New York’s finest: Larry Levan, Tony Humphries, Frankie Knuckles and David Morales.

Following his New York experience, Marques introduced the East Coast sound to his native Los Angeles via legendary under- and aboveground parties, the most renowned of which was “The BBC.” Recalling Osko’s Disco from the cult movie Thank God It’s Friday, Marques chose the historic location as the stomping grounds for the commencement of “The BBC.” Marques artfully blended choice house tracks on the decks amidst the ghosts of Osko’s Disco past.

As the good word continued to spread throughout Los Angeles, the city’s most respected promoters sought out Marques to infuse his East Coast-influenced sound into the LA underground. It wasn’t long before Marques’ schedule overflowed with bookings at various warehouse venues. In effect, Marques was the artery of the new movement’s heartbeat—at the tender age of 21. After legal constraints forced the thriving movement from downtown warehouses to commercial clubs, celebrity hotspot Helena’s scouted Marques to reinvent the club’s musical direction. By coupling mainstream music with house rhythms during his sets, he lured some of the most discriminating socialites to the dance floor. Marques had planted the seeds of underground house music, and a revolution was flourishing.

In the ensuing years, Marques’ prowess as a talented DJ and promoter continued to earn him recognition as one of the most sought-after artists in the genre, domestically and internationally. Marques promoted some of the most legendary house parties in Los Angeles such as “MAC’s Garage,” the first alcohol-free night in the city introducing live house acts such as Cece Rogers, Adeva, Jomanda and Liz Torres, as well as DJ David Morales. He also co-promoted the legendary afterhours “Does Your Mama Know” parties with partner Tony Largo. Another weekly event, “Prague,” helped establish an enduring alliance between the house music movements of the East and West Coasts. For the closing night of “Prague” in 1994, Marques booked Masters at Work’s Little Louie Vega for the first time in the Los Angeles. Following the event, Louie invited Marques to perform at Sound Factory Bar in New York—a pivotal moment in earning Marques the respect of a discerning East Coast house community, along with his performances as one of the few elite West Coast DJs invited to the thriving jazz funk mecca of Giant Step.

Little Louie Vega again proved to be an important figure in Marques’ ascendance to global recognition by featuring him at the infamous “Masters at Work BBQ” during Miami’s Winter Music Conference in 1996. Marques’ stellar five-hour set inspired international bookings by such clubs as London powerhouse Ministry of Sound. Today Louie and Marques remain close, as both musicians are archetypes for unassuming talent in an industry awash with narcissism. Marques said of their relationship, “If I would have to name someone as a mentor, it would have to be Louie Vega. He has given me guidance through priceless advice, always made himself accessible, contributed so much to the house scene in Los Angeles, and most of all, has gifted me with an authentic friendship.”

Returning to the music scene in Los Angeles true to his inner visionary, Marques introduced Los Angeles to acid jazz through “Brass” with partners Orlando Aguillen and Paul Stewart. The event furthered ventures into uncharted territory by debuting live performances of high profile acts as Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, Digable Planets, Galliano and Young Disciples. Residencies at Love, Sound Factory and Release in San Francisco followed as Marques continued playing his own brand of uncompromising, soulfully organic house alongside talents such as Frankie Knuckles, Louie Vega, David Morales and Danny Tenaglia.

Marques’ keen sixth sense for organizing epic parties culminated in his weekly institution, “Deep,” which began in 1998 and continues to thrive today as an internationally esteemed sanctuary for house music lovers. Several of the finest musicians have performed at “Deep,” in addition to the aforementioned: Timmy Regisford of Shelter, David Morales, Ben Watt of Everything but the Girl, Dimitri from Paris, Mark Farina, Miguel Migs, and of course Louie Vega, who plays multiple times per year. Marques uses the vast popularity of the event as a springboard for charity and social awareness via DeepCares, a non-profit division of “Deep” that organizes and sponsors purpose-driven events benefiting different facets of local and global communities.

Marques has also channeled his gifts in the studio, releasing tracks and remixes on revered labels Om Records, Strictly Rhythm, King Street, Nervous and Yoshitoshi. His partnership with Om Records began when founder Chris Smith invited Marques to release a mix. 2000’s Sound Design, Volume 1 was subsequently released to global fanfare and critical acclaim, and the title track of his 2002 Om release, For Those Who Like to Get Down, became a worldwide club anthem. After a necessary hiatus to focus on guiding the “Deep” vessel, Marques has returned to the studio, remixing and creating much-anticipated original material.

Channeling a spiritual depth cultivated through meditation, prayer and yoga practice, Marques continues to spread the gospel of house music as an evangelist of music and “Deep” culture by globe-trotting everywhere from Los Angeles to New York, Shanghai to Barcelona and Tel Aviv to Dubai with the mission to bring musical unity and light to all souls in his pathway. – Sara Jayne Crow, 2009

MARQUES WYATT DISCOGRAPHY

CD MIXES
• THE SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND (MASTER DANCE TONES) 1999
• SOUND DESIGN VOL. 1 (OM RECORDS) 2000
• FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO GET DOWN (OM RECORDS) 2002
• UNITED DJs OF AMERICA VOL. 20 (RAZOR & TIE) 2003
• HORIZONS (OM RECORDS) 2004

RELEASES
• “SEARCH’N” (12,” STRICTLY RHYTHM) 1997
• “THE QUAKE” (JAY-J & MARQUES WYATT, ZURICH BY HOUSE PART 6) 2001
• “FOG CITY PLAYERS” (JAY-J & MARQUES WYATT, DEEP HOUSE FANTASIES VOL.1) 2001
• “RUDE GROOVE” (OM RECORDS) 2002
• “DON’T LOOK BACK EP” (12,” OM RECORDS) 2002
• “FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO GET DOWN” (12,” OM RECORDS) 2004
• “COME TOGETHER, LOVE BETTER” (CD, REBOOT: NOTES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION) 2005

REMIXES
“I CAN’T WAIT” – Andy Caldwell (Marques Wyatt’s Deep Sunday Vocal)
• LP (The United Nations of Future Music Vol. 2, OM Records) 2003
• LP (I Can’t Wait, Inspirit Music) 2003
• CD (InHouse Perspectives Vol. 2, Inspirit Music) 2004
• CD (Loveslapped Vol. 3, Loveslap Recordings) 2004
• CD (Café Solaire Vol. 8, Soulstar) 2005

“LOVE GOES ON” – Kludo (The Marques Wyatt Dub)
• 12” (Love Goes On/My Love, Sub-Urban) 1996
• CD (The New York House Source, Sub-Urban) 1997
• CD (Underground House Authority, Osprey Multimedia) 1997

“LEARN 2 LUV” – Kim English (Marques Wyatt’s “Does Your Mama Know” Mix)
• 12” (Learn 2 Luv, Nervous Records) 1997

“BACK TO LIFE” – Kenny Bobien (Marques Wyatt, Eddie Amador Remixes)
• 12” (Back To Life, King Street Sounds) 1998

“WHAT’CHA DO” – Maureen Parker (Marques Wyatt Deep Bump)
• 12” (What’cha Do, Tilted Records) 2000

“RHYTHM IS” – Afro Mystik (Marques Wyatt Deep Mix)
• 12” (Follow Me/Rhythm Is? OM Records) 2003
• CD/LP (Remixed, OM Records) 2004
• CD/LP (Sounds of OM Vol. 4, OM Records) 2004
• CD (Vocal Room: Deep Groove Set, S2S PTE Ltd.) 2006

“HOUSE MUSIC” – Eddie Amador (Marques’ Does Yo’ Mama Know Revival Mix)
• 12” [House Music (Remixes) – Yoshitosh] 1998
• CD (House Music – Yoshitoshi) 1999

“SPEND THE NIGHT” – Smitty & Eric Davenport (Marques Wyatt Mix)
• 12” (Spend the Night – Inspirit Music) 2003

“IT’S YOU, IT’S ME” – Kaskade (Marques Wyatt’s Deep Interpretation Mix)
• CD (Stereo Candi Essential Tunes Vol. 1 – Sheer House) 2003
• CD (In The Moment – EQ Recordings) 2004
“SUPERSTAR” – King Britt featuring Ivana Santilli (Marques’ Rude Boy Ride Mix)
• 12” [Superstar (The Remixes) – Rapster Records] 2003

“WON’T TAKE NO” – Joel (Marques Wyatt Remix)
• CD (Won’t Take No – Electric Monket Records) 2003

“I’M A LOT LIKE YOU” – The World’s Most Beautiful (Marques’ DEEP Like You Mix / Marques’ Likeable Dub)
• 12” (I’m A Lot Like You Remixes, Jellybean Soul) 2004
• CD (Jaguar 2005) 2005

“SWEET LOVE” – Kaskade (Marques Wyatt’s Deep Love Mix)
• CD (Destination Lounge: Bali, High Note Records) 2005
• CD (OM Ibiza 2005, OM Records) 2005
• CD (High Note Sampler Vol. 1, High Note Records) 2005
• CD/LP (Sounds of OM Vol. 5, OM Records) 2005
• DVD (Destination Lounge: The DVD – Revive The Soul) 2006

“THEY FORGOT IT” – Tarantulaz featuring Monique Bingham
• 12” (Tarantulaz, Om Records) 2007

DJ Celskiii, a member of La Femme Deadly Venoms, has been perfecting her craft for the past fourteen years. For her, being a well-rounded DJ is important, having a strong Hip Hop foundation. So besides mixing, she skratches, beat-juggles, battles, dabbles in production, and has deejayed for KRS-ONE. She was heavily influenced by the late 1990s Beat Lounge Deco DJs, including the Invisbl Skratch Pikzl, whom inspired her to find her niche as a DJ. She’s competed in the US DMC Team Battles twice, once with Deeandroid in 2009, followed by the 2010 battle, placing second with her crew members, Deeandroid & Lady Fingaz. She is constantly training and building her skills as a DJ and feels that she is a lifelong student of Hip Hop.DJ Celskiii’s down with La Femme Deadly Venoms, Skratchpad, Mighty 4, and the Accepted Eclectic Crew. Keep up with her on http://lafemmedeadlyvenoms.com, http://skratchpad.tumblr.com, and http://www.alldayplay.fm/acceptedeclectic

video below:  Mighty4- Deeandroid & Celskiii

video below: La Femme Deadly Venoms (Kat O1O, Lady Fingaz, Deeandroid, Celskiii)

with Anais Szabo & Liv Wheeler

next, tba

10-4pm Saturday and Sunday

Forestville, California

Kontomble is an incredibly powerful Spirit that is small in stature with incredible healing powers.  They have been likened to the Duendes of the Philippines (Spain, Mexico, etc.) or the Leprachauns and Knomes of Ireland, and the Menehune of Hawaii.  They can be found cross-culturally under different names.  The word Kontomble comes from the Dagara people of Burkina Faso, Africa.

Kontomble seem to be close to the source of change and creation; creation of cultures, creation of magic.  Experiencing Kontomble has the feeling of a grand paradox of ecstatic joy and intense responsibility.

Some people walk in the world with Kontomble, unbeknownst to them, often times.  and Kontomble will find creative ways to get your attention.  They might bring chills to you or they may bring a high-pitched ringing in your ears.  They may be responsible for you reading this right now…

Calling all dreamers!  Join with usto welcome Kontomble energy into our lives!  This is a gathering for Kontomble people to either begin their relationship or to deepen in the medicine.  As we mentioned, there are many people that walk with Kontomble without even realizing it.  Our intention it to bring awareness to this connection, so that it may become a blessing in your life.  Kontomble comes with purpose.  And there is great potential to people that walk with Kontomble gathering together in the same space, sharing vision.  Especially in these times.

During this weekend we’re going to be:

~Supporting each other in our growth and development

~Creating a clay figure for your Kontomble

~Creating a house for your Kontomble

~Learning about Kontomble energy

~Learning how to connect with Kontomble

~Spending time in the woods in ritual space

~Doing divination to find out specifics about your Kontomble

~And what the overall vision is for the group

Come gather with us in the woods of beautiful Forestville, California to join with the magical energy of Kontomble!  They seem to be so passionate about the times that we’re living in and the need for change and evolution.  We’ve heard the call strong and we’re passing it on to you!  Come show up!  Bring a friend or 2 and let’s gather as community ready to support each other in our awakenings during this potent time that we’re blessed to be a part of!

The cost for the weekend is $225.  $100 non-refundable deposit reserves your space.  Email breathe_color@yahoo.com or baator23@yahoo.com to register.

From Anais’s pen..

Are we so blind to not see the portal that pulses each time a blessing is gifted forth 

Recognize where inspiration originates

Ancient world medicine is sung to us dancing with the bells that sound with each step whether we move or not

We are but the symbols and dreams of other times

 ~Anais

From Liv’s pen..

