A conversation with David Lanz
We spoke with David Lanz about the relationship between dedication and intention, embracing the healing agency of music, his fascination with the natural world and why the fascination of societal darkness is illusory.
I asked myself, “What does the world need?” The answer was healing. My path was then clear.
1
Morgan Enos
I always grew up with new age music and had kind of a subconscious connection to it, but I didn’t pay it any mind until I turned 25. I went through some loss and life changes, and very tranquil music played on piano or guitar seemed to be exactly what I needed. What power do you hear in very meditative, calming instrumental music, and what inspired you to make a career out of it?
David Lanz
Even as a child, I loved the more melodic, slow, even slighty sad pieces. My piano teacher let me focus on these. I was told I had an emotional gift and the more challenging material was not usually given to me. Years later, after playing rock, jazz and more blues music for a living, I asked myself, “What does the world need?” The answer was healing. My path was then clear.
2
I’ve read that you call the piano “divinely inspired.” How so? Do you think there’s a way to write, play or sing for God?
The piano holds all things musical and can represent the orchestra. You can dedicate yourself no matter what you do… it is all about intention.
3
Please tell me about the last time you felt yourself truly communing with the properties of the natural world. What plant or animal life surrounds you at your home, and how do you interact with it?
I used to spend hours walking in the Northwestern woods. Much inspiration there for me. I now live in Cyprus, where the Mediterranean Sea is ever present. However, I am now communing with my twin newborn baby girls. Talk about your natural world!
4
I feel like the spiritual and psychological aspects of meditative music are kind of intertwined. Have you felt therapeutic value from music in your own life’s struggles? Can you name a particular piece of music (by anyone) that sticks out in this regard, and tell me how it helped you out?
Believe it or not, I created my music with these things in mind, and because of that, this music has helped me in many ways to deal with stress and other challenges. One of my favorite pieces fron another composer is Debussy’s “Clair De Lune.” I began listening to Halpern’s Spectrum Suite while doing yoga and meditation way back in the 1970s. Big influence on me moving towards what is now referred to as new age music.
Spring is my most productive time, and I always loved fall. Everything is reawakening in the spring, so I guess it is natural to do the same.
5
Please tell me about your demeanor as a young child, versus now. What made you happy or ticked you off? Do you see that child in yourself now?
I was always pretty mellow. Now I am “heavy mellow.”
6
Again, on the subject of childhood, do you remember any subconscious sensations, colors or smells that made you feel happy or calm? What were they?
I once had a vision of Jesus floating above my head in the clouds. He waved and smiled. I was seven years old. I spent a lot of time listening to music and spacing out.
7
Can you tell me about your experiences in the late 1980s during the initial commercial boom of new age music? How did you find yourself swept along with all of this, and did you meet any interesting characters along the way?
I suppose there is a book in this question, but maybe later. Everything I had worked towards for decades came to pass. Recording contracts, touring, hits on the radio and albums on the charts. Every day there was (usually) more good news, and the success made it possible to continue creating the music the way I heard it. I had arrived on my on terms, more or less. and I believed in the healing qualty of the music. I believed this was why things unfolded as they did.
8
Which of the four seasons do you relate most to? Is there a particular time of year where you feel more creative or in tune with your surroundings? How so?
Spring is my most productive time, and I always loved fall. Everything is reawakening in the spring, so I guess it is natural to do the same.
9
Finally, how would you describe the concept of enlightenment? Do you think there’s a way to encourage good actions through good thoughts? What do you think the solution is in this sort of angry, spiritually vacant time in Western society to bring a sense of peace, or self-knowing?
To be full of light. I am light. And, of course, good thoughts help to keep one focused on the good in life. There is a lot of fascination on the dark side. But ultimately, it is all illusion. Love is truth.
Thank you.
Data
Conversation: 151
Curated by: Morgan Enos
Conducted by: Email
Published: March 22, 2018
Total questions: 9
Word count: 775
Reading time: Three minutes
Hyperlinks: 2
Metadata
Production: Spring
Path: Clear
Awakening: Repeated
Connection: ∞
Dark: Null
Island: ∞
Wiring
action, autumn, blues, childhood, classical, Claude Debussy, color, connection, contract, Cyprus, darkness, decade, divine, emotion, fall, fascination, forest, inspiration, intention, island, jazz, meditation, Mediterranean, melancholy, new age, orchestra, production, reawakening, recording, representation, rock, Seattle, spring, Steven Halpern, subconscious, tranquility, twin, unfolding, vision, Washington, woods, yoga
Relation
About the curator
Morgan Enos is a songwriter and journalist originally from California. His curatorial work for North of the Internet aims to strike a deeper place in his conversation subjects — the dreamy subtext to the linear everyday. Morgan also frequently writes power pop records as Other Houses about joy, outer space, frustration, chess and spiritual light. He resides in New York, where he continues to creatively fire on all cylinders.
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