Have you ever felt totally in the moment, feeling a peace and calm in place of everything that brings you down in life?

Many have experienced this in passing, but could it be possible to bring about a reality where this pure state is a day to day occurrence? Many say that the appearance of chaos in our lives and in the world is a positive sign. This is because its not until chaos ensues, and things absolutely have to change to maintain any kind of reality, (‘the precipice’) that all encompassing change is even possible, let alone likely.

As a conscious and intentional step in the direction of this wave of consciousness building momentum in so many of our lives, I invite you on a voyage to amplify and emphasise our primordial state, zero point, or the eternal now. It sounds a bit odd as we're always physically in the now, but many people lose touch with the present whilst preparing for the future or holding on to the past. When we take into account that we are a piece of creation ourself, and strongly appear to be an incarnate manifestation of the present moment, these points put emphasise on how disconnected we can become from our true core.

The now is where all of existence emerges, where pasts and futures co-mingle and meld like the abstraction of dream, beyond words and pre learnt notions and idea's, Being, in it's pure, first hand and authentic state. 

The more experience we have of the abstract nature of reality, the more perspective we can gain about what life truly is. And in turn, the more perspective we have about our lives, the more lucid and authentic our experience. Can we describe what it is to touch, to someone that cant feel, explain colours to someone that can't see, or sound to the deaf? Without direct experience to guide us, it appears life is completely abstract and beyond any kind of analytical thought! 🙃

There's a reality beyond labels and pre conceived notions that is a lot more raw and 'real' than the terms we use to describe them. Obviously we need labels and notions so we can communicate, but they're not the actual experience they describe. Science, geography, I.T. Religious studies and so on are all languages, not the reality itself. So what or even who is the reality? Words and notions, as can be seen in many many instances, can cause more harm than good when people have different interpretations of what they mean. 

As we ride on interwoven geometries and sounds and motions of the infinite, we can gain more and more perspective of what our experience truly is. 

We don't know what things are. We only know their relationships toward each other. And even then, this is only based on the different frequencies and vibrations of energy, which in itself appears to be wholly abstract. Or is that 'HOLY' abstract!? 🤔🎵✨ૐ    

So many things in our noisy modern human world are a distraction from the now and our authentic state. To LET GO and consciously connect with it, is to embody our true being, where peace, balance, true compassion and conscious union with all of life is the norm. We're then in a much better position to re-enter the analytical mind and interact with the world and each other.

Sound, rhythm and music can create a myriad of reactions, feelings and emotions. My central goal in life is to aid in the facilitation of humanities (including my own) connection with the thing we require most to thrive. Our inalienable right to feel, be energised and encompassed within a first hand experience of the true authentic (S)elf!

I feel that remembering we are existence ourselves, and all of the understanding and empowerment that brings, is the greatest gifts we can receive and share with the World and each other.

The Time Is NowTime! ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆★

I first discovered drum circles at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999. I felt like I was missing out Big Time because I couldn’t play the drums and didn't have one of my own. I loved the wild, crazy, primordial energy of people seemingly battling against all odds to keep the party alive. Blood, sweat, mud and swollen fingers! !

From biscuit tin to African Djembe

After experiencing the same issue the following year, I realised I could start learning to play drums on a biscuit tin. It’s quite difficult to get a nice sound out of a tin. But it paid off after a year or so of sending my Dad insane, and I went to the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge in 2002. That year I borrowed a large African Djembe drum. (Forever grateful for the borrow, Miles 🙏) It was so much easier to get a nice sound out of a real drum, that I was actually astounded by how good I was!
 

After playing with other drummers for around five hours, and developing the inevitable swollen fingers! I became a very proficient drummer. Taking into account my Dad being a singer and musician, and being brought up around a lot of music, alongside playing the guitar for five years at the time, definitely helped as well. Shortly after, I invested in a medium sized African Djembe, and that was the end of my biscuit tin escapades. Though I don’t think my Dad thought the change was as evolutionary as I did…ha!

Transcendental beats

For Stonehenge the next year, I invested in a snare drum (played with drum sticks) so I’d be heard. Swollen fingers, blood blisters and clicking knuckles isn't my favourite night out!. After a night of drumming with other drummers and getting locked into the beat, site security was trying to move us out at around 8am. But I carried on playing, and managed to inspire a huge troop of Djembe players to stay and drum for at least another two or three hours. The security teams had no option but to let the thousands of party going solstice celebrators have their way! We and the crowd certainly had one of the most communal transcendental experiences of our entire lives. The beat was most certainly playing us!