I feel the old magic wanting to return.  I feel the Kontomble peeking from behind the trees in the forest, looking out, seeing if it’s time yet.  If people can be responsible with the ancient powers that always were.  I feel their apprehension about the modern condition and yet there’s a knowing that we must try.  We must try to see if we can manage these powers responsibly, if we can be delicate and engaged simultaneously.  Recognizing that now is the time and with our saying yes, we must say yes humbly, respectfully, to this ancient wisdom that’s been so forgiving with us.  There’s been a crack in the facade of modernity and we must take this opportunity, this window of time to give our everything to it!

with love, Liv

During these 5 months together we’re going to be working deeply with Kontomble for the purpose of revealing the most healing music possible.  What we’ve noticed is musicians often times have Kontomble that are working with them or trying to work with them through music.  That Kontomble often times is the creative genius behind the sound.  Without recognizing this, it feels like the expression can be limited. 

Can they help you to articulate a new sound?  Can they bring the kind of positive energy into a venue, so that everyone walks away more alive from a show?!?  Can they help to push the boundaries to take your music into a new dimension?  Can they help you get out of your own way so that you can come into alignment with the music that is you?

We’re so excited about this series!!!  Kontomble has been preparing us for the past year for this.  Waiting until the right time to reveal this particular kind of medicine.  And we only have a piece of the puzzle.  There are musicians that are going to gather, each of them carrying a different instrument that will break boundaries together, that will create new harmonies and frequencies.  If this is you, we can’t wait to meet you in the space with the various different musicians, ready to embrace a cutting edge together!

The cost is $100 per session.  $50 non refundable deposit is due by March 10th to reserve your space.  This pays for half of your first class.  We have a limited amount of space for this series, so it’s definitely a good idea to sign up early.  Please email a letter of intention to Liv @ breathe_color@yahoo.com or Anais @ baator23@yahoo.com.

Kontomble is an incredibly powerful Spirit that is small in stature with incredible healing powers.  They have been likened to the Duendes of the Philippines (Spain, Mexico, etc.) or the Leprachauns and Knomes of Ireland, and the Menehune of Hawaii.  They can be found cross-culturally under different names.  The word Kontomble comes from the Dagara people of Burkina Faso, Africa.

Kontomble seem to be close to the source of change and creation; creation of cultures, creation of magic.  Experiencing Kontomble has the feeling of a grand paradox of ecstatic joy and intense responsibility.

Some people walk in the world with Kontomble, unbeknownst to them, often times.  And Kontomble will find creative ways to get your attention.  They might bring chills to you or they may bring a high-pitched ringing in your ears.  They may be responsible for you reading this right now…

Liv Wheeler

Anais Szabo

Our interview/session is much like a divination in that we give the Ancestors and Spirit an opportunity to have voice.  Often when you hear Anais or myself speaking about ‘them’, we’re talking about Spirit.  It may be the ancestors or kontomble or the genies talking to us.

Liv:  I honor our collective ancestors and ask that whatever comes through during this session, may it be in service to community..

Anais:  Your far away ancestors are whispering to the spirits that I work with.  They’re saying to make sure that you clearly recognize the piece about what happened to you and to talk on that. What happened to you as a young person that would encourage such kind of work in the world?

Paul Skee:  Yeah, definitely.  When I was young I was always into these dances and art forms, as early as 5 years old.  Growing up I’d always see my friends who would get into it and we would be doing it, you know, every summer the same thing.  But, gradually as they got older, like, 11, 12, 13, we would be plagued by drugs and gangs.  So everybody would either start selling ice or start doing ice or whatever drugs, really young.  11, 12 or 13, can you imagine that?

That actually really messed me up when I was a kid because I didn’t have anymore friends.  Everybody was doing something else and it just wasn’t cool to break anymore or to do any of the art forms because everyone wanted to either make money or spend it away on doing drugs or something of that sort.  Or be in a gang.  So I would always gravitate more towards the youth.  I would be a sophomore or junior and be kickin it with 7th or 8th graders after school.  That’s how bad it got.  Nobody in my sophomore or junior year were dancing anymore.

Anais:  Where did you grow up?

(Photo below:  Mighty 4 workshop, Union City.)

Paul Skee:  Union City, California, about 15 minutes from Oakland.  My whole high school years I didn’t kick it with high schoolers.  I was kickin it with middle school kids because these were the only kids that wanted to dance or to do these art forms.  So picture me being 17 years old waiting for these kids to get off school to go practice.  I would always hang out with these kids and eventually even these kids would get into the gangs and drugs.  I still remember to this day one of my closest friends, I came into the garage one day and he was just high out of his mind.  And I told him, “hey man, don’t ever stop breakin’ man.  I’m serious.  Let’s keep going.”  And, you know, saying that to a kid that’s wasted, that’s in one ear out the other.  Eventually he quit due to unfortunate circumstances.  This is one of the kids that had super talent beyond me and beyond everyone in the neighborhood.  If you can imagine growing up in a neighborhood full of kids 20, 30 kids in the neighborhood and then watching them all fall off to where there’s only 2 of us left.

Liv:  Paul Skee, why do you feel like you never got into drugs?

Paul Skee:  I did but I didn’t get too hectic into it.  I would get it from my parents.  Really, I think that it just wasn’t that appealing to me at the time.  I just loved the art forms so much that that was my high.

Liv:  So you were mostly dancing?

(Photo below:  Paul Skee & Crazy Legs.)

Paul Skee:  Dancing, yeah and trying to do the writing.  I wanted to learn everything about the culture, listening to the rap music and really trying to get to the root of it as far as learning my history.  Learning the people and the architects that created it.  I flunked high school because I was so consumed by the culture of hip hop.  It was kind of a weird trade off.  I learned so much about the culture but my schooling was just out the window.

Liv:  You got schooled in a different way?

Paul Skee:  Yeah.

Anais:  When did you really get serious?

Paul Skee:  Probably when I got real serious was 1991, 92.  I’m still a student trying to catch up from there.  But to go to the whole trauma situation, that’s why I do what I do and I try to influence kids into the culture because I just hated seeing what happened to my neighborhood.  That was very traumatizing.

(Click link below..)

Paul Skee Dancing!

Anais:  That’s very mature.  You were very mature.  Were your parents born in America ?

Paul Skee:  My mom was born in Japan and moved to the Philippines.  My dad was born in the Philippines and then moved to San Francisco.  Then they hooked up in San Francisco .

Anais:  When you were growing up were you exposed to their culture, their roots?  Did they speak their native tongue?

Paul Skee:  Yeah.  They spoke Tagalog growing up.  I didn’t really learn how to speak it but I learned how to understand.  If I’m in a room and people are speaking Tagalog, I’ll be able to pick it up.  But as far as speaking it, it was kind of looked down upon because at school you get called a Fob or something like that.  Anything that kids don’t understand, they’re going to treat you like you’re an alien.  So I kind of held that in.  It’s something that I look back and am pretty embarrassed about, that I just didn’t say I don’t care what you think I’m going to do what I do.

Anais:  Well, that’s part of being raised in the West, right?

Paul Skee:  Yeah, exactly.

Anais:  You have a lot of protection around you from both sides, from both lineages, heavy ancestral protection.  You’re very protected.  That’s a very rare story, just on a simple level its like growing up in the hood and everybody gets caught up — everybody’s making money.  Why were you so different?  Getting caught up is getting caught up.  So I keep looking at that and that’s what they keep showing, your protection is very strong — you’ve got some genies too.  They have bracelets going up their arm further than I can see.  They are holding you very protected.  That’s been the thing that’s kept you out of it.

(Photo below:  Paul Skee.)

Paulskee:  Wow.. I never even saw it like that.  I never even imagined.  I mean, the most that I could relate to when it comes to that is, eventually my city and the people in it would know that I was breakin’ and when the people would go out and ride out they’d just be like, stay doing what you’re doing.  Don’t come out with us.  People would actually encourage me, the gangsters and everybody there, they would encourage me just to keep dancing.  That’s amazing to hear.

Anais:  When you talked about the roots of it that’s when they came in to say, it’s like the roots to everything and it’s not so far from you.  Maybe many of the people in your neighborhood, their parents are from wherever they came from too.  They’re not 5th generation in America.  But this thing with these particular ancestors and then these other beings, their eyes send out such a strong energy, their eyes are on you non-stop

Liv:  Remember, Anais, when I was talking about a global ancestry?  That was something that had come up with Paul Skee before, that there’s a global ancestry, there’s something global protecting him.

Anais:  That’s real.  I can watch what they’re saying and they’re showing pictures and saying you are tapping into about 10 percent of your capacity.

Paul Skee:  Wow.

Anais:  To light a wildfire of change.

Liv:  the sun just came out when you said that!

Anais:  They show maybe you can feel them because they make you really hot, they say on your back.  They’re showing 2 parts.  You know how you have your right side and the left side of your back?  They show that they sometimes will make friction fast and hot, make your back feel really hot.  Do you know that feeling?  They’ve been trying to show you ways that you could start to tune into them.  They say when you’re doing some particular movement, there’s a certain movement.  If you pay attention more, they say when you dance feel when your back will get hot.

Paul Skee:  Oh, wow!  That’s amazing that you said that because it’s something that I actually teach.  The first thing I teach somebody is utilizing your back to rock forward and back, forward and back.  Basically that’s called rocking, kind of like when you have a dj scratching, they’ll kind of be rocking back and forth.  Or a drummer is rocking back and forth.  The basis of what we do in hip hop, we rock the beat.  We rock the turntables.  That’s been one of the biggest things that I’ve learned.  Once I get into that soulful rhythm, that movement, utilizing my back, I’m always left, right, forward, back, constantly doing that to the beat.  That’s when I get that feeling, I kind of channel off to a –

Anais:  Yeah!

Liv:  Woah!

Anais:  They say that’s when they’re playing their rhythms.  That’s when you can hear them.  That’s them!

Paul Skee:  Wow!

Anais:  That’s so great!  You got it!  That’s them.  I’m smiling and laughing and they’re like (roar!)  there’s so much energy.  They’re all the do, not a thought, the action.  That’s what they are.  This is making them beat their — that’s not a drum.  I don’t know what they’re playing, some animal looking thing.  Really hard, my heart wants to beat harder.  That rhythm gets louder and harder and stronger and they’re wanting you to stretch a lot more because this is the wave that comes out of you and creates and then flows all around.  You’re the middle,  you know when you drop a pebble in the water and it makes a (making sound)?  You’re like that but with a boulder and then all the waves reach out to all the people that can be washed over with this.  It’s healing.

Paul Skee:  That’s amazing because I don’t stretch as much as I’m supposed to and I’m now feeling the effects of it at 33 years old.  I’ve really been trying to put more emphasis on my stretching.

Anais:  Oh, literal stretching.  They’re saying yes, yes because the stretching they’re talking about is through your body and then all the way through your spirit.

Paul Skee:  Okay!

Anais:  Through your consciousness, through your ability to radiate, grow, be really big.  You have a grandiose story, that’s what they say.  Your story is grandiose and you’re still rockin’ a seedling.

Paul Skee:  Yo, I gotta work on it is what you’re saying?

Anais:  Yeah, they are going to require some separate honoring from your ancestors, separate honoring from the Earth.  Which they say this needs to be, this is mandatory for you now.  The Earth, always Earth.  Everywhere you go honoring the Earth and the ancestors of the land and then your ancestors and then these beings separate.  They require their own acknowledgement.  They’re the grandiose energy that makes you want to expand out to the whole world.

Liv:  My attention keeps going to what you were talking about earlier, Paul Skee, about when you travel to these different places, being interested in what’s happening on the streets.  Why do you like to go there?

Paul Skee:  For me, I like to know what’s going on in my surroundings because I like to walk into a situation — early on when I first started traveling in ’98, flying around to places  and even before that really — this is what’s going on in Oakland.  This is what’s happening in Hayward.  This is what’s happening in Fremont or Vallejo.  I have family everywhere so it’s something where I felt like I had to know what was going on.  Because if I didn’t know what was going on, I could go into a different place wearing the wrong colors.  It’s something that could happen.  I’m always real keen to respect other people’s cities or territories, whatever you’d like to call it.  Then it became something where I really studied hard on other countries, so that by the time I landed in a different country I was able to pay homage to some of the pioneers from that land and meet them and acquire their wisdom.  That’s kind of how I made my way over the last 13 years.  It was something inside that kept telling me, understand where you’re going.  Understand their history.  Respect where you’re going.

(Photo below:  Mighty 4, Mexico City.)

Anais:  That’s very wise.

Liv:  How do you pay respect at this point when you travel to these different places?

