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Q: How significant is heliolatry in choosing the name Mystical Sun and how does this reflect the music that you’re producing?

It plays a part on multiple levels. There are several layers of meaning in the name. In studying and reading about other cultures, particularly ancient ones, the Sun has always been central. You can find winged sun discs all the way from Egypt to pre-Columbian Americas. The physical Sun is something phenomenal. There would be no us without Sun, this is all possible because of it. The name is and homage to that as well.

Another meaning for the name is more akin to the spirit of the Sun as a being, entity or life-form. Somehow our brains are networked to the Sun and in the future I think we will discover that the magnetic fields produced by the Sun have effects on human consciousness.

Hopefully the music functions like the Sun and brings people some electromagnetic nourishment.

Q: When did you first start creating music and when did you find yourself drawn towards the ambient genre?

A: Creating music is something I’ve seriously explored since the early 90′s when the project was intentionally formed to create this type of sound.

The mission began before I was aware of the genre. It began when electronic music was more underground and less infected by pop music culture. Creating cinematic soundtracks, atmospheric worlds, and dissolving time is the mission.

Q: For people visiting California are there any festivals or clubs you would recommend?

California has festivals and clubs of all kinds and many active scenes. There is the annual Earthdance Festival and several others that happen at various times around the year. Northern and Southern California are very different and sport alternative scenes. If someone is visiting California they’ll have plenty of options. I tend remain peripheral to all this activity.

The best part about California though is the land itself. California has amazing terrains to explore like a multitude of beaches, deep ocean coastlines, high deserts, sand dunes, the lowest place in the northern hemisphere, alpine lakes, rolling grasslands with dotted oaks, ancient boreal rain forests, the oldest and biggest living life-forms on Earth, lava beds, several mountain ranges, inland seas, a 14,000 ft. volcano and sister volcanoes of immense power, a mega volcano and forest river systems. To fully explore all the terrains in California would take someone several decades.

Q: When creating music what do you prefer using most hardware, software or organic instruments?

All three. My criteria is the sound first, the source of the sound isn’t as important as to whether or not the sound is what the track needs. I have several acoustic, ethnic and electronic instruments and a vast sound library that I have been building up since the 90′s. I mix everything “in the box” now, in the past I had an elaborate mixer/effects rig analog tape based studio. I prefer to work digitally now because it allows for maximum flexibility and the option to evolve tracks over years with no sound degradation. When I work on a track, I hear the instruments and sounds in it, before they are actually added, so my task is to find the closest sound to what I am hearing in my mind.

Q: Where can people unfamiliar with Mystical Sun hear your music?

On the internet. This music difficult to find so the best way to find it is online. The internet really helped early on, because it enabled the music to reach the distant sets of listeners who are looking for something different.

The best and prescribed way to listen to the albums is on CD or in lossless format digitally. There are settings that work best. Like a sunset ride, drive some place cool during a sunset and start the CD. Space exploring, wait until late at night, wear a full set of headphones and listen. In the background, just put the music on all day long and ignore it. I’ve designed utility in there intentionally.

I’d like to get across to new listeners that the music is non-linear and moves through time in a different way than other music. A different way of listening opens many doors to understanding the tracks. The tracks are growers meaning, they make more sense over time.

Q: Apart from Mystical Sun are there any other projects you’re involved in?

Not right now, Mystical Sun is all I have time for.

Sun is Shining blog

Chilling Cuts 4

Available NOW at the Psyshop

1. Spring Flood
VIBRASPHERE

2. Orphean (layback rmx)
MATENDA

3. Peace Mantra (dreamdoktor mix)
WEED

4. Stuck on you
SUNDIAL AEON

5. Sol (rmx)
SOLAR FIELDS

6. A full moon gathering (easter people)
SMILEY PIXEY

7. We kill da enemy
BROTHOMSTATES VS. CRANKSHAFT

8. Dubsicle
DESERT DWELLERS

9. Papa Things
TOR.MA IN DUB

10. Ninth Sphere (expanded 09)
MYSTICAL SUN

11. Embers
PAN ELECTRIC

I was reading this topic the other day about why there aren’t more American psy-producers. We do have a few downtempo producers as Androcell, Bluetech and Mystical Sun, yet the latter seems to have surpassed most people. Mystical Sun’s first album Primordial Atmospheres was released in 1994!! This was just at the dawn of psychedelic trance/downtempo as we know it today. A wonderful album in its own right, though the last 30 minutes track Journey to Samadhi is only for the real yoga freaks, I would say. The album was reissued in 2005. My first contact with Mystical Sun was when I was going through all the downtempo music I could find, being new to the genre and wanting to listen to everything. I stumbled upon Deeper Worlds and the track Pure just blew my mind. 
Some artists just have that very unique touch, you can hear it at once. It’s not explainable but it’s very obvious. And Mystical Sun is one of these artists. I immediately fell in love with the sound and originality. When listening to his first album I always imagined how great it would be if the sound of Deeper Worlds combined with the cohesiveness of Primordial Atmospheres. Well, look no further, because Richard was kind enough to give us Energy Mind Consciousness, his third full length album. You can’t give him credit for releasing tremendous amounts of music, but the quality is top notch. 

