The
Silver Wave record label has been on the cutting edge of New Age instrumental
music since the early 1990s. Recorded live in mid 2017 at the Tank
Center for Sonic Arts in Colorado, Alive Inside The Tank is
the perfect showcase for the sonically pleasing sound of Mysteries
Of The Night. Essentially, a duo project by long time flute /
wind player James Marienthal and percussionist / vocalist Sarah
Gibbons, the hour long, 15 track CD is the perfect sonic antidote
for stress in these troubling times. Speaking about his new album
on Silver Wave, James tells mwe3.com, "More than half the
CD is from a night session in The Tank when we decided to completely
improvise a continuous stream of music for over an hour. The music
that came out that night was pure magic. A stream of consciousness
channeled from the Great Mystery. The name Mysteries Of The Night
came to me as I was listening back to that session, feeling its energy,
and being astounded at the depth and cohesiveness of the music that
came through that night." Silver Wave has released numerous
albums that combine and often co-mingle Native American music with
World Music and meditative sounding New Age music and, if the thought
of that is pleasing to your senses, then the 2018 CD release of Alive
Inside The Tank by Mysteries Of The Night will be music to your
ears. www.silverwave.com
mwe3.com presents an interview with
JAMES MARIENTHAL
mwe3:
Tell us about Mysteries Of The Night. When did you form the group
and when did you meet Sarah Gibbons and what did you set out to achieve
with the CD release of Alive Inside The Tank? Is this the first
Mysteries Of The Night release?
James Marienthal: Sarah and I had been playing music together
for a couple of years and often experimenting with these flute and
voice improvisations. I had been to The Tank and knew that it would
be an amazing place to go further with this sound. We set out mainly
to just have fun without expectations. It wasnt until I spent
many hours listening back to the recordings that I found we had enough
good music to release a full album.
The name of the group was created after the recording sessions. More
than half the CD is from a night session in The Tank when we decided
to completely improvise a continuous stream of music for over an hour.
The music that came out that night was pure magic. A stream of consciousness
channeled from the Great Mystery. The name Mysteries Of The Night
came to me as I was listening back to that session, feeling its energy,
and being astounded at the depth and cohesiveness of the music that
came through that night.
mwe3: Youve been on the instrumental New Age music scene
for a long time. When did you form Silver Wave Records how many albums
has Silver Wave released by you and all the other artists and how
do you feel your sound and the entire New Age scene has evolved over
the past three decades?
James Marienthal: Silver Wave Records officially started in
1986 with the release of Aqua Touch by guitarist Danny Heines.
Close to 100 albums followed in the genres of New Age, World Music
and contemporary
Native American music. Initially, Silver Wave was releasing music
that had more rhythm and substance that the meditative music that
was dominating the New Age category in the 80s. Our albums were
getting airplay in major cities on a commercial radio format known
at the time as New Adult Contemporary. We consistently had top ten
records on those charts. When that format got saturated and eventually
died off we shifted toward world music collaborations and contemporary
Native American to continue exploring innovative sounds. I never wanted
to let mainstream radio dictate the direction of the label because
that would stifle creativity. These days a lot of New Age music is
geared toward yoga and sound healing, which is what it evolved from
in the first place, but now those things have become more accepted
as mainstream, whereas 30 years ago, it was counter culture and alternative
market.
mwe3:
How long have you been playing flute and how many flutes do you have
in your collection and how would you compare the flutes that you play
on the Mysteries Of The Night CD? Is the Native American flute a lot
different from the dual chamber flute and the silver flute? What other
instruments to you play and what instrument do you write music on?
James Marienthal: I have been playing flute for over 40 years.
I started music on the piano and I became a jazz fan in college and
was learning saxophone. When I left school to travel, I wanted something
more portable so I got a silver flute. I also got into bamboo flute
and the Peruvian flute called a Quena. I came across the Native American
flute at an Indian Market and fell in love with it pretty quickly.
I now have about 10 of them in different keys and sizes, and made
from various kinds of wood. Each one has a unique sound and texture.
They are relatively easy to play, compared to other flutes, but it
takes time to learn the nuances and bring the unique voice to life
in each flute. The dual chamber flute is a Native American flute on
one side, and a flute with no holes on the other, which makes a drone.
You can blow into both chambers at once and the drone makes beautiful
harmonies with notes on the other side. I also play guitar and I like
to improvise and compose on piano.
mwe3: How long have you been living in Colorado and how would
you compare living in Boulder with where you lived / grew up in Chicago?
Seems like theres been a large influx of people into states
like Colorado and the West Coast.