Paul Skee:  It all depends.  If I go somewhere like the Netherlands or Holland, 9 times out of 10 the hip hop cultural community is based in urban or ghetto-like environments.  So I’m trying to study what’s going on here, in Rotterdam, or this is what’s going on.  I just figure out what’s happening in the scene.  Is the government, what are they up to?  What are they doing to the communities?  Are they helping it or are they tearing it down or what’s going on on their streets?  Is it gangsters?  Is it mobs?  Is it mafia?  There’s all sorts of stuff that I’m trying to understand because I just want to understand the social environment to understand the people there.  I’m also trying to understand what’s going on so I don’t get hurt.  I’ve been in ghettos in Casablanca, et cetera.  I don’t really know how I managed to do it.  When you broke down the ancestral help I have globally, I kind of understand now.  Looking back I wondered how did I make it through all of these cities and countries.

Liv:  Right.

Paul Skee:  I’m just some regular dude.  I don’t know how I did it or why I was really welcomed open armed wherever I went.  But, I was thankful.  I just didn’t know why it was happening like that until recently.

Liv:  What happened recently?

Paul Skee:   When we had the divination together, when you broke down that there was ancestral help across the planet.

Liv:  Right..  The ancestors are asking about your child.  They’re asking about little Paul Skee.

(Photo below:  Paul Skee and Little Skee.)

Paul Skee:  Oh, Skee’s doing well.  I’ve actually been teaching him how to do offerings and really understanding his ancestry as well.  From our bloodline to his family’s bloodline and the land bloodline, etcetera and going up into the cosmos.  So he recently turned 10 and I’m real excited to really put him on a path where he can think outside the box like that.

Anais:  And he’s feeling it when he does offerings with you?

Paul Skee:  I think he’s kind of — as all kids — going through the motions and maybe later on they’ll get it.

Anais:  Yeah.

Paul Skee:  There was a good story.  Maybe it was on his 7th birthday, I took him to New York City.  I took him to Bronx River projects, in the Bronx in New York.  That’s where the Zulu Nation formed out there.  It’s a real historic spot.  When I took him there we took the train.  We had to walk real far and we’re in the middle of the projects.  I told him that it was real special to me and I hope one day he’ll understand why.  Just paying homage to this organization that helped spread the culture around the world.  And it was one of those tear jerker moments.  He was 7 years old.  So I know he kind of understands.  At the same time I don’t expect too much because he’s just a youngster going through his motion as well.

Anais:  And what about the kids at the youth center?  You guys have such an open canvas to gently weave those kinds of things in, subtly, thanking the ancestors, gently, so you don’t have all these sideway looks.  But maybe just a little bit and see how they respond.

(Photo below:  A.R.T. Center Kauai.)

Paul Skee:  At the center, it’s kind of a challenge because we’re here on an island and, I mean, granted technology, You Tube, the internet, kids are hip to it as well.  It’s just, seeing some of these dynamic art forms, aerosol writing and breakin’ is kind of like, wow, what is this?  Or they’ll kind of be timid about it.  So that’s the challenge of trying to inspire them.  You know what I mean?  It’s a work in progress but I feel that, myself and East 3 have the experience to inspire them and possibly get them interested.  We’ve been doing pretty well over the last couple of months, getting kids to come in and try things.  The key part of it is to get them inspired and maybe to commit to an art form and understand it not just through movement and body but spiritually and mentally as well.  So that’s always the challenge.  But once a youngster starts understanding the spirituality of the art form, that’s when you know that they’ll kind of stick with it.

Liv:  Paul Skee, what inspired your focus with the youth in the first place?

Paul Skee:  As I spoke about earlier, it was just seeing youth growing up getting into the wrong things.  That is my main inspiration.  I really wouldn’t want any other parents or their kids to go through what I’ve seen.  I am just trying to give them a better opportunity, possibly to take that energy.  Kids have so much energy, it’s not even funny.  At some point in time that energy has to be harnessed.  At this point in the game they’re either going to be connected to the internet, technology and the matrix or they’re just going to do something else on the streets.  And there are very few kids that I see that are proud to be artistic, whether it’s skating or any art form.  It’s almost looked down upon, art forms.

Liv:  Yeah, what’s up with that?

Paul Skee:  I think it’s just society.  I think that they really want us to be robots.  Either that or just get kids to consume, consume, consume, junk food, technology, clothing.  It’s a capitalist society we live in, in the Western world.  To be a dancer looks like, oh man you dance?  Ah man!  It’s not really cool, I guess, being artistic, which is really backwards in this society.

Liv:  Yet it seems — we’ve talked about this a little before — but it seems to have the potential of liberating one from the matrix.

Paul Skee:  Definitely.  I mean, I can only do my part.  I try to do as much as I can but my battery runs low and I have to recharge myself.  I just think it’s kind of tough when all you hear on the radio, when all you hear in hip hop really has nothing of cultural value to it like it once did in the 80′s.

Liv:  They’re asking me to ask you about the water in Hawaii.

Paul Skee:  The water?  Well, the weather has been really irregular here these last couple of months, compared to last year when I was here.  I think a lot of it has to do with the tragedies that have been going on all over the world, everything with Japan, et cetera.  I’m not an expert on it but I believe that Mother Earth is crying out.  So there’s so much stuff going on with the radiation, water privatization.  There are certain things going on on this particular island, Kauai, and Oahu, where people are trying to control it, corporations and what not, and it’s getting real ugly.  So, I mean, it’s paradise but I think that there are so many different things going on with the Earth with corporate capitalism that it’s really messing things up.

(photo below:  Lil Skee)

Liv:  They were just talking about the Earth!  They were saying, “Ask Paul Skee about the potential of taking the youth to touch the Earth.  Ask Paul Skee about the potential of taking the youth to touch the Earth and remember where the real source is.  Remember where the real source of life is.  Tell Paul Skee that it’s important to touch the Earth with the youth there in Kauai .  Remember that it’s the source of life.  It’s where regeneration comes from.  And it’s unplugging from the matrix, going back to the Earth to become regenerated.  Tell Paul Skee that all of the ancestors are smiling upon him and are telling him that he needs to keep doing what he’s doing because he’s doing it well.  And tell Paul Skee that his offerings are being well received and that his life is being enriched for it.  Ask Paul Skee if he feels his life being enriched from his offerings being received by the Earth.”

(photo below:  children in Burkina Faso, Africa)

Paul Skee:  Right on!  I’m trying.  I’m trying my best.  Sometimes it gets overwhelming at times because spiritually, on that level, a lot of stuff is new to me.  So I’m trying to be a student to everything.  When they were speaking of taking it back to the Earth, I was actually having a class today and we were inside a center.  The floor is all smooth, wood floors, and I actually spoke about that.  I said, if you really want to ask, going outside on this concrete, right there on the street or just being outside is being the most free.  The wind is blowing in our face, birds are chirping outside and I’m getting free on the floor.  Whether it’s concrete or whether it’s dirt, just getting back to that.

(photo below: Ariston “Remind” Ripoyla)

There was one brother who’s a Native American.  His name is Remind.  He was actually at a park jam and he was breakin’ on the dirt, literally.  When he’s breakin’ all the dust is flying out.  Some of the b-boys and b-girls are like, yo, what’s this dude doing?  He’s getting his clothes dirty.  When I heard how he broke it down, it was, this is how we did it!

Anais:  Exactly.

Liv:  So beautiful.

Paul Skee:  This is how his native people did it, let alone people in Africa, et cetera.  This is what it was.  There was no dance floor.  There were no concrete streets.  Basically he broke it down by saying that what we had was lost, he’s just bringing it back.  And if the majority of the people didn’t feel it, it doesn’t bother him because he did his history.  He did his math.  “He was being free.  And that’s what it is, when you’re breakin’, you’re getting free.” So that’s in relation to getting open to the Earth on that level

(photo below:  Ariston ‘Remind’ Ripoyla)

Liv:  Is that the meaning of his name, Remind?  Is he reminding people?

Paul Skee:  When he first made it up, I don’t know (laughing).  I can’t remember the exact story.  But once he started going back and researching his people’s history, his ancestors, I really think that name just, it suits him perfectly.  He’s grown so much that even if the people ridiculed him, it’s nothing but a brush off his shoulder.  I respect him wholeheartedly for that.

Anais:  Deep down they’re not.  They might talk shit and say, oh, you’re getting your shoes dirty.  But they’re walking away and it’s implanted.  He’s planting seeds in them.

Paul Skee:  Word!

Anais:  That’s what I can see.  He’s doing the work.  It’s getting in there.  Whether they recognize it right away or they’re thinking about it when they go to sleep, like, that fool!  It’s not so far off that it’s getting lost in translation.  It’s getting in there.

Paul Skee:  I see.  Even as we were kids, when we were 5 years old, it didn’t matter where we were at, as long as we were having fun doing it.  That’s the way I look at it.  A little kid can be jumping up and down in the sand and having fun!  That’s what it is.

Anais:   Are most of the kids that come to that center native to Kauai or to the islands?

Paul Skee:  Some are, some aren’t.  There is a lot of transplants coming from the mainland.  We’ve only been open for the last couple months.  We’re trying to get a steady flow of kids, especially native kids to come in.  What we’ve been doing as well is learning about Polynesian history, ancient history on that level.  We just had a Kahu bless the place.

Anais:  Nice.

Liv:  That’s lovely..

Anais:  That’s what they’re talking about.  Pele, do you know this deity, the Goddess Pele?

Paul Skee:  I’m not too familiar.

Anais:  They say that’s something to find out about.  There are these volcanoes and these deities.  This kind of fiery energy is abundant in the native youth.  So this could be drawing them in somehow.  They say you can figure this out.  It’s the same as your researching into the history.  Research into the stories that came from the history, the Deities and their actual mythology, and look hard.  They say, “When you get the stories look hard.  There are going to be embers and you’ll see the embers.”  That’s going to be something to bring to the youth.  It’ll be part of your repertoire.

Like a bird that has many songs.  When you go to each place and you’re learning about the place because you want to fit in with the people properly, that’s going to be how to get connected with the youth, through spirit.  Find their stories and their Deities.  They’re saying Pele and the volcano Deities.  Learn some stories so you can have that as part of your vocabulary.  This will start to tingle their ancestral memory.  They might be very awake.  Some might be very dormant but it’s going to tingle them in a way that’s going to make them want to come back.

Paul Skee:  It’s funny you say that because I had a conversation about the Menehune.

Liv:  Menehune!  The Kontomble!

Paul Skee:  Yeah.  I’ve had stories with a lot of youth.  I asked them, yo, what’s the stories you’ve heard about them?  Just to get their take.  That’s the conversation.  You’re exactly right.  That’s when we started bonding.  They’re like, oh, okay, now you’re talking Paul Skee.  They started saying, oh, you go over there and over here.  That’s how we started building.

Liv:  What did they tell you about the Menehune?

Paul Skee:  They said that there’s a lot of architecture out here that was built by them.

Liv:  Wow!

Paul Skee:  They were telling me, go check out this site.  They said that the Menehune built this.  Or that they come out during this time and you don’t want to piss them off!  These are like 12, 13 year old kids that I’m talking to about it.

Anais:  This is so powerful because this is where they can actually start to teach you too.  This can be so reciprocal in the exchange.  So when you bring that to them and when they see that you’re interested in that, you can share with them some stories you know about the land and your ancestral people.  This is where they’re going to want to trust you and want to come.  Because they’re going to know it’s real.  You’re also cool and hip and you’re talking about their stuff.  And you have your own stories.  It engages the whole spirit.  You know what I mean?  It engages them mentally, physically and spiritually.

Paul Skee:  Definitely.

Liv:  They’re talking too, the Menehune!  They’re saying, “The Menehune are alive with you too, Paul Skee.  And we’re asking you to talk to us about your purpose for the future with the youth.  We’re asking you to talk to us about where you see this all going because intention is very important.  And understand that the youth need guidance about the future, about the matrix, about unplugging sufficiently.  And so we’re asking you to bring your intention into the equation and talk to us about the purpose of working with the youth.”

(Photo below:  Mighty 4, Abu Dhabi.)

Paul Skee:  I think, just being able to inspire and encourage on a level that they could sustain themselves in the future if they take the art form seriously, the art forms that we’re doing here.  What I’ve seen with working with kids in general, there’s usually a couple odd kids out that kind of get teased.  Oh he can’t do that yet!  Oh, he don’t got it yet!  And I’m constantly trying to have them work together to build rather than destroy.  That’s the main intention.  Regardless, if they take the art form to doing it as a career or not.  At least for that moment in time, for how many hours a day they came in to train to sit down and build, that moment in time was well spent.  That’s pretty much the main intention.