My favourite track on the whole album is without a doubt Protostar (T5). A throbbing, pulsating, slowly moving, mellow and yet powerful track. Real beautiful stuff. When listening to it I get that unmistakable feeling that makes me so fond of this genre. Throughout the album I get a great feel of Eastern cultures, traditions and religion, of India and Buddhism. This somehow reproduces itself very strongly, just to move further into more futuristic and scientific type of places. It’s a great feat and creates a journey, that if you let it, will take you from the caressing nature of our planet, to deep deep space. What is also confusing in a good way is how all these elements of nature, religion, space and technology finally merge towards the end of the album. It is as a statement of our current state all the way from the big bang in the form of musical pleasure. Someone please bring out the champagne, we must celebrate! 

The album is very slow overall and a deep emotional journey. The direction of the album is stated instantly, and never does it stray away from this path. It’s obvious Richard must have put down a lot of thought into this album, and worked very hard to finalize it. Actually I think this is one of the most cohesive musical journeys that I’ve ever had.
Recomendation:  This is a great, slow, mellow journey from bliss to more darker areas. It’s great stuff, and anyone even slightly interested in the downtempo side of psy should give this a listen. It’s calming, soothing and very powerful in a soft way. Don’t miss out and be sure to check out Primordial Atmospheres as well.

Mystical Sun has delighted the world with lush melodic music for over a decade. One of the first artists to have success using the MP3 format, Mystical Sun has always been at the cutting edge of music and technology. Cyberset’s Justin Weiner recently talked with Richard of Mystical Sun about his new music.

Congratulations on the release of your latest album, “Deeperworlds.”

Thank you. Completing the album has been the fulfillment of a vision imagined years ago at the beginning of Mystical Sun.

What is that vision?

It is another form of music, for a different purpose than most commercial music. The purpose is for deep listening and the creation and evocation of sensations and abstract states of mind. An alternative to all the music about material world. There is a definite Mystical Sun aesthetic to the music, one that I have been developing and refining intentionally over the years. My goal is to offer listeners a music that will take them on a vacation, a travelogue.

What does that mean exactly?

The concept is to echo images of other worlds and times within your imagination. It is different than pure Ambient music, so I’ve entitled it Atmostronica, because the focus is on creating intentional atmospheres for the listener experience and be in.

The music is not about identifying with the personality of a band or artist. It is more open ended for the listener to participate in the soundscape.

How could someone participate in the experience of the music?

Focus is required hear the subtle aspects in the music, because of the way it is composed. You have to listen into the tones and harmonics of the sounds. It requires a different type of hearing perception to grasp. Melodies and hooks are not the focus here, the layers of sounds are the stars. After a time you will notice that there are micro-harmonic melodies and special features hidden in the overtones of the audio spectrum. At first glance you might hear a wall of sound, but if you pay very close attention, you will begin to notice the micro-changes.

What do you mean by micro-harmonic changes?

I am very serious about exploring micro-harmonic sound manipulation, so thousands of hours were spent designing the sounds at the lowest level of detail. This sound design process uses a custom system of software, that I developed for this purpose. It has given me great flexibility in molding the micro-harmonic properties of the sounds and therefore creating songs within sounds.

How does “Deeperworlds” fit into this?

“Deeperworlds” is a collection of songs that where created using the principles I’ve been elaborating on. On top of everything there is a meta conceptual theme, the songs are each unique worlds and express time, space, and boundary dissolution.

Time is represented by the way different tempos and beats are presented in the tracks. Space is alluded to by the ubiquitous atmospheric sounds and cinematic effects. Finally, all of the songs vary in style and this suggests distinct sonic spaces or “worlds”.

How long did “Deeperworlds” take to complete?

Every track on “Deeperworlds” is new or recently remixed. The tracks span a period of a decade and bring together many periods of creative output and influences. Some tracks were started early on and developed gradually over the entire time span, while others are very recent.

The final mix of “Deeperworlds” was completed in late summer 2006, during one all night session in the studio. Dawn added new vocals to “Innerworld” spontaneously as we were in final production of the album.

What is the cover of “Deeperworlds” about?

If you look closely at the diamonds you will see they are like little mirrors, each reflecting a different world. There are other layers and optical illusions in the artwork that you will notice if you stare at it for a long time.

How would you describe your music?

Cinematic sound worlds. Places where the listener travels to. Vehicles for dreaming. Abstract stories. Movie soundtracks. Micro-harmonic sound wave explorations.

Where do you find your sounds effects?

Generally I create most of my own sounds, but I sometimes use found sounds.

What is next for Mystical Sun?

“Deeperworlds” closes a chapter of Mystical Sun music, and opens another one. I am already producing several music projects in parallel.

Thanks for talking about your music, and the best of luck with all your future endeavors.