James
Marienthal: Ive lived in Colorado for 40 years. At first
I settled in a small mountain town because the city no longer appealed
to me, then I moved to Boulder years later where Ive been since
1993. Of course Boulder has grown a lot since then, but I dont
let the influx of people bother me. Its still a beautiful place
to live and it makes sense that more and more people will come to
enjoy this beauty and healthy lifestyle near nature and the mountains.
And the upside is that there is a bigger community to support music
and arts.
mwe3: Tell us some of your activities planned for the Summer
of 2018. I saw you played at Bhakti Village in Oregon in June. Looks
like it will be a blast to say the least. What are your concerts like
and where are some of your favorite venues to perform in?
James Marienthal: Ive just been on the road for 5 weeks
playing at dance and music events, culminating with Bhakti Village
in Ashland which was indeed a blast. Ive been focusing my performances
not so much as traditional concerts, but more as creating soundscapes
for both meditation and movement. I love to play in nature. While
I was on the road I played everywhere from the National Parks in Utah
to the mountains in California to the lush green duck pond at the
city park in Ashland. Its wonderful to play outside and see
who shows up to be the audience. Ive gotten some wonderful responses
from many people.
mwe3:
Tell us about the video you did for the Mysteries Of The Night track
To The Earth. The Tank seems to be the perfect place to
record your flute mixed in with Sarahs vocals. How was The Tank
discovered, how long have you known about it and are there ongoing
events going on there?
James Marienthal: The Tank was discovered as a sound chamber
over 30 years ago by a Colorado musician, and started being used under
the radar so to speak, for playing music and recording. I found
out about it 6 years ago when the only way to get inside was still
by crawling through an 18 inch round porthole. I had an opportunity
to spend two hours alone in there experimenting with sounds, playing
flute and chanting. It was then I learned how to give each sound a
lot of space to truly capture the magic of The Tank.
The intro and closing scenes in the video are from some footage I
took on my iPad during that first session. The rest of the video was
produced by a Boulder video editor who is a collegue of mine and we
combined other photos from The Tank as well as night images and nature
footage to capture both the ethereal and the earthly vibrations of
the music.
Through some successful fundraising campaigns, The Tank is now run
by a nonprofit called The Tank Center for Sonic Arts. It has been
brought up to local safety codes, including a full size door, and
is open to the public. There are free open houses on Saturdays in
the warmer months, and it can be reserved for recording sessions at
reasonable rates. There are ongoing events such as concerts and workshops.
All the details can be found at www.tanksounds.org.
mwe3: Whats your impression of You Tube and the social
media sites like Facebook? Has it all been beneficial for you and
the other artists? Seems like the whole online world is still in its
infancy in some ways, or in other ways a petulant teenager just coming
of age now.
James
Marienthal: YouTube and Facebook are great venues for sharing
and promoting music. I believe it is beneficial and Im working
to learn more about how to optimize social media to market music.
Its an entirely different business model than what we were doing
to sell CD's when Silver Wave was in its heyday in the 1990s.
Streaming music started out looking like the death of the music business,
and it is close to the death of the CD. But when, once our goal was
to sell thousands of CDs, there is now the potential of reaching
millions of listeners around the world. The income per stream is minuscule,
but multiplied by millions instead of thousands, it has the potential
to provide decent income to the artist. So I encourage everyone to
go online and listen to our music as much as possible.
mwe3: You helped pioneer the whole New Age flute sound with
Silver Wave Records going back to the 1990s. I remember writing reviews
of Silver Wave albums for over 20 years now. Who inspired you to pick
up the flute, who are some of your favorite influences and classic
albums and, who are you listening to today as far as ground breaking
artists playing flute or New Age music in general?
James Marienthal: Silver Wave was certainly instrumental in
getting Native American flute music into the mainstream market with
the collaborations of pianist Peter Kater and flutist R. Carlos Nakai.
R. Carlos was an influence, as well as Mary Youngblood and Tito La
Rosa, all Silver Wave artists. Ive also been influenced by jazz
musicians such as John Coltrane, Gato Barbieri and Keith Jarrett,
as well as folk and indigenous music from other cultures. Today, I
listen to so many different kinds of music it is hard to single out
any favorite artists or key influences because there are hundreds.
Though, on my recent tour I enjoyed some solo artists who were creating
intriguing soundscapes with live looping so I am interested in exploring
possibilities in that realm.
mwe3: What other plans do you have for your music moving forward
including new writing, recording, videos, concerts etc. What kind
of album would you like to record and release next?
James
Marienthal: I recently did a concert in Boulder with percussionist
Will Clipman who has played with Nakai for 30 years and a new vocalist;
since Gibbons moved on to pursue a different career. It was quite
successful so we are considering more collaborations, both performing
and recording. On the road I have been playing as a solo artist so
Id also like to do an album of my solo flute songs. I have many
original tunes that didnt make it on to The Tank
album, so Id like to make those available for people who enjoy
the solo sound.