Liv:  Paul Skee, my attention is going to your organization, Mighty 4.  Can you talk about it?

Paul Skee:  Yeah.  We got started in 1998.  It’s really grown over the last decade or so.  I’ve been really honored and blessed to have been able to produce these events which started out in the San Francisco Bay Area and branch out around the planet.  Mainly, it’s a cultural event, where we entail all of these different art forms from street culture and try and put it in one show.  And maybe in the last couple years — since I didn’t do too well in school and had no direction as far as where to take it on a business end — I’ve learned how to turn my company into a nonprofit company and utilize different ways to create spaces like the A.R.T Center in Kauai and future Mighty 4 art centers as well.  We’re moving in a totally different direction from the normal festival events that tour every year.

(Photo below:  Mighty 4 Middle East.)

I think over the last decade I really go to a point where I just got tired of touring.  My body got tired of it because you’re cooped on a plane every weekend.  You’re living out of a suitcase.  It was really tiring on my body.  I had to at some point figure out a way to sustain without having to travel so much constantly.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to go to new places and build with people but I think that it’s just not suitable for a person to be on a plane every weekend, years on down straight.  This is how you sustain.  For me, I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I had to figure out a different way.  Doing centers like that, operating after school youth programs, in my home area or on the Hawaiian islands was more of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to head.

Liv:  They’re going to go back to the Menehune again.  Paul Skee they’re like the Leprechauns, right?

Paul Skee:  Yeah.

Liv:  It’s the Kontomble there.

Paul Skee:  And in the Philippines, I believe they’re called duendes.  I guess in every part of the world there’s ancient stories like that.  I personally haven’t seen one.

Liv:  Do they have stories about them in the caves there in Kauai ?

Paul Skee:  Yeah, caves and that they literally build monuments and what not.  Just stuff that normal humans would have a hard time building.  That’s what I’ve been gathering.  I still have to actually go out and check out some of these sites.  But for the most part, what I’ve been told, don’t mess with them and they won’t mess with you.  And just keep the respect in that form.  Don’t just seek out and try to get them on tape, things of that nature.  Just offer the respect that you would want from people.  That’s what I’ve been told from a lot of the elders.

Anais:  That’s good advice.

Paul Skee:  I’m not really trying to get a spell put on me (laughing)!

Anais:  (laughing) Yeah, all the sudden the A.R.T. center is no more.  If you do go to the sites, maybe you can give them food or some sweets.  That’s the way to be respectful, is to bring a gift.  If you go to somebody’s house, you take a gift.

Paul Skee:  I will do that.  That’s right.  It’s an offering.

(Photo below:  A.R.T. Center Kauai.)

Anais:  And again, I don’t know how close you get in with the local youth.  Maybe one of them can take you.  Just to build on the relationship.  Maybe one of them will want to take you there.  See who steps out in that.  There’s something in the exchange of you being on the land and the children having the ability to welcome you into their culture, with their spirits and their stories and them actually taking you there.  It’s such a round, beautiful, flow for you all to flourish more with them, to really sink in.  Where it’s always in motion back and forth from you and them, you and them- that way.

Paul Skee:  I’m pretty much going off the instinct that I gain from doing this.  I know there are actually people who went to college for this sort of thing.  I’m actually reading a little bit more and get insights from people who really are youth teachers.  I’m always trying to build a better respect on that level and reaching out.

Anais:  Your instinct is on point.  Whatever you guys got going on is sinking in.  It’s not something blowing across there.  It’s settling in.  And that’s where they feel safe.  If you can settle in with them and they can trust that you’re going to be there.  For whatever that means, a six week class, a day.  How you’re doing it, they can’t teach anybody how to do that in the university, how to come from your heart and actually be present with a young person.  That’s mostly what the youth need, is guidance with love and guidance where they trust you and you’re not talking down to them.  It’s a mutual situation, where you’re letting them tell you things and you’re telling them things.  There’s a reciprocity in the energy.  You’re doing that.  They all go (making noise) when you talk about, I didn’t go to school for this.  There is no school for that.  You already don’t need a school by somebody else who doesn’t know how to teach it to try to teach you something that probably wouldn’t work anyway.  You already got it.  They’re giving you praise.

Paul Skee:  The island, it’s something else.  Being on the island is totally different from the mainland or being in a suburban or urban area, it’s something else.  It’s surrounded by water.  Back on the water, it’s definitely beautiful and there’s definitely a big spiritual push and it’s just relaxing to me, to be honest.

Liv:  The Menehune are talking.  They’re saying, “Ask Paul Skee to recognize that we are a part of his process at the youth center.  We’re asking him to acknowledge us more directly, not only through the children but also directly with offerings at the youth center.  Understand that we surround him there and we are with him and we’re also coming through the children.  Understand that we come through the children.  We come through their eyes and we come through their laughter and we come through their joy.  We also come through their sorrow sometimes.  So understand that as you sit with one of the youth sometimes, you also are sitting with the Menehune.  And we ask that you honor and recognize that.  And also ask that you pay homage to us directly.  And the way to do that as well is by offering us some candy sometimes.  Also we like chocolate.  We like sweets.  We like sweets!  And we also like to connect through singing and through dancing.  And so understand that we bless your path and we lay flowers at your path and we adore you and we love what you’re doing, Paul Skee, man of liberation.  And we also love that you are serving the future.”

Anais:  Do they make some sort of sweet bread, some sort of doughnut sweet bread there?

Paul Skee:  Yeah!

Anais:  They want that!  They want something like that.  There’s something that they make there that’s a sweet doughy thing.  Sweet bread.

Paul Skee:  I hope they’re not diabetic!  (laughing)

Anais:  (laughing)  You go ahead and offer them some alcohol and sweet bread!  That’s what they want.

Liv:  (laughing)  I can hear them laughing!

Anais:  (laughing) I know they’re totally laughing.  And they’re saying, “Make sure he understands the dough bread!  And it’s sweet and it’s bread and it’s doughy.”  And there are some spirits, some kind of alcohol, some kind of grainy alcohol, something that they drink there.

Liv:  It looks like it’s clear.  They keep saying, “Clear, clear, clear!”

Paul Skee:  Will do!

Anais:  All right!

(Photo below:  Lil Skee & Lil Demon.)

Liv:  And they’re saying, “Understand Paul Skee that little Skee is one of us as well and don’t be surprised if he teaches you some day soon about us.”

Paul Skee:  Wow!  Can’t wait..

Anais:  So you can flow in with Duendes and whatever they call them in Japan.  And you’re teaching him about your culture.  That’s all part of it.

Paul Skee:  Yeah!

Liv:  They’re talking still.  They’re saying, “Ask Paul Skee to be sure he knows how much we respect and adore him and that we lay flowers at his path.  And understand, Paul Skee, that your path is lined with gold and your path is lined with spirit and understand that we appreciate you and adore you more than words could ever express.  And we want you to know that we blow wind underneath your wings.  And understand that we will continue to do so.  Even more powerfully.  And understand that this conversation between the 3 of you has the ability to reach far and wide, far and wide and we ask that it do so.  And so understand that spirit connects you all 3 collectively and we blow wind underneath your wings and we ask that you continue to listen, continue to place your ear to the Earth and ask her what she needs from you and understand that she will always respect you for that.”

Paul Skee:  I definitely will do my best..  Thank you.  I appreciate the work and always do my best to be conscious on an ancestral and spiritual tip..

Liv:  Thank you for taking the time, Paul Skee..

Anais:  Yes, thank you.

Paul Skee:  No doubt.  Thank you!  And I’m definitely looking forward to building with you both!

For more info about Paul Skee check out: www.mighty4.com

www.youtube.com/mighty4tv

At the Crossroads is the intersection of spirit and art, music and spirit.  New interviews posted monthly with different artists and musicians!  stay tuned..

Cast of Characters..

DJ Qbert, aka Rich Quitevis, aka Richard (by his Ancestors)

Anais Szabo, also the mouth for Djinn

Liv Wheeler, also the mouth for Kontomble.  Kontomble is a small spirit being that has been likened to the leprochauns, dwarfs, or duendes.  They are small in stature but have extraordinary healing abilities and amazing integrity.

Recently Anais Szabo, DJQbert and I got together for an interview.  When I was preparing, before the interview began, I could hear the Ancestors and Spirit letting me know that they wanted the opportunity to facilitate the interview.  It kind of made me laugh at first and then I realized, that might be interesting.  I put the idea to Q (Dj Qbert) and he seemed really into it.  So we flowed with it.  As you’ll notice sometimes when Anais speaks she is speaking on behalf of Spirit.  When she say’s, ‘they’re saying’, she’s referring to Spirit.  When I talk, sometimes it’s Spirit (Ancestors, Kontomble, etc) coming through.  But it’s noted throughout the interview.  Please enjoy.  We had a lot of fun with this!… …liv

Liv:  How long have you been doing music, Q?

Q:  I guess about 26 years now.

Liv:  What got you into music?

Q:  Just doing it for fun and for some reason I liked it.  Ever since I was a kid my mom said I’d kick when she’d play classical music and.. just doing it for love.  And now I’m finding out that there’s vibrations that heal the world.  So I’m learning about those type of healing hertz.

Liv:  What have you been learning about them?

Q:  Just about how different vibrations, like the white keys on the piano, are actually tuned to your chakras.  And I never knew that until I did some research.  If you play a certain note, like C — let’s say you get a vibrating tone and you boost it up to the note C like (making the sound) and if you have a plate, a metal plate with a bunch of sand on it.. if you play it really loud into that plate, the sand will form into geometric shapes.  And all the white keys do that.  So as you get higher up and you hit that next note, C, D, when you hit D it goes into other geometric shapes.  Then they’ll go up again and the sand will be all distorted and when you get to E the sand goes into some more weird patterns.  And that’s how our body is.  There’s this one hertz, 528 hertz frequency, that puts all our DNA back together.

Liv:  Have you heard that before, Anais?

Anais:  No.  But they’re already talking (referring to spirit).  They want to know if you know that your star brothers and sisters, that they call to you and this is your answer to them?

Q:  Is it?

Anais:  Yes.  This is music, like, they say harmonies of the planet.  There’s a particular planet that you come from.  As soon as Liv ever mentioned your name I could feel this about you.  More so than you being a dj or anything like this.  I see your picture on the computer and I’m like, that’s the guy?!?

Q:  (laughing)

Anais:  Your energy is very different and big and of very much like these beings that call to you.  So even as you talk about it and you make the sound with your mouth, the portals open like tubes that go (making whooshing sound) into the planet.  And there are 2 particular planets.  You’re talking to them.

Q:  can you tell me which planets these are?

Anais:  One of them is Jupiter, that is big, real big and there’s one that is far away that I don’t recognize from our solar system.  But the first one is Jupiter because — do you know how Jupiter looks?

Q:  Yeah.  I’ve actually done a lot of research on Jupiter in the last couple months.  It’s turning into a second star in our solar system by the year 2013 and that’s why if you look at it, it’s just about to erupt into a star.

Anais:  That’s what they’re saying.  They say the movement on it when you look at it with the lens of the human eye — how do you say this — they say yes, brother, of course you know this because you know this.  They’re really feeling what you’re doing.  The music, I don’t know if they hear it but they feel.  It’s as if the middle of whatever these beings look like, you know, like when you do a tuning fork and it makes this sound (making sound), that’s how they look when you do certain sounds.

Q:  Ooh, I’m going to buy me some tuning forks!

Anais:  (laughing) There you go!  They say the part of you, your brain, the part of you that is very aware of home makes you do all this stuff, makes  you get excited to learn more.

Liv:  Anais, they’re saying this is a really important conversation that’s needed to happen for eons, literally, and we’re asking Djinn also to speak about Q’s ability to emote.

Q:  What does that mean?

Anais:  Emote, like what you radiate, right?

Liv:  Yeah.

Anais:  When you’re making these sounds your whole energy, it ripples through your energy.  It’s exuded.  They say you’re right on the edge of stepping off into reality.  Once you step and you do a show that this is going to emote, like shake, ooh, the energy is so fast!

Liv:  I know I can feel it too!

Anais:  (laughing) It’s so high pitched!  They’re going to zoom us into the solar system!  They say that when you get ready, they show you one foot on the edge of something and one foot and the other foot is hanging into infinity.  Once you step and you’re in your body and you’re making the music, then it will exude out to all the people because it will ride your intention because your intention is always connected to that little part of your brain that’s foreign.  There’s actually a piece in your brain that they put in your body when you came in that’s from them.

Q:  That’s so strange because just a couple weeks ago I was learning about Reiki and I’ve been drawing Reiki symbols into my music.

Anais:  Same, all the same stuff they say.

Liv:  So what they’re saying is his intention is very important?

