No Bullshit Talk with Mose

Interview by Astropsyhe

Photos by Anastasia Panferova

So, how are you doing here? And how did you find this place ? Babacamp
Is it your first time in Turkey?

Yeah, I’m doing well. Just enjoying the nature. We had some mutual friends with Mehmet ( founder of Babacamp) and we met last year in Guatemala. And he came to my events, mentioned about this place.
I had actually heard about this place because other friends have been here. And then Mehmet reached out and wanted to make something happen for the summer and it aligned. Yeah, I’ve been to Istanbul only. So, first time outside of Istanbul. But the nature here I think is really beautiful.

Oh yeah, it’s spectacular. This part of Turkey. Yeah. And can you tell about something about yourself? Like, Mose is your real name?

Yeah, Mose is my birth name. So my parents named me Mose and then yeah, it ends up working pretty well for my DJ name too. Yeah, so I grew up in the US in Colorado and I left traveling in 2011 and yeah ended up landing in Guatemala. I did a retreat there at this place called Las Pirámides. It really changed my life and kind of set me on to the path that I’m on now, and working with spiritual practices, and yeah, just the desire to connect more deeply with spirit and with my guides. And yeah, I really started connecting more and more with the community there, there and started doing events and it’s very international there so many people were coming from around the world and that made it very easy to start to play also in other parts of the world.

Wow, it’s impressive, you know. So it’s seems like the DJing and the music is spiritual practice to you. Because you know, some people think that it’s only entertainment, but I think it’s more deep.

Yeah. Well, I think if you have had a deep spiritual experience with music, then it shows you that it has that capability to support those kinds of experiences. And that happened to me for the first time in 2010 at Burning Man. And so that’s what inspired me to start making music and sharing music. So that’s always the intention, is to create a container where people can have a transformational experience and go deep and have some kind of insight.

So you’re making music from 2010?
And do you remember what is your first track and what was your feelings when you created it?

Yes.
Yeah, the first track I made was like chill dubstep, so much different than what I’m doing now, but in a way, you know, still very melodic. I made it with my brother, who’s a saxophone player, so I recorded him and that ended up being a major part of that track. Yeah, I mean that’s not available anywhere because that project is long gone. But, yeah, it was a good first start to just play around with things, do samples and make something.

And did you have any experience with music before or you just started to make electronic music after the Burning Man?

Yeah, I had piano lessons when I was a child and I played clarinet and saxophone for a few years also when I was in middle school. So, but it had been like 10 years since I had done anything with music. I quit and then I didn’t do anything. So at one time I could read sheet music and I had a much deeper understanding of music, but I lost a lot of that and when I restarted and started learning Ableton, that was really a completely new process. In many ways I had to start new. I didn’t even know what reverb was, or delay, or a lot of the simple effects. I had to learn everything.

Nice
And from where do you take inspiration?

I think nature is one of the biggest inspirations. I also do a personal retreat every year where I just disconnect from the outside world and I just connect with myself and with the spirit and the biggest influence or inspiration for the music because it gives me a chance to reflect on the year that I’ve just moved through and and also kind of rediscover where I’m at and what’s important and also find new ways of expression.

How long it takes your personal?

Usually two months at this point. I’ve done three also

So it’s like – two months you spent alone only.

Yeah. Last year I did it also kind of side by side with my partner Bruna. So we were both in the same house, but we had separate bedrooms and we didn’t speak. One day a week we kind of opened to speak and that’s kind of how I approach it now is one day a week I’ll open myself to handle any messages or things that need to be handled so that then the rest of the week I can be really focused and not worry about what’s happening on the outside.

Yeah, that’s interesting. I will also take a note to use for myself.

Yeah, it’s become one of my greatest tools for finding new ways of expression and just feeling that connection

What do you think about DJ and producer industry today like where it develops or any thoughts about it

Well, I’ve never really been so involved in the mainstream.
So, yeah, I mean, I never play in clubs. I very, very rarely play in spaces that even serve alcohol. So that kind of eliminates the vast majority of experiences that most musicians, DJs, producers are having. I do play at festivals, a wide range of festivals. Some of them are non-alcohol and some of them do have alcohol, so there is crossover at those kinds of events. I see how alcohol is very much interwoven with the music industry, and I feel like part of my dharma, my mission, is to show that there can be another way, that we come together and gather and celebrate and dance and connect with music and that we don’t need alcohol to do that.

You know, it’s very important for me what you’re saying because I feel the same about Alcohol.
Because when only started playing, I was feeling like I shouldn’t be here.
I’m thinking how we can do it differently, because there’s so much money in it, and advertisement, propaganda, whatever. And maybe also you can tell… Because I really 100% share what you’re saying, and thinking also what I personally can do about it. What can you say, how we can change the situation?

Yeah, so one of the biggest challenges right now is that there aren’t so many alternatives. But I’m seeing that more and more people want an alternative. More and more people are like you and I that don’t feel good in those spaces, but we want to dance.
So I mean, the biggest movement right now that offers an alternative to that would be ecstatic dance. That’s all over the world, and it’s an alcohol-free container. It’s also no talking, no shoes. So it creates a much tighter container to focus on the music and to focus on your body and what you’re feeling.
So that’s been a big influence for me because I’ve been moving and I’ve been playing those events and participating in those events for a long time now. And I see how there can be other ways of expressing and sharing the music in containers that aren’t necessarily exactly ecstatic dance. And that’s why I founded these cacao dance events in Guatemala, as a way that’s very closely connected to it, but also in a way not as strict. So the guidelines of ecstatic dance is no photography, no phones, which I love.

And I see that’s a big limitation for a lot of people, and a lot of people want to be able to take a video or a photo occasionally.
And so it’s been a process of finding a balance to where people feel free and not restricted and also the energy is contained. You know because these guidelines are in place to contain the energy and to amplify the energy if we’re not speaking to each other – the dance can go a lot deeper. If we’re not on our phones – we’re more present in what’s happening. So, the idea has been to ask for people to maybe just take one photo or a video to document it and then put the phone away. So to be a little bit more relaxed yet still asking to clear the space of these things that are so common on most dance floors.

Another aspect that we’ve brought in is the Cacao Ceremony. So I’ve seen how this has also been a big support for people who don’t necessarily feel so comfortable in a space without any substances, where alcohol can facilitate you loosening up and actually being able to drop deeper into the process.

Yeah, because I also think people are not aware that there are any things that could facilitate you, you know, to loosen up.

Yeah, yeah, and I’ve seen that alcohol or that, well, we already, I think we’re both aware of the shadows of alcohol, you know, it’s easy to take it too far and the energy gets chaotic and it can get heavy and disconnected. And what I’ve seen with cacao is that it can give a little shift to the consciousness so that we can loosen up and we can feel a little bit high, it opens the heart, so it allows us to feel more connected to ourselves, to other people in the space, and ultimately to loosen up and drop deeper into the experience, and all of this while not having a hangover the next day, you know, while really honoring our body as a temple and feeling good when we finish
that process and wake up the next day.