Life, Recently. (Babu Menos Instrumentals Pt 4)

What inspires new music to emerge?

Sometimes it’s a complex story, an event or experience, sometimes it’s the little things — a smell, a word, a smile.

And sometimes it might be a photo, which in itself is both complex and little.

When I came across this stunningly beautiful and touching photo¹ by Mastodon friend Priyanka², it immediately sparked an urge to dig through my hard drives and find this particular track I’d recorded a while ago.

¹ me.dm/@altlife/114749599961752495
² me.dm/@altlife

To me, the two — music and image — seem to tell a similar story: that of striving in the face of despair, of energy despite melancholy, strength despite saudade, a defiant now-more-than-ever spirit.

Much like the world feels now.

I played keyboards, sample bass, acoustic guitar, caxixi¹, congas and LP Junior Congas², plus kick drum and hi-hat samples.

¹ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caxixi
² www.lpmusic.com/products/lp-jrx-8-and-9-junior-conga-set/

To the original track I added a beautiful singing bowl by Freesound user Garuda1982 (freesound.org/people/Garuda1982), male voices shouting ‘Hey!’ by Jace (freesound.org/people/Jace) and khenshom (freesound.org/people/khenshom), and Cambodian Buddhist monks chanting in a hotel by gazzaruddin (freesound.org/people/gazzaruddin).

We all can use a good dose of Buddhist calm and wisdom these days, can’t we?