Anais:  Yes.  So they show a pool, a pool out in the universe.  If you can imagine all the sudden a pool, there’s a pool of water and it’s as if you step right in there.  And they say it’ll change when you remember and it’ll change even if you don’t all the way remember, when you present your healing through the music.  That’s what they say, always this has been healing for you.  The music comes because that’s the wings it rides.  Do you understand that?

Q:  Um hum.

Anais:  They want that to be really clear.  They’re saying the reason you love the music is because it’s like — they show a reindeer with wings.  It’s like the modality that you ride, you know, like the sacred creature you ride to present your healing has been music.

Liv:  They’re saying, Anais, also we’re asking for Q to remember why he birthed into this space and time as well.  This space and time has a very particular need and that’s what’s also wanting to be addressed through his music.  The particular kind of liberation that’s being called forth from the Matrix.  Please address that.

Anais:  Right.  So this is what surprised me when I saw your actual photo.  Because you’re the perfect guise.  You blend into the modern culture.  They don’t know the word for hip hop.  They’re looking for the word to describe it, this modern way, this masse way that is rootsy.  It’s rootsy and people from many different rootsy cultures come to it.  And so you have a package that presents very well within that.

Q:  I get that, yeah.

Anais:  And your package as in your voice, your package as in your gait, your strut, everything in the way you move your hands is appealing.  It draws people in and it draws people that particularly have some — they show roots dangling that are kind of loose.  The roots were once very tapped into the Earth, cultures that are not so far from things but the roots are still dangling.  Do you know what they mean?

Q:  How do I get it to connect more?

Anais:  That’s what you’re doing.  So you stepping into the pool, you stepping into the spirit recognition all the way — even whatever that looks like, whatever this looks like mid step — they say they’re not talking in a literal time.  So take that as a metaphor.  Say you’ll be in that mid-step for 5 years, it doesn’t matter.  The point is that you’re moving towards your goal.  Every movement in that bridge, they show, is healing all the people around you.  So they’re encouraging you to keep doing your work, keep having really strong intention and keep with the playfulness of it.  Play with the people Because already, people trust you.  Already people trust that what you’re doing has a net of stars.  But they say, don’t forget, everything is because you’re from the stars.

Liv:  They’re asking Q to address his need of Spirit.  They want you to address that, Q..

Q:  I want them to send me music in my dreams so I know what to do.  So I know what to create.

Anais:  They say they do that already.  And more even it’s when you walk, they say the music is all around you.  So it’s about you getting quiet in yourself to hear it.  And it’s going to come out of you but it’s going to get matched by a bird or the rustle of a leaf.

Q:  Awesome!  I believe that.  And that’s exactly what I tell people too.

Anais:  They say this is your natural ability.  So this is you.  Spirit moves with you and these beings, you’re connected to them.  So there’s a cacophony of support and connection.  So they say it’s finding the tuning fork inside yourself.  Remember you have that.  So when you get the feeling to do it then you’ll hear the melodies all around you start to harmonize with you.

Q:  Yay!

Anais:  You have rings above your head that (making sound), like that.

Q:  That’s awesome.

Liv:  They’re saying, ask Q what his color of choice right now is.

Q:  Like one of them spiritual purple things.

Liv:  Spiritual purple things?

Q:  (laughing).  On the top of your crown chakra, white purple, that invisible color  just — right at this moment.  Normally I like ocean, sky blue, peacock blue.

Liv:  They’re saying, understand we’re all here with you and we’ve called together this council of elders, elder spirits because it’s time for you to acknowledge that people are waiting to be learning the ways of the elder spirits.  And understand that these elder spirits speak through you, through your words and your messages and your tones and the colors that vibrate through you.  Understand it’s also equally important for you to be addressing color!  Colors vibrate through you in many different waves!  They also ask you to recognize that color is your friend and is also your healer.  It is your protection on the road, so to speak.  And we’re asking you to acknowledge, what’s your favorite color most of the time?

Q:  Most of the time it’s sky blue and that spiritual purple.

Anais:  They’re going back to the play.  Maybe you could dress with those colors and put lights on or put a velvet cloth under your slip mat.

Q:  Oh, that’s so cool.

Anais:  So they say really really watch.  This color thing is very important and you can mood people.  You can change their mood and when you change the mood, you can move the energy up their chakras.

Liv:  That’s right.

Anais:  Up their energy centers to connect out.  Your ability is almost some mind-blowing type of shit.  The energy can move up and (making sound) like that, some real freeing type of stuff.

Liv:  Yeah, the liberation!

Q:  You know, I’ve been going through this big thing recently.  I made this dj record with some bad words on it.  It’s for battling.  You know, a lot of djs like to battle each other.  I was torn between, should I make this record or not?  And in the record it’s dissing the other like, suck my d—, f— you!  You know, it’s just for scratching, just for fun.  Is that bad?

Anais:  They say, what do you feel?  Because what if you made it that the battle of words had flowers behind it?  Not sappy but what if instead of pushing somebody under your thumb then you could raise them up high?  That’s what they say.  Look at that and you decide whether that fits your intention or maybe not.

Q:  Well, the whole intention is, it’s fun.  The sounds that I chose, it’s fun when you’re scratching because there’s this part when he says m— f—- it says (making scratching sounds with the words).  It just sounds dope! (laughing)

Anais:  They say that’s fine.  You play with it.  They say, part of something you’re going to want to pay attention to is where you get sucked into the sound yourself.  Make sure part of you is watching and having eye balls all over your field to watch what the energy brings to other people.

Q:  Yeah, the true intention is just so that everyone has a good time.

Anais:  Right.  And they’re saying it’s time for you to step up up up up.

Liv:  That’s right.

Anais:   And to really start because you can play with it a lot.  And soon you’re going to realize that you’re holding some responsibility.

Liv:  That’s right.

Anais:  This is where the beings from the planet that you come from are kind of like (clearing throat).

Q:  Yeah.

Anais:  (laughing)  You know, they’re like, okay, it’s fun and they like it and they’re like, start to use all those eyeballs.  Open them up.  Because once  you can watch and track all the energies and watch where people are going, then you can know the answer to any kind of question to anything that you put out.  Because you’ll see it and you’ll feel it yourself.

Q:  Okay.  Should I just put these out and get it over with and then move on to good stuff?

Anais:  They say, watch your words because they say move on to good stuff, are you considering that bad stuff?  They’re saying if it’s fun for you and you feel like it’s good to put to the world, put it to the world.

Liv:  There’s a question that’s coming from Spirit, Anais, that’s directed to the Djinn, it seems like.  They say, ask the Genies what effect Q’s school, the online university, what the most positive effect this can have?  Talk about the potential with the schooling.

Anais:  They show me golden energy.  You on one part and then as if the energy you send out is like gold and it’s (making blowing sound) across to everyone else.  And then they begin to make infinity signs.  They begin to make that with their energy as they’re learning and then that energy comes back to you and then it goes out to them and then it spreads past them.  This golden energy, they’re saying, Q, you know what this is.  It’s potent, very mature energy, having a ripe feeling of so much intention that this is what you’re creating and you know it.

Q:  So I would think that some of these negative tracks I made, you know kind of like battle — you know how rappers battle each other and talk crap — I think what you said earlier, drawing in that crowd to my music and then from there I can heal them with healing music.  So maybe I could use those as tools for now.

Anais:  They say always incorporate the 2 together.  They’re saying you’re making it too divided that one can’t be the other.  They say this is exactly where you’re the bridge.  So this is where you can make both where it’s not one or the other.  Maybe they won’t even know.  Maybe they’ll even have some other word that you put in there after you say m—- f—- that means beautiful in some whole other language that they don’t even recognize because it’s all in the other language and mixed in with you scratching.

Q:  I like that.

Anais:  That’s what they say, get crafty.  And use what you have in your position already and work it.

Q:  Awesome.  I like that.

Anais:  They’re being very clear that the way you’re using yourself as good or bad, it’s none of that.  It’s all within this pool, this flow, this movement that you’re a bridge.  So work it.

Q:  Wow!  That is the best thing that I’ve heard all year.  I’m so tripping off that.  That is great.  I’m going to use that as a tool to bridge over those people.

Liv:  They’re saying, ask Q some questions.  Do the Djinn have questions for Q?

Anais:  More what’s coming is your people, these beings from the otherworld.  Your people, they really love you so they have a constant feeler on you because they say there are many of you all scattered all about and yet — have you ever felt (these are these beings on that planet talking) when meeting somebody a rumble?!?

Liv:  Woah!

Anais:  That’s a funny word.

Liv:  That’s funny!

Anais:  In your belly button.

Liv:  That’s funny because of Thud Rumble!

Q:  That’s the name of my company.

Anais:  It is?

Liv:  Yeah, Thud Rumble.

Anais:  That’s hell of weird.  I wondered why they would use that word.  They say you’ve come across beings like you, kin, on this planet that you’re on, this blue watery planet.

Q:  Who are they?

Anais:  They say when the rumble happens then you recognize one of them.

Q:  Maybe it’s my business partner.  He made up the name of the company.

Anais:  So those ones, your kin, they have infinite patience as well and they communicate in your dream and constantly through sounds right into your ear.  You know there’s that cochlea bone in your ear.  Do you know that bone, Q?

Q:  Yeah.

Anais:  They say in there — this is something that’s also different about your human body is those little hairs are different, many more of them and on the end of each one is like a star.

Liv:  That’s cool!  (laughing)

Q:  So don’t use q-tips?

Liv:  (laughing)

Anais:  Don’t use q-tips (laughing) yeah!  You might pull out a star.  They say you interpret sound different.  They’re wanting the questions to be about your perception of sound and reality.  They want to know how that’s been for you.  Because they say they come and they ask you because they’re trying to make it so that this kind of, having you as one of them on this planet that are different, that it’s working.  So they’ve been trying to talk to you and they see the music and so they feel it and they think this works and then they want to hear that from you.  They wonder how perceiving the sounds feel.

Q:  I’m really into healing music right now and healing sounds.  So maybe something’s going right.

Anais:  They say try playing with all those different ways of making sound.  Even on your mouth how you can — they show like the mouth harp from the Phillipines.

Q:  Sure, I know.

Anais:  That works.

Q:  Okay, I’ll mess with that.

Anais:  They want you to play with things like that, things where you’re the machine.  Get those mouth harps and play with the sounds and play with when you’re doing that, they’re making these sounds with their cheeks full and (making sounds).

Q:  I like that!

Anais:  They’re showing that.  They say, do you know this?  That you have the capacity to do this with minimal technologies.

Q:  That’s awesome.

Anais:  This is part of bringing the roots closer to the Earth of all the people, is to gently bridge in curious old instruments.

Q:  That’s what I collect.

Anais:  And these things are little.  They seem little and no one gives them enough props.  They’re very sacred.

Liv:  They’re asking Qbert, also, to speak about the underwater pyramids.

Q:  Which one?  The ones in Japan?

Liv:  Japan.

Q:  What about those, in the South part?

Liv:  They’re saying tell us about the pyramids.  Tell us about what you know about the pyramids in Japan.

Q:  Damn.  I would think they know.

Anais:  I don’t know!  There are pyramids under the water?

Q:  Oh!  They want me to tell you guys.  There are pyramids under the water in the south of Japan.  Just type in pyramids underwater Japan in google.  There are ancient civilizations that were above water.

Liv:  Yeah, that’s getting spirit excited!

Q:  Long time ago.

Anais:  So once they were land and now they’re underwater?  Maybe they were always underwater.

Q:  That’s a good one.  Maybe.  Can you tell me about the Earth changes coming real soon?  Is that true stuff?  Do we need to move?

Anais:  From where?

Q:  From here.  Should we move to a safer area on the Earth.  I heard there’s a 600 foot tidal wave coming to California.  Is that true or are we going to be safe here anywhere?

Anais:  That reminds me of my dream again.

Q:  Right.

Anais:  Who said this?  Scientists?

Q:  Just these prediction people.  There’s another guy that says that the Earth is going to split into 2 dimensions at that time and people that are on the negative path will see the tidal wave and the people on the positive side, we’re just going to vibrate to a higher vibration where we won’t even trip off that tidal wave.

Anais:  They say you can run wherever you want.  Where your work is, is where you are.  They say getting caught up in predictions is sticky business.  They’re saying it’s time for you to realize and to feel in that tuning fork inside yourself that wherever you are, it doesn’t matter.  If you’re here and there’s a 600 foot tidal wave, what are you going to do anyway?  Are you going to run or are you going to stay and try to help?

Q:  Trip out!

Anais:  (laughing)

Liv:  Anais, they’re still taking my attention back to the underwater pyramids in Japan because they’re wanting that to be addressed around what’s happening in Japan right now.

Q:  That’s interesting.