I am the metronome

After much practice, as well as learning from the previous year’s lesson that drums with more bass are better for keeping the party alive single handedly when necessary; I decided to take a floor tom drum with me for the 2004 Summer Solstice. When I arrived, there were a lot of drummers showing off and playing as individuals, rather than co-creating a sound together.

I decided I was better off sticking to a solid, repetitive beat that acted like a metronome, as well as back beat, for the rest of the drummers to play to. As it turns out, there were many drum circles playing different beats at different tempos and timings as they couldn’t hear each other through the crowds. Fortunately my drum was so loud it created a confluence between all of the individual circles, and was not only an amazing experience for me, but it lifted the power and energy of the whole party and became another experience I and I have since found, many will never forget!

This is when I started to understand with deeper clarity, how important it is, in drumming and music - and anything else worthwhile in life - to help facilitate what else is going on; and not just do what you like.

At this point in my life, I also began to notice that I could be a pretty adequate facilitator. I never saw that drum again. It went home in someone else’s car and from the last I heard is still probably in someone’s mum’s and dad’s loft a hundred or so miles away from stone henge. But saying that, it’s fair to say that drum definitely lived! I now own a floor tom that was part of the drum kit of the original drummer of ‘The Specials’. ..To jog peoples memories that don't remember.. ‘Enjoy yourself (Its later than you think!)

The healing power of drumming

Unlike writing and playing songs, which can often entail a lot of analytical focus and mental energy, drumming has helped me express myself more freely in the moment. It also enables me to turn off my 3D mind and focus my energy in a more simple and fluid way.

Drumming with two hands, and similarly but lesser so with one hand, balances the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Both techniques to differing extents do wonders for harmonising left and right brain signals and creating a heightened state of presence. It can be incredibly meditative and has been used for this and many other aspects of life - everything from war marches to partying and trauma release - by our most ancient ancestors, up through the ages, and to the present day. 

How drumming and music became an integral part of my healing and conscious expansion

As a child, I spent a lot of time around animals, in nature and liked singing and dreaming about being a Jedi in Star Wars!! While I wasn’t a big fan of people and often preferred to be on my own, in many ways I was relatively happy. But as a young man, while I was a lot more social, I became morbidly depressed about the state of the world and the people in it.

Thankfully, from around my mid teens, I discovered that expressing myself through singing, song-writing, playing guitar, drumming; however haphazardly and an introduction to shamanic practises, gradually opened up a portal to a multiverse of reasons worth living for. These practises even enabling my psyche to develop the capability to even house such ideas. They seemed to raise my intelligence and pattern recognition, and I could superimposed what they gave me onto other aspects of life, which made them clearer and easier to understand. E.g. The disharmony of the world. I didn't know exactly why I was so miserable before hand. I suspected it was my problem and everyone else was o.k. Suffices to say, I was really bogged down and blinded by depression.

Depression can be very addictive, and while I was the incessant joker, I was not a happy bunny. Drumming, playing and writing songs helped me remember what life could be, and what I discovered life certainly is at its heart.

The more I developed my skills, the more and more creative and insightful, as well as healthier and happier I became. Eventually it became a lot easier for me to experience the simple joys of life. And the same can be true for anyone taking up creative drumming, music or writing that struggles with conditions like depression. I'm not saying it was a quick transition or an easy road, but each year was over all a light year of improvement.

Drum Tuition

Though its just one of many ventures in life, I enjoy teaching other people how to play drums, as the benefits can be so immense. I thrive from guiding people towards a better and kinder way of experiencing and viewing life. If you enjoy music and can tap your foot to a song, or move your body to the beat, then you can at least play something that can lift your spirits on a drum. With easy step-by-step instructions most people are surprised just how quickly they can pick it up!

What to expect in one of my drum lessons. Develop your technique, your rhythm and improvisational skills; improve your active listening, experience how to play with another drummer, and bolster your confidence. I teach people to reach themselves. This means that most people don't need more than around 5 lessons. Though I'm happy to give extra instruction and provide a professional drumming environment for people that wish to jam with someone that has years of experience so they can improve their own skills much more quickly.

There's potential for group lessons for friends that are of a very similar skill level, but at the moment lessons are £30 an hour plus fuel costs beyond the outskirts of Bristol. (Around 5 miles of the centre)