|
|
|
Deva Premal
|
featured artist
|
|
| |
Deva Premal grew up in Germany in a spiritual family where she was introduced at an early age to chanting and meditation. Her mother is a musician and her father an artist.
"My father has been on the spiritual path since the 50's, studying Yoga, spiritual scriptures and whatever books were available back then, making it his daily discipline to meditate every morning between three and five am," she says.
"When I was growing up he devised exercises for my sister and I, to help us become more aware of the moment: We were taught to say 'Om' whenever we placed something on the table, for example. Another was to say 'Ram' whenever we switched on the light!"
As a child she studied the violin and piano but it wasn't until she met Miten, at the Osho Commune in India, that she began exploring her voice.
"When Miten began encouraging me to sing harmony with him, I didn't need a big push! I had grown up with music so the ground work was already done. And we sounded pretty good together! At first I played a supporting role, singing second voice, playing keyboards, and co-leading our workshops, which used mantras and chants from different cultures. I was very shy to sing alone, but encouraged by Miten, I became more confident and eventually discovered my voice."
Read an interview with Deva Premal
|
Learn more : |
|
Comments
|
|
Artist's Website
|
|
All available products by Deva Premal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deva Premal & Miten
|
featured artist
|
|
| |
Musically, Deva Premal and Miten come from two very different worlds. Deva, German-born, classically trained, grew up in an environment imbued with eastern spirituality, where mantras were chanted as bedtime lullabies. Miten, from England, spent the 60’s and 70s as a singer/songwriter in the heady world of rock ‘n roll, recording with The Kinks, and touring with Fleetwood Mac, Ry Cooder, Lou Reed, and others.
They met in India in 1990 at the ashram of the controversial mystic, Osho.
Two decades later, their shared journey into mantra, meditation and love, has taken them from yoga studios to audiences of thousands, in concert halls, cathedrals and music festivals worldwide.
As of February 2010, their CDs have reached sales of over 900,000 units.
The Deva Premal and Miten World-Mantra Tour 2010 includes over 60 concerts, with visits to New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, England, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, France, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Latvia, Switzerland, Russia, Czech Republic—and a whirlwind North American tour, co-headlining with fellow chant master Krishna Das, which will take them to major theaters in 15 cities in 22 days.
They have received accolades from such luminaries as best-selling author Eckhart Tolle, who calls their music “pure magic.” Hollywood icon Cher cites Deva’s album, The Essence as “My favorite CD to do yoga to.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama is reported to listen to their music during his private time and, when hearing Deva & Miten chant his favorite mantra at a private audience, exclaimed, “Beautiful music, beautiful…!” Motivation guru Anthony Robbins describes their music as “Passionate and powerful”.
The practice of chanting Sanskrit mantras has long been a part of the Yogic tradition in India and Tibetan Buddhism. In recent years, like Yoga, chanting has moved into the Western mainstream, where it has been embraced as a joyful path to ease the heart and quiet the mind. Deva points out: “When you sing mantras, you enter a state of peaceful, vibrant and replenishing silence. Basically, that’s why all religions and traditions have made so much of chanting in their rituals.” She also notes that chanting mantras can be healing on many levels: “The Sanskrit language is energy based – it is sound medicine. It has a harmonizing and balancing effect on the energy centers in the body, both physically, and metaphysically.”
During their tours, Deva and Miten are accompanied by Nepalese bansuri flute maestro Manose. Born in Kathmandu, Manose began his musical journey with a rigorous training in classical Indian raga. Later he brought the sound of the bansuri to many musical genres, from jazz to Celtic to being a founding member of the most popular rock band in Kathmandu. Since meeting Deva Premal and Miten in San Francisco, during a recording session for their 2002 Embrace album, Manose has performed extensively with them and is featured on many of their recordings, including their new CD/DVD release, In Concert.
|
Learn more : |
|
Comments
|
|
Artist's Website
|
|
All available products by Deva Premal & Miten
|
|
|
|
|