Anais:  As if that’s an energy center from where things erupted from?

Liv:  They’re saying, understand that Qbert knows more than he’s leading on now about the pyramids and we’re asking him to look into his soul and speak to what he knows about the healing of Japan and what it has to do with the underwater pyramids and how to tune into the energy of the pyramids.  The pyramids of the Earth are calling Qbert to tune into the sound and to make — they’re saying like making a design, creating a design, an energy shape that is ultimately healing for Japan and beyond.  And so we’re asking that the pyramids that are above water and under water, the pyramids be addressed because Qbert knows a thing or 2 about pyramids and this is what we’re asking to be addressed right now.  This is what Qbert’s big energy team is asking him to address.

Anais: (laghing) They’re calling you out!

Q:  Geeze.  I guess I have to do some more research.  I know there’s another pyramid, a natural pyramid in Mt. Fuji but that’s above water and there’s an Earth chakra there.  And I know about the — gosh those pyramids underwater that’s in the South of the — it’s away from the dangers.  Those nuclear facilities were in the north.  The South is safer.

Anais:  They’re asking you even all the pyramids.. Ancient Egyptians, we can’t make a pyramid like they made because they say they use sound.

Liv:  That’s it!

Q:  Anti gravitational.

Anais:  This is how they built them.

Liv:  That’s getting to it!

Anais:  That’s getting to it.  The star brothers and the star sisters came down and taught them.

Liv:  That’s getting to the energy!

Q:  Yep!

Anais:  By sound, Q.  Now they’re showing that you can build the pyramid with sound.

Q:  Wow, yeah.

Anais:  And this is getting to like, what it’ll do is almost activate — but not quite so pompous they say — it will charge up.  It’ll get the tips of the pyramids vibrating.

Q:  Wow, that’s cool.

Anais:  All of them, they say.  All of those ancient ones.  Even to Mexico even to — ooh, they say over there by Kazakhstan.

Q:  Dayum, that’s cool.

Anais:  Sometimes too, they say these pyramids — you gotta learn about this they say, really really look.  Some of the pyramids mirror each other as in Guatemala to Egypt, mirror.  There’s a mirror effect.  to Uzbek — something about on this North America.  They’re saying you have to learn because you have to realize that all of these different places were taught by kin like you.  When they came down and it’s about sound and number, sacred numbers.

Q:  What are some sacred numbers?

Anais:  There are sacred numbers – they say you have to learn.  This is the thing, that as you delve, they say, and this will bring you more.  You will feel more full.  If they tell you right now it will be different.  They say, read Pythagoras.  They say, read Aristotle but not Aristotle, Ancient Greece.  They say delve deep into places you wouldn’t normally be looking.  It’s not about what you’re going to be reading but what you read is going to get those little stars in your cochlea jumping and you’re going to start to remember.  They say, you might read something and say it feels too advanced.  And that’s bullshit, they say, because it’s not.  Because actually you’re the actual blood of the people that taught people this stuff.

Q:  Crazy!

Anais:  Crazy deep and very beautiful.

Q:  That’s awesome.

Anais:  And in North America, they say, Anasazi, that’s something to look at.

Q:  Is that a spider people?

Anais:  Those are people, ancient Native Americans.  I want to say they are from, like, New Mexico, Arizona.  They are the cave dwellers, the cliff dwellers.  Do you notice, Liv, the connection with the caves and all the kontomble?

Liv:  Oh yeah!

Anais:  It’s the thread through.  It calls to all of us because I don’t see kontomble but I feel it and it weaves through and then (making sound).

Liv:  Kontomble is asking you, Qbert — they like to say your name Qbert a lot of times because it makes us giggle!

Q:  I can hear them!

Liv:  (kontomble speaking through) We say it sometimes over and over and over in your house, we say Qbert Qbert Qbert and it makes us laugh a lot!

Anais:  That’s an honor, man!  You have kontomble saying your name because it feels good!

Liv:  (kontomble speaking) Because we like the sound, it makes us giggle and we like it a lot.  And we’re also asking you to giggle more.  We notice that you’ve lost your giggle lately and we like you laughing more and more and more.  Kontomble likes you laughing more and more and more and also kontomble is asking you to laugh more and more and more because we understand that you have the ability to bring much needed laughter to the masses.  And we understand that you have the ability to bring much needed light to the masses and we also understand that you have the ability to make change happen very instantaneously and we understand this to be a facet of your energy, of your soul.  And we’re asking you to consider ringing bells much more frequently.  Ring the bells much more frequently because when you ring the bells, when you make the jingling sound it will invite kontomble around!  When you make the jingling sound it will invite kontomble around.  And we like to be around because it gives us a good time and also it brings laughter and lightness into your home and into your tour as well.  Also understand when you’re playing on tour, it’s good to ring the bells before you play because it brings kontomble energy around.  It makes the energy go really high-pitched and understand that kontomble bells are always meant to be around you and understand that kontomble is always meant to be around you because we recognize that you too are like us, that you are like us and we’re very similar you and us.  We understand that you are very happy a lot of the time and we also understand that you have the ability to make humans feel very inspired most of the time and so we’re asking you to be crystal clear with your intention, crystal clear with your intention.  And understand that when you hear about the places of devastation, when you hear about the places of devastation, ring the bells.  Ring the bells.  Ring the bells and understand that kontomble will come around and will bring, bring, bring the healing energies around and will bring the healing energies.  And we understand that you make sound that makes people feel vibrated.  And we understand that you make the sound that makes people feel inspired.  And we understand that you make the sound that makes people feel hope.  We understand that you bring hope.  You deliver hope to the masses and this is something for you to recognize.  Recognize, recognize because your schooling in the future will have to do with the younger ones, the younger ones!  The younger ones are going to learn from you about how to bring hope to a planet that’s lost hope.

Q:  Where do I get these bells at?

Anais: (laughing) Good question!

Liv:  (kontomble speaks) The bells will sometimes come to you and sometime you’ll need to locate the bells but understand these girls will probably be able to help you too.  Look at the particular sounds, the particular vibrations that bring the kontomble down from the location inside the caves, the caves, the caves, the caves to the otherworld.  And understand that the kontomble are on standby because we recognize you to be a bearer of light and a bearer of hope and a bearer of really special kind of energy that delivers hope.  And understand that hope is almost extinct in many locations right now on the planet and so it’s hope that needs to be addressed right now in this conversation, in this invitation, in this initiation that’s happening right now, the conversation that’s being initiated.  And it’s meant to reach the masses and it’s meant to reach the masses!  And understand that kontomble is on standby to deliver hope to the masses.  And so we ask you, beautiful being of light, what is your intention with hope?

Q:  I hope to find me some bells!

Anais (laughing)

Liv (laughing) That’s a good one!

Q:  Serious!

Anais: (laughing)  That’s good!

Q:  I’m not joking.

Anais:  I know.  It’s perfect!

Liv:  They’re saying understand that we want you to address the schooling for the future because you are a part of that.  Understand we want you to address the schooling for the future because we want you to address that.  And we want you to address the schooling for the ones whose parents have lost hope.

Q:  That’s a good one.

Liv:  (kontomble speaks) Speak to it Qbert, who has a funny name!

Q:  (laughing!) Oh, that’s a good one!

Liv:  They’re waiting for you to say something.

Q:  Me too.  I’m waiting for them to tell me.

Liv:  They’re interviewing you.

Q:  I’m down!

Liv:  They’re saying, understand that it’s important for you to be addressing the younger ones, the younger ones whose parents have lost hope.

Q:  Wow..!

Liv:  (kontomble speaking) Understand it’s important for you to address the younger ones whose parents have lost hope.  Look to the youth.  Look to the youth.  That’s where the parents have lost hope and this is where kontomble is asking to place your attention again.  And understand that these younger ones are looking for hope and they find it through music.  And they find it through messages and they find it especially through music that they find cool, cool!  Cool is the energy of the youth.  Cool is the energy that the youth responds to.  And they find you cool.  Qbert, who has a funny name.

Q:  They’re hilarious!

Anais:  Do you understand what they’re getting at?

Q:  Yeah.  totally.  I think they’re comedians at the same time.  It’s awesome!

Anais:  So there’s many young ones bumbling around, right?

Q:  Totally.

Anais:  And turning to many different things that are unpleasant to fill an empty space that they’re not getting.  They’re not getting fed.  There’s no community to call home.  You turn to the streets, right?  Because that feeds something.  The feeding needs to be one that carries beauty and you carry that.  And that’s what you’re putting out.  So the call is to be much more conscious of this.

Q:  I like that!

Anais:  Much more conscious that you have the ability to create change with the youth who are lost.  They’re lost.

Q:  That’s true.

Anais:  And you’re already in the game.  You’re a big player in the game, nonetheless.  So all of this has been divinely choreographed, to situate you in a way that is going to be very easy.  You’re already in.  So the subtle bridging that you’re going to start to do through this school.  The school can grow and change and this is where, somehow, Liv and I fit in.  There’s some fitting in, in many ways — this is one of the ways — wait no.  There’s other ways.  But this is a way with the hope of many new futures that don’t have to repeat such destructive ways.  That’s the hope.  And we might never see that.  We might never see that in this lifetime but we still hope.  We plant seeds for many times over that things can be different.

Liv:  (kontomble speaks) Understand that these little ones, the younger ones, they need to drink a different kind of water, a different kind of water, the one that is very very pure.  They need to drink a different kind of water, a water that’s an elixir, a water that’s an elixir, an elixir of opportunity, an elixir of hope, an elixir of hope.  Understand that these little children, the youth, they need to drink a different kind of water and this water will purify their soul, will refresh their soul.  And will give them hope, hope about the future, the future of medicine in music.  The future of medicine is in hope.  The future of medicine is in hopeful music!

Q:  Woah!

Liv:  They’re saying speak to that, man with a funny name!

Q:  (laughing) I’m into it.  With the intention, with each piece of music you make, there’s an intention of a lesson in there!

Liv:  (kontomble speaks) There is a song that’s to be dedicated to a community that’s underwater.  There is a song that’s to be dedicated to a community that’s underwater and that’s always been living underwater.  There is a song for you to dedicate to a community that’s always been living underwater.  And it lives within the pyramids and it lives within the hope of the future and understand this is your homework, Qbert, with a funny name!

Q:  Are there other pyramids other than the ones in the south of Japan that are around Japan or are they speaking about other pyramids underwater?

Anais:  They show, yeah.  What I see is the pyramid underwater that you talk about, when I see that, it’s still very much inhabited.

Liv:  That’s right.

Anais:  It’s still active.  There are still beings that are doing things there, they’re doing magic there.

Liv:  Exactly.

Anais:  They’re doing some really really magical stuff.  So then they show different ones that they’re also in communication with.  So like floating around really far through the seas.. Yeah, there’s more.

Q:  Which areas, actually?

Anais:  It’s as if, they say how it shows is like, pretty.  They’re showing on the Earth, if the south is Japan, is the tip of a point that radiates out equally like a triangle, would have a right angle right at the tip.  It’s like trigonometry.  It’s like a formula that shoots far but equaling out to a certain angle.  It’s very mathematical.  There’s these direct lines to some other location.  It’s almost like they’re showing a diamond.

Q:  Wow!

Anais:  There are 2 points on each side and there’s something that’s created through the whole of the Earth. And it goes up and down and this magic, yeah.  So maybe there’s 4.

Liv:  Now it’s your Ancestors speaking, Q.  They’re saying, Rich, understand that we’ve brought this conversation together especially for you to address what you see about the future and what you see about the Earth because you have a unique perspective because you’ve been visiting communities all over the Earth and we’re asking you to address what you see on the Earth, what you see as a big need on the Earth and what you see..  They’re asking you to talk about something that inspires you about what’s happening on the Earth right now.

Q:  I’m just happy that more and more people are waking up to being loving and noticing that more so now than when I was younger.  So that’s a good thing.

Liv:  (Q’s ancestors) We’re also asking you to address what issues you see that are happening on the Earth?

Q:  Well there’s Haiti, New Zealand earthquake.  There’s Japan.  There’s the hurricane in the Philippines, the Middle East.

Liv:  They’re saying, we’re talking more about the crises of the human spirit.

Q:  I think that, yeah, we have to wake people up.  It’s all these Earth changes are healing things in a weird way that we don’t see yet, kind of like all those nuclear reactors that got destroyed in Japan.  That’s kind of like the Universe saying you don’t need these nuclear reactors.  You need free energy which is coming soon to free the planet.

Liv:  And they’re saying (Q’s Ancestors), Richard, understand it’s your Ancestors here right now and we’re asking you to speak about what people can do to address the change on the Earth, to affect change for the better.

