Prescriptive Plantwave: How houseplants have become my backing band.
And how I mix those houseplants and handpan with neuroscience and nostalgia to define a whole new wave of alternative new age music for 90 kids who think too much and feel everything.
The Cole’s Notes: My release strategy is send my radio friendly stuff to the streaming platforms and make their companion albums which go deeper into the themes available for purchase through me.
Song of the week: DJ Drez — “Inside India”
Thought of the week: What if “late” was actually worse than “never” or “not at all”.
The “learn one new thing each day” mantra.
I’ve been working with an agent. Sounds fancy, right? Well, really I finally found someone who believes fully in my absurdity and has the capital and connections to back it. This fall is going to be a lot of fun. Music. Wellness. Tour dates. Schmoozing. The dream.
All that to say, OF COURSE this July has been the most challenging month I’ve experienced since last July when I was wandering life aimlessly without Darwin by my side. Like actually, walking was weird…
Why, you ask? Well, I’m currently in a firefight with bureaucracy (new song title??) and most of my time and energy has been focused on things I’d rather not have to deal with. Random parking tickets and the accompanying court system, security officers, grumpy bureaucrats who hate their jobs, grumpy administrative assistants who hate their bosses who hate their jobs… and — breathe — I’m adulting. I’m also starting to see how advantageous a simple system is, both in life and in my practice.
This has sparked my “learn one new thing each day” mantra, to accompany my “do one hard thing each day” and my “sweat once each day” mantras.
When we open our minds up to see the lessons in everyday experiences, we can usually come out better. That’s what I’ve noticed anyway. What’s the last hard lesson you learned? Leave a comment below if you’re open to it. Let’s start a lessons learned thread…👇
Something new I’m trying…
That said, and after a lot of thinking… I want to try something new, simple and very intentional for my music and how I show up in the world.
I want to use the streaming platforms (as sh*t and volatile as they are for us artists…) to feature my more radio friendly style indie/alt rock stuff to a broad audience. Then from there, I’ve created companion albums where I’ve remixed my radio songs into my prescriptive music to make my deeper work (the neuroacoustic brainwave entrainment stuff you can hear here) accessible for purchase with worksheets, books, coaching and limited edition merch to help you, the listener get more out of the music (and your life!)
So here’s the deal…
This Friday I’m testing this concept out for my first release from the Heartbreaker EP called “moments.” This is an old song I’ve been sitting on for a few years now. It’s all about me catching myself getting caught up in the noise and not being fully present. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been there before, but if you have… maybe you’ll connect with the song. I play handpan and wood flute on the track and the vocal delivery is very Katastro-influenced; rap/sing style.
I’m going to host a meet-up listening party and give you a lyrical breakdown of the song and then give you a sonic meditation. Send me a message if you’d like to come. 👇
And if you are interested, every ticket holder with get a special remixed edition of the song called “moments. Rx” — a prescriptive new age “plantwave” instrumental version where I’ve mixed field recordings from the wild with some of the recognizable parts from the original.
Now that I’ve piqued your interest, head to my instagram to check out the teasers of the first verse to see if it’s your vibe. You’ll see it on the last few reels…
Alright. That’s all I’ve got for today. I’ve had a few massive fitness days this week, biking all over the city in this heat and busking yesterday (Saturday), so enjoy the video below, and maybe we’ll see you (and a friend?) on Friday. 😉 Reply to this email or shoot me a message if you’d like the link. 👇
Peace!
M