Harijiwan talks about playing with Simrit Kaur and Sat Nam Fest

"In that gong space, you are outside the earth's planetary energetic matrix, so your mind can reconfigure itself to its own divine connections rather than the earthly connections." - Harijiwan

I had the honor of sitting with Harijiwan to talk to him about his experience of joining Sat Nam Fest.  I had a list of questions prepared for him, all focused on the festival, but Harijiwan started talking about the gong, and I was so mesmerized by the depth of his connection to the gong and the groundbreaking work he is doing with it, that I almost forgot all of my questions.  He is not only an amazing teacher, but he has an incredibly poetic way of describing things.  You are in for a treat reading what he shared here.

Karan: "How did you come to start playing the Gong as a part of Simrit's band?"

Harijiwan: "Playing the gong in my classes, I could sense there was a deeper experience to be created within the gong space.  I wanted to find a singer who could stay inside the gong space so that we could do musical mantras inside that space.   I looked for a long time.  Then I heard Simrit's 'Hey Gobind' track and I knew there was something there.

"Hey Gobind" is on Simrit Kaur's "The Sweetest Nectar"

"From the first time I met Simrit, we started talking about combining the gong and her singing.  The question was whether she could hold her sound without the gong overwhelming her.  We started experimenting and Simrit clearly had a gift.  Then I met Anthony Molina who is an incredible musician, but also a serious sound engineer and music producer.  I discovered that he had an exceptional understanding of how to mic and manage the sound system with the gong without being overwhelmed by it, which is rare.

"I encouraged Simrit to try to play with Anthony and they had incredible synergy.  When we merged their joined sound with the gong, it just worked.   As we are now going out and playing, we are having these incredibly powerful experiences.  We are exploring how the gong amplifies the mantra or musical space.  Simrit is a rare singer who can stay on key and stay in her musical space inside the gong space.   Every time we play together, we are exploring new depths of the gong.

"The thing is that the mantra is the goal.  It is packaged in the music to entrance the listener.  The gong amplifies the effect of the mantra.   Our quest has been to transport the listener into a higher state of being."

Karan: "When you play with people unfamiliar with the gong, how do they react to it?"

"The musical presentations at Sat Nam Fest are all designed to open meditative spaces. Inside those meditative spaces is where the devotees have danced for ages and enjoyed." - Harijiwan

Harijiwan: "People go nuts with the gong, which has always been a mystery to me, but I've come to accept it.  It so personalizes how the amplified vibration moves you, that the music takes on a unique life for each person who experiences it.  We are experimenting every time we play.  It is really an uncharted landscape we are working in.

"One notion is that when the big bang occurred, the sound it created was the gong sound.  Good gong playing sounds like the NASA recordings taken in deep space near the various planets like Jupiter and Mars, for example.  In that gong space, you are outside the earth's planetary energetic matrix, so your mind can reconfigure itself to its own divine connections rather than the earthly connections.  If we can get this into the musical experience, we can make energetic changes in the mind and energy of the listener.  That is when people can be transformed.

Karan: "Having taught at our last Sat Nam Fest, can you tell me what your experience of the festival is?"

"Simrit is a rare singer who can stay on key and stay in her musical space inside the gong space. Every time we play together, we are exploring new depths of the gong." - Harijiwan

Harijiwan: "Sat Nam Fest is part of a very historic movement.  People have been longing for music festivals without the destructive drug/alcohol culture and within the space of a real yogic and meditative experience.  It's the movement of the planet.   Festivals are so inspiring, so much fun, and so elevating.   And now we have this in a Kundalini mantra yogic culture, so people can come out with enhanced intuition, enhanced mental clarity, and vibrant health while they dance and enjoy themselves in an incredible community space.   I've never seen people get this ecstatically happy and just glowing with goodness.  This is the trend of the future.  I am so happy to be a part of it.

"You can think of mantras as individual energetic beings.  They want to participate in the global music scene just as much as anyone else does.  They are looking for festivals where they can be sung and danced to and be absorbed by the audience to spread their healing vibrations.

"The musical presentations at Sat Nam Fest are all designed to open meditative spaces.  Inside those meditative spaces is where the devotees have danced for ages and enjoyed.  This is what Sat Nam Fest is about: opening the ecstatic devotional spaces that have been enjoyed for thousands and thousands of years by the initiates.  In this change of the age, everyone has the possibility to be that advanced practitioner.  I really encourage people to participate so they can experience the wonder and magic of the mantras in this musical setting."

Harijiwan plays with Simrit in concert "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Starr

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Posted in Interviews, Kirtan News, Sat Nam Fest, Video | Tagged gong, Harijiwan, Sat Nam Fest, Simrit Kaur

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