Q:  My biggest voice is my music.  So with the music it’s just a message of healing people.  That’s pretty much what I’m doing.

Liv:  (Q’s Ancestors) That’s true and you’ve been doing this really well and we’re also asking you to speak to people about what they can do to change, to be better people?

Q:  Okay, definitely.  The first thing is to notice that we’ve been blinded from birth, that we’re all one.  And that when we come into this world to experience life, we’re all from God.  We are God.  We just come into this game and the rules of the game is to find that we’re supposed to love each other.  Because everybody’s trying to figure out what is life.  That’s pretty much what it is, to realize that we’re here to help each other.  That’s the rules of the game.  When you figure that out you’ll be set free.

Liv:  (Q’s Ancestors) They’re saying, understand, Richard, that we’re here with you and we’re happy about the ways that you’ve been helping out Japan.  We understand that.  We talked about this before.  And we’re also happy about the ways that you help other people find inspiration through music and we’re asking you to give people advice about how they can — give them hope that it’s possible to dream big.  Giving them inspiration that it’s possible to do –

Anais:  The seemingly impossible.

Liv:  Exactly.

Anais:  One little grain of sand at a time, eventually if it keeps happening and everybody does it.  Then it works.

Q:  That’s right.

Anais:  So your position of you already having a voice that’s heard and respected, that is received with love.  So that intention is received.  You’re a model, a role model.  That’s what you’re talking about.  Making examples of how you do these things and that elicits others to want to, oh, like that.

Liv:  Hey Q, they’re reminding me about the conversation you and I had a little while ago about people coming here with a purpose.  What do you think about that?

Q:  Well, I’m sure everyone has a purpose.  Everyone’s here to learn something.

Liv:  Why do you think we have all these Spirits walking with us?  The ones that we were talking about earlier that are constantly trying to get our attention, why do you feel like they’re constantly trying to get our attention?  What do you feel like humans in this time have to learn from reconnecting with Spirit?

Q:  Like you said, we come to this Earth — you plan out your life before you come here and you have Spirits that will help you.  But when you come here you forget all that and so they’re kind of reminding you — hey remember me!  We’re supposed to do this thing!  So that’s why I think they’re there, to look out for you.  Especially if you have a positive mission.  They’ll help you if you get into a car accident, they’ll help you — stop time!  Move you over to the side and — okay, start time!

Liv:  Do you have any other questions or anything that wants to come through, Anais?

Anais:  They just want to make sure that you remember, the things to begin to research.  They’re really feeling your inspiration and that’s making them feel calm.  They’re having a calmness that they’ve been heard.  That this has been conveyed to you in such a way that they see that you hear it.  And they take a breath.  They want you to start because they have much more for you.  This is a beginning.

Q:  Iv’e got to learn about Pythagoras and Aristotle, learn about the underwater pyramid civilizations, to make a song for them and to teach the youth and their lost elders and find those bells!

Anais:  You remembered all that!  (laughing)

Q:  Alrighty then!

Liv:  Is there anything else that you want to say, Q?

Q:  Did we leave anything out?  Any last words from them?

Liv:  Last words from Spirit?

Q:  Yeah.

Liv:  They’re saying, understand that what we want to be addressed is the role of musicians and their connection to the otherworld.

Q:  What’s the easiest way to get there?   Meditating?

Anais:  Yeah, do that.  They say, calm, using your natural rhythm of the ancient instruments and finding sounds that you can make with, as you being the implement.  So that this is done in a proper context where your intention to connect, you will connect.

Q:  That’s dope.

Liv:  They’re saying, understand that the otherworld is beckoning musicians to be hearing us and we’re asking musicians to heed the call.  Because musicians are the ones, the gatekeepers of the otherworldly energies and they’re forgotten these days.  They’ve forgotten these days!  And the musicians were always gatekeepers for otherworldly energies and understand that musicians have forgotten that these days.  And understand that this is what we want to be addressed within the music communities these days because musicians have lost their way around the otherworld.  And understand this hasn’t stopped Spirit from trying to get through, to be in communication.  And so understand that we want this to be addressed as a final thought.

Q:  That is beautiful.  Tell them I’ll Twitter that!  The word gets around!

Liv:  They’re saying understand, Qbert, man with a funny name, that you really really are on our good side and that’s a good thing.  So we want you to know that you really are a friend to the otherworld and we love you for that.  And we’re asking you to let your friends know that the way is through connection with the otherworld.  This is where healing, truly, can happen.  Musicians from the old days, they always knew about the Gods and the Goddesses and Queens of the night and they always knew about the Jester and the Court and they also knew how to make worlds open up with the right sound.  They knew how to make worlds open up with the right tone.  And so we’re trying to get you to pay attention, to listen closely enough to what we’re saying so you can understand we’re trying to open up the particular kinds of dimensions that will bring healing to your communities these days.  The modern world has lost its way.  Have you forgotten?  Understand that the musicians knew how to create the right tones, the right sounds in the old days, to make worlds open up and make rain clouds form and make sun shine appear out of darkness.  Understand this.  We mean what we say.

Q:  That’s beautiful!  That’s very true!

Anais:  That’s all tied up with the sacred instruments.  Because once people were nomadic, these little things were always part of ceremony.  Even if it was a bean pod from a tree that you shake (making sound), always there’s rhythm.  You can’t take music away from people because if someone has lost a song, you can make up a song in your heart.  So the mouth harp, these little seemingly small things have a punch and they punch right into the thing that needs to be broken into.

Liv:  Hey, Q, you were telling me a few days ago about this thing that you did in Norway with sound?

Q:  Oh yeah.  It’s called hueing.  It’s supposed to cleanse your spirit from negative spirits that are around you.  And you just go, hue (making tone!) and then I had the audience do it with me and we shot a big bolt of energy to places on the Earth that needed to be healed!

Anais:  And you told everybody, this is what we’re doing?

Q:  Yeah.  It was at the end of my show.

Anais:  That’s awesome!

Liv:  Isn’t that so cool?

Anais:  That’s awesome!

Q:  Yeah, it was a couple hundred people going, hue (making tone).

Anais:  Damn!  You see, and they just did it because you said it, that this is something to do that can heal the world, let’s do it.

Q:  Yeah.  And it felt really good.  So I need to do that more.

Liv:  Awesome!  Thank you so much, Anais and thank you so much, Q, for taking the time..

Q:  That was beautiful.  Thank you so much.  All right.  I better get home and get to this project.

Liv:  Which project?

Q:  I have this big mix that I have to finish that’s dedicated to Japan.  I put it out there and all the proceeds go to Japan..

Liv:  Right on..

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK, CLICK HERE! Ancestor Bridge on Facebook

At the Crossroads is the intersection of spirit and art, music and spirit. New interviews posted monthly with different artists and musicians! stay tuned..

March 2011- Interview with Aerosol Artist East Suya

I met with aerosol artist, East Suya, before he traveled to Dubai for a hip hop gathering. We first sat for a divination and then flowed into the interview shortly after. This is what was inspired..

Liv: East, for those who don’t know you, what’s your form of expression? What’s the medium that you work with?

East: The medium that I use is a spray can. And it comes from the hip hop culture. It’s arguably the first part of hip hop that evolved, which is the writing part of it.

In New York everything came together kind of at one time. The dancing and the art part was the first. And then the chanting part came in second, known as rhyming. So yeah, I create different expressions of letter forms through a spray can or a pen. And, you know, I feel like it’s more than just a discipline where it’s formulated. I normally don’t have a formula.

Liv: As you’re speaking about the beginning of the hip hop culture in New York it makes me curious, what do you feel inspired that whole movement? It’s a big question but what do you feel the spirit behind that is?

East: Well, it’s told to me by my mentor, Phase 2, the actual starting of the art form that I’m involved with — which is called writing — it was just for self glorification at first. You know, simple signatures were being put here and there. But as it progressed, people started to get a sense of awareness for themselves and pride for themselves and confidence. And for the inner city that was huge. It actually brought a sense of pride to the ghetto.

And that’s where the spiritualism tied in. Because it uplifted the community. It became more than just putting something on every block or every train. It became a sense of pride, a sense of dignity for an area that was so oppressed. And that energy transfered into the dance and then, later the people who used instruments to conduct the dances, which are the dj’s, and emcees and the dancers, they all started to do this and to further explore the other elements.

A lot of people consider b-boying or b-girling a form of an ancient tribal dance. Self expression and, you know, you’re touching the earth. And so people like Remind and Paulskee, they’re really in tune with that. They’re in tune with us as humans touching the earth, being involved with the earth. And for the dance that’s what really took place.

Paulskee with A Mighty 4

And then of course, when you can channel a thought, continue it in a certain way.. you’re actually expressing your words and it becomes poetry. That’s where the art of that developed. And it developed into the music, where certain rhythms and cadences became kind of meditative after a while. DJ Qbert, he definitely has a different approach to his music too, that he creates with the turntables.

Dj Qbert

So throughout the course of hip hop culture it’s grown and now where it’s at, i believe it’s very spiritual. It actually healed a great deal of the earth because it brought many many different cultures together.

Liv: Wow..

East: And we have a commonality, whether I go to Egypt or France, you see a hip hop head and you’ll know. It’s like, you don’t even need to express what you do. You just kind of know.

Liv: You can just feel it in their vibration?

East: Exactly. You can feel it. It’s like, oh this is a hip hop cat. And maybe it’s part visual. But the minute they open their mouth, it’s like, oh okay. There’s some type of hip hop in this dude, you know. You can tell.

Liv: And I know that you’re about to go to Dubai?

East: Right.

Liv: So where is at today? As you’re about to take this trip, what is it about for you or for the hip hop gathering that’s happening in Dubai?

East: Well Dubai, according to my homework — I could be totally mislead about this from the internet– from what I read about it on the internet, it’s a very serious and heavy place where the law is governed very heavily for certain things. I believe at this point it’s become a little more progressive where the government is actually supporting it. I don’t think they really know the spiritual side of it. I think they’re looking at it from a socio-economical standpoint.

photo from the Might 4 gathering in Dubai

It’s a plus and a minus. Whatever reason they’re bringing us out there for, we’re going to spread the word. So whether they are knowing or unknowing, it doesn’t matter because we’re going to give the good energy and just teach the kids how to express themselves.

photo from Might 4 in Dubai

Or to encourage the right people that are in the culture to advance the culture and to give back to their own community. And that’s where a company like Mighty 4 based out of Oakland has spread throughout the whole world. They have chapters in every country and this is being taught everywhere.

photo from Mighty 4 in Dubai

Liv: We’re living in a time where so many people feel isolated. People are at home alone with their computers. A lot of people feel separate from each other. It sounds like a lot of the movement has been bringing the people together, feeling a sense of community?

East: Right. I mean, the world is hard enough as it is. But if there’s one common ground that relates you to another part of the world, completely on the other side and, that’s where hip hop has become a culture more than ever. And has to remain a culture and has to stay out of the hands of corporate america or any type of Fortune 500 company trying to be the overseers, you know. It has to remain within the hands of the people who started it. Or at least the students who are learning from them.

If you identify with someone in hip hop, it’s a genuine identification. Race or age or anything, it’s not a factor anymore. It’s about the artistry that you share. And that’s where, to me, hip hop has become very spiritual, because you can see the cause and effect with children. And right now in the current state of hip hop, corporate has really taken over. Companies like Mighty 4, Freestyle Sessions, a lot of the other European based organizations are fighting to perpetuate the culture in a way that it was first manifested in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Liv: That seems important.

East: Yeah.

Liv: Do you feel like the spirit or the energy around it is mostly inspiring?

East: Well, there’s a dark side of it too, you know, the corporate sponsorships. I guess in this world everything’s about money, it’s driven by money. So the darker side of things would be what kind of corporate sponsorship support these positive events have to have. For example, b-boy event sponsored by Coors Lite.

Liv: Right! (laughing)

East: (laughing) You know, that says it all in one sentence. So, I would say, if you’re really trying to learn about hip hop culture you’re going to learn the history. The history is this culture started in the late 60′s and unfortunately a lot of the late 60′s pioneers are passing every day as we speak Fortunately, though, there are a lot that are still alive. That’s where digging further than the internet must be done. To preserve what was lost, you know.

Hip hop is blessed that the culture is so young. We still have our mentors that we can access information from and get reflection of what they feel like this has turned into. That’s where the importance of understanding that hip hop has to stay in the light by creating things that inspire positive energy. Because that’s where it generated from. A lot of gang members in the Bronx became dancers, writers, emcees and dj’s. Some of them made careers out of it. Some of them did it because it kept them out of trouble.

But the overview is that it did take a lot of kids, in the youth, in the late 60′s and early 70′s off the streets and into something productive. Which is now this huge global thing. So something that came from darkness, actually it was brought to light. And we have to keep it that way.

Liv: So it’s been saving lives?

East: Oh yeah, definitely saving lives.

Liv: East, what inspires you to paint?

East: Many different things. When I first started in ’84, I got inspired by a book that had my mentors art work in it. I wasn’t quite aware that I would ever meet this person. But, you know, I followed him and there was contact information in his magazine that he was putting out at that time. And I got it and I was fortunate enough to get in touch with him and, you know, he helped me with my development. And the painting was just, for lack of better words, it was love at first sight. Something you know you want to do. Just like sports or anything, you do it once and you’re hooked!

But none of the social or economical part came into play because I was still in highschool. So this is pure passion driving what I was doing. And the sacrifices that I made, I mean it kept me out of trouble. And I just worked on my craft and I guess the driving force then is different than the driving force now. Or maybe I should say it’s returned back to when I first started. In the beginning it was just full of pure intent to do versus a reason to market or a reason to develop for a reason to market.

Now it’s like the pursuit of elevation and to become more in tune with the spiritual part of the ‘why’ in what i’m doing. Because you can execute, be formulated and stagnant only so long. And you have to find more guidance in what you’re doing. And sometimes it comes into play with the different or higher power, you know, you have to ask yourself why am I doing this?

Liv: I think it’s an important question.

East: Yeah. So as an artist I find myself often being able to channel my energy from a pen to a paper. That was also taught too. That gift was broken down to me by my mentor Phase 2. You know, I’m not sure if that was in his master plan from back then to have me become aware one day. But he is very spiritual and very much into Egyptian culture or Kemetic culture and I don’t know what type of signs or what lead me to follow his ideologies but I was always into Ancient Egypt or Kemet from way back in the day.

I think that it was all for one reason. Everything led to being where I’m at right now.

Liv: Right in this very moment.

East: Exactly..

Liv: It sounds like there’s a light that’s been guiding you all this time up into this very moment. That’s the feeling that I have as I sit with you. And I wonder, do you believe that there’s something that comes through you or is it just East creating?

East: Well you know, I guess post divination –

Liv: (laughing)

East: (laughing), And post scoldings that I got –

Liv: Loving scoldings from your ancestors (laughing).

East: (laughing), Yeah, exactly! This is the piece of the puzzle that I needed.

Liv: Okay.

East: To start to fulfill the journey that I want to go into for the rest of my physical life. I think that this divination really helped me understand certain things that I instinctively felt but not been able to explain — or a lot of frustrations that I had with the way that I deal with people, it helps me understand that — today there was a lot of clarification in what I needed to do and because of that I think that my art is actually going to go into a place where it’s going to have a lot more meaning and depth.

Liv: Wow..

East: And, you know, a lot of artists get caught becoming illustrators, where what you visually see has no depth. And where I was really leaning towards.. how much of this is illustration and how much of this is a lot deeper. And today there was a lot of clarification in where I need to go and what I need to do and it’s all agreeable. So thank you Liv!

Liv: (laughing!) I’m super excited to see where your art is going to be guided. It’s been mindblowing in its own right thus far and who knows, has there been something backing you.. but yea, it’ll be super exciting to see where this goes. It’s true that we sat together in a divination and it’s also true that my perspective has much more to do with the otherworld and I see this world as the expression of the otherworld. So it’s interesting, when a person chooses to align with that.. what’s possible?!?

East: I’m looking forward to it too because I don’t know what’s out there. I’ve gotten instructions and scoldings! (laughing)

Liv: (laughing)

East: It’s all positive in my opinion.

Liv: You have tough ancestors.

East: Yea, you know, maybe it was because they’ve wanted to say this for such a long time but hadn’t found the right person to put it through(laughing) and so they finally got — it’s like trying to call somebody on the phone and their phone is always busy!

Liv: Absolutely!

East: Right?!?

Liv: Yeah! That’s exactly what it feels like from my end. Because they’ll communicate through me (ancestors) and that’s the feeling that I’ll have, when the ancestors have really been trying to get a hold of somebody for a long time. Sometimes it has a real weightiness to it. And it comes through with a force. And your ancestors seem to have high expectations of you too (laughing)!

East: Yeah, I’m well aware now (laughing)!

Liv: (laughing) And they love you!

East:  It was something that just happened.  I didn’t force it.

I would say this whole journey for me, from the first time I met you until now, it just kind of progressed.  And things started to gravitate towards me.  So I’m not fighting it.  When I was approached to do a suicide awareness program mural for the first organization on Kuai, I didn’t hesitate.  I said sure, let’s do it.  And from there it was a chain reaction.  I got approached from someone else who wanted artwork.

During the first program there were about 3 or 4 kids there.  One of them took heavy interest in what I was doing.  I saw his work and I had a lot of belief in him. I looked at myself and I looked at him and I said, if I had somebody like me teaching me when I was this young — just on an artistic level — I could have been so much better now.  Without any hesitation I just offered everything to him.  So he’s somebody that I’m mentoring.  And just the look on the kids faces is worth it all.

East Suya with Bailey Bailrok Munoz

Liv:  You’re inspiring hope?

East:  I’m definitely trying to.  Not everybody there I’ll be able to touch.  There are some that are just too far gone.  I’m looking at being able to save some and that’s all I can hope for.  That’s the realistic approach to it.

Liv:  How old is this boy, by the way?

East:  Well the first one, his name is Mase.  He’s 14.  He’s in a critical moment.  He can go either way.  I see a lot of me in him.  I really took it to heart.  Any time he sends me a picture I always give him back critique or try to build with him.  I think just giving him my number is giving him inspiration because he’s always having me talk to his friends on the phone.

And of course,  I’m having to slip in the educational points but I do it real slick.  I’ll tell him, without content you’re not an artist.  You have to learn how to research.  Do yo’ Math.  Do yo’ English.  You’re gonna have to keep your balance.  This is not about you locking yourself in a room and drawing 24/7.  You’re gonna have to keep a balance.

I’m happy to be able to give them direction where maybe a social worker would have nothing in common with them.  And I feel like my art form is a way to reach them.  Because the hip hop movement started 40 odd some years ago but to this day it’s what kids and the youth identify with, primarily, in terms of art.  Before Salvador Dali or MC Escher they’re looking for the latest piece on the wall.  And that’s speaking their language.  They see the soul and the spirit in it and they recognize it right away.  And it translates into them wanting to practice it.

Bailey Bailrok Munoz

Liv:  East, something I’ve noticed about you ever since we first met — maybe it was a little over a year ago — is you have a peacefulness.  You have a calm about you.  And something that I really admire about you is that you walk with a lot of humility.  How did you become this way?

East:  I would have to say, there are powerful role models in my life that I observe that basically keep my head where it needs to be.  Definitely, from a human perspective, my mom had a big role in molding me.  She was a part of the concentration camps and she was imprisoned just for being Japanese.  I see her struggles in society.  She’s very timid.  She’s very passive.  She doesn’t want to make any wakes.  One of the things that I learned from her is, as much harm and hurt that she’s had to go through, she’s still doing it.  She’s still alive.  She’s still being a good person.  You could be full of hate after something like that.  You could be like, eff ‘ the government!  But where she’s at is, do good.  Don’t make wakes.

And, of course, my mentor Phase 2 is not of an ego driven perspective.  He is the most humble guy and the best in the world.  He’s a purist.  He’s 100 percent purist.  It’s not about his accomplishments.  He’s about and for the culture.  So those 2 people had a heavy role in my life.

Liv:  It sounds like you’ve had amazing mentors.

East:  And that’s the reason why I want to share and give back.  Anyone that I’m privileged enough to share the art form with is going to know.  You’re going to know someone that was mentored by me because they’re going to be the same.  It’s not an ego driven thing to become better at what you do.  It’s a blessing.  That’s where I’m coming from.  So I want to be able to share that with others.

(left to right) James Coles, East Suya, Tiffany Remedee, Skeme Richards, Skill Roy, Roro Fernandez, Dj Min1, Paul Skee

Liv:  As we were talking before we went into this interview, we were talking about how I’ve been thinking a lot about this intersection of art and spirit.  Maybe you’ve been walking more in the world of artistry and maybe my perspective has been more in the world of spirit but what do you feel is the potential when these two meet?

East:  I think that, you know, in the art of doing Chinese calligraphy or Japanese Kangi writing, the whole purpose for it is not so much perfection.  It’s to find the sense of self.  And I think the combination of spiritualism and the art is definitely to find a sense of self.  To be closer at being at a higher frequency.  To understand that your gift inspires people.  And you have a control over whether you want to draw a whole bunch of positive icon images or go straight for the money and draw a bunch of things that are negative.  And that’s where you have to know, if you connect yourself with something more meaningful then you’ll be directing more into a higher consciousness.  We’re a race of people that have been here for a long time.  If we still have the same consciousness as even 100 years ago, that’s pretty primitive.

Where I’m at now, I think if we don’t address our mentality — I mean, all the way across the board –we’re going to lose this earth.  We’re going to lose ourselves.  Not just in the physical form.  It’s going to go completely haywire.  And I think that we need to take a look at that.  I think we need to stop and look at what we’re doing.  I think once the world heals itself, then the people who have the so called power of oppression, they
won’t have that power anymore.  Because we’re not going to be buying their stuff.  We’re going to become more of a thinker than a consumer.

That’s where the art can actually inspire thought as well as being visual.  You can’t get that from a cool rendition of a Corvette on a wall.  You know, that’s just an illustration for marketing that Corvette.  Well what’s in this technique?

What’s the subject matter about?  And that’s where I’m trying to go in the direction of identifying with the viewer on more than just the visual.  It’s definitely got to be, wow, this makes me feel something.. Wow!  I feel good after looking at that.

Liv:  Yeah.  Maybe something that’s inspiring growth?

East:  Yeah, exactly.  And it’s to take the steps right??  I’ll put the bait out and reel them in and then Liv will cross them over and get them yelled at by the ancestors (laughing)!

Liv:  (laughing)!

East:  But I had it coming!  (laughing) Unknowingly, I had it coming (laughing)!

Liv:  Well I’m glad you showed up for it (laughing).

East:  No, this is something that we’ve been trying to plan for a year.  And I think it took me a year to absorb all of this stuff.  So I don’t think that the timing was wrong at all.  I think that this was the right time.

Liv:  Yeah, this is perfect timing.

East:  At first it was just a little overwhelming.  And then the dust settled and a chain of events happened.  And I really think the youth had a lot to do with it too.  They had to do with the total switch over, the commitment side of things.  Because I have to commit to the kids.  I cannot be part time.  It’s all or nothing.  It can’t be like, oh yeah,  I don’t really want to pick up the phone for him.  If he’s calling I’ll take the time, stop and do it.  Because it could be that one call that might change his world or her world.  It might be just that somebody was there for them.

East Suya with Bailey Bailrok Munoz

Liv:  Right on.  Is there any last thing that you want to speak to that you feel is important?

East:  Well, as far as everything I did here [referring to the divination], I feel very blessed and humbled that you helped me with this.  It was healing on an undescribable level.

Liv:  Wow..

East:  If I didn’t take any notes, I probably wouldn’t remember anything (laughing) from the divination.  I was trying to jot it down as fast as I could!  But I think that the healing that you can offer people is, it’s off the charts.  You can’t describe it.  It’s a connection.  You build a connection to something that you’re not aware is there.

Abstract Photograph by Photographer/Videographer Jen Cohen

Liv:  Wow..

East:  Because, for me, I’m a touch, hold, feel, see, tangible — up until this point.  Now I’m not afraid to know that there’s unknown out there and to explore it.  And I no longer question it.  It’s there.  You just can’t see it.  But you have to feel it.  And that’s where I think that a lot of people need that help, to get over that, because they’re so fixated on what’s here, on what we’re used to seeing.

Liv:  Absolutely.

East:  But it all starts with the individual.  Address the spirituality in you and the right meaning of being on the Earth.  Because it’s not the end of the road.  We all go somewhere else after this.

Liv:  Where do we go (laughing)?

East:  That remains to be seen (laughing).

Liv:  (laughing)

East:  (laughing) We might have to do another divination.  I don’t want to get any more yelling (laughing).

Liv:  (laughing) Maybe your ancestors will go easier on you next time.

East:  Yeah, I think they better, and I hope they will, because I’ll be doing exactly what needs to be done
(laughing)!

Liv:  Right on (laughing)!

It was an honor sitting with you in that space (divination) as it is sitting with you in this space.  And it’s a blessing being able to call you a friend because I think that you’re a remarkable human being, East.

East:  Thank you, Liv.  Likewise..

for more info on East Suya, Aerosol Artist, check out his website at http://www.east-3.com/

watch?v=eUqLGRMrFAg