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Premiere: Starita, Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band ‘The Search’ (Ben Leinbach Remix)

Premiere: Starita, Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band ‘The Search’ (Ben Leinbach Remix)

From his collaborations with members of A Tribe Called Quest to Los Amigos Invisibles and Michael Franti and Spearhead, multi-talented artist and songwriter, Starita, has astounded worldwide audiences with his unique blending of electronic and acoustic instrumentations (drawn from his deep roots in dance, ambient, funk, rock, and techno music). 
The lush yet complex signature soundscape showcased within various artist collaborations have consistently produced jaw dropping, original out-of-the-box productions that dare to defy odds, break the ‘rules’ of music genres, raise vibrations, while offering a note of spiritual introspection.
“As a fellow seeker who has found great inspiration, release, catharsis, and healing in music, particularly in singing, I was intrigued and excited by the invitation.
‘The Search – Ben Leinbach Remix’ is the third single release from the ‘The Wake Up Call Remixes’ EP, in collaboration with an impressive lineup of music tastemakers including Greg Papania L0<3* and Otis McDonald, targeted to drop August 24th, 2022. This is also the first-time collaboration between kindred music spirits and fellow seekers – Starita, Ben Leinbach, and Seán Johnson. This collection of work was based on Starita’s first avante-garde, ambient album; expressing the journey of introspection across the various stages of the human experience (from openness and curiosity in childhood to pain, closure, resistance, and darkness in adulthood), leading to awareness, acceptance, and awakening in the search for peace and freedom. “Everything about this album elicits the awakening to our true nature and listening to ‘the Spirit,’” says Starita. The seven song collection showcases an intentionally open longer format that allows listeners time to drop in, access, connect, and flow with whatever emotions and memories that may surface throughout the sound journey.
‘The Search,’ is one chapter in a larger fabric and story being told; addressing the narrative of escapism as a cycle of distraction while paying homage to all of the mistakes made on this quest. “It is honoring the dark as well as the light. As my music is an extension of my spiritual practice, I use it as a tool to explore these various narratives and themes. Most of the songs, in some way, speak to the spiritual path of awakening,” Starita elaborates. The original track features Seán Johnson, vocalist/lyricist/harmonium player of the mantra centric band, Seán Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band, based in New Orleans, LA. A crucial component of Starita’s vision for this song included hearing some ‘intense devotional prostration,’ which led him to connect with Johnson to execute on the vocal delivery of the sacred mantras; particularly, making this song distinctive from others on the album.  In sound speak, this is a journey through electronic pulsating beats evolving into a peaceful meditative lush wash of sound.

“As a fellow seeker who has found great inspiration, release, catharsis, and healing in music, particularly in singing, I was intrigued and excited by the invitation. From the moment I first heard the draft of the song, I felt a lot of energy, intensity, longing – an inspiring, rhythmic soundscape that I was hungry to sing on. Starita shared that his process in creating all the music on the album was one of unconditionally trusting of what was coming through in the moment, rather than over-thinking it. That encouraged me to take the same approach,” shared Johnson. 

“The Search Official Music Video” Tam Starita -Creative Director / Ingrid Serban – Editor
Fans of the original track are in for a pleasant surprise at first listen to this remixed version by Ben Leinbach. In ‘The Search – Ben Leinbach Remix,’ Leinbach has taken the most intense track on the album – representing a spiritual catharsis, release, epiphany – and masterfully lifted the energy of the original track to create a rendition that is dancy, funky, and celebratory, distinctive from the other songs on the EP. “The blending of introspection with celebration and dance is extremely creative. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard these two elements touched upon in a single song. It’s a true testament to Ben’s craftsmanship as a producer and instrumentalist,” Starita reflects. Ben Leinbach is recognized as an award-winning producer, composer, recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and a master of his craft.  Leinbach’s work highlights a broad spectrum of the human experience: the beauty and darkness, the love and longing, and the joy and melancholy. Leinbach’s music is instantly recognizable – a blend of pop music elements, tripped-out sounds, paired with world instruments and vocals over an infectious groove. His extensive catalog of productions includes recordings with Deva Premal and Miten, Shiva Rea, Snatam Kaur, and Jai Uttal, including Jai’s Grammy-nominated album ‘Mondo Rama.’

“I’ve been a fan of Seán Johnson’s for years. More recently, I took a deeper dive into Starita’s impressive discography on Spotify. With these two artists at the helm of the original version of ‘The Search,’ I knew that I’d have great raw material to work with for the remix,” Leinbach elaborates.

“As we were distributing candy to the neighborhood last Halloween, I grew bored with the grown-up conversation and ended up dancing on the roof of my friend’s mini van to Daft Punk. The way they blend modern sounds and electronica with a retro 1970s vibe was inspirational. I feel like the music of Daft Punk influenced this remix. In my most recent remixes, I’ve strived to produce and arrange the tracks to sound more like pop music. I tried to create verses and choruses, bridges and breakdowns, and sought to highlight elements in the original tracks that could be featured, repeated, and turned into ‘hooks.’”

“In my productions, I seek to create a blend of the primal and celestial. So, deep, earthy drum grooves coupled with ethereal, floating, psychedelic sounds. I like layering on ‘world’ sounds; meaning percussion and stringed instruments from around the world, to give the productions a universal sound. I love reframing melodies with different chord changes. How many different backdrops can I fit behind the same or similar vocal and instrumental melodies? The original vocal melody works great in this minor key, but can I find chords that would work with the same melody that create a more major key vibe? With this approach, you can create a dynamic arrangement with just a small amount of raw material.” 

Leinbach’s process resulted in a World Pop track that incorporates a blend of disco groove elements, a touch of electronica, and a mystical eastern sound. It’s completely transformed the original – experimental, ambient, atmospheric, dark, meditative house beat – into a new song that’s bursting with energy, happy, fun, celebratory, dancy, fancy, yet introspective. 

The full production team on ‘The Search – Ben Leinbach Remix’ include – Ben Leinbach, remixer, songwriter, recording engineer, mix engineer; Starita, songwriter, recording engineer; Seán Johnson, songwriter, vocals, recording engineer. Mastered by Michael Romanowski of Coast Mastering. Creative direction by Tam Starita. Released by Be Still Records, a division of Starita Music. 

“After listening to this reinterpretation, I hope that listeners feel energized and inspired; shed any baggage that may be weighing them down,” Leinbach imparts. Starita and Johnson adds, “…embark on a journey that allows them to let go of something they no longer need.” “Spirituality is so personal and subjective. Close your eyes and let this song transport you on a journey into the wilderness of your imagination where you can find a meaningful spiritual connection that takes a personal form that speaks to you. Trust whatever arises, because this is the spirit that this music was created with. What makes the song different for a listener who might be used to hearing music with more of a formulaic song structure, is to let go of that expectation and let the song take you for a ride.” 

Starita’s ‘The Search feat Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band – Ben Leinbach Remix’ single is available across all digital service providers on Wednesday, August 24, 2022.

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Premiere: VICE/Noisey ‘The Wake Up Re-Call’

Pioneering Hip-Hop Producer Starita Is on Sacred Ground

Starita stands in a recording studio, photographed in black and white.
PHOTO BY TAM STARITA
Watch the new music video for Starita and Otis McDonald’s “The Wake Up Re-Call” featuring Illa J, Zay Bcuz, and NicX.

Sitting behind the glass at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Starita is honored to be recording in a city he believes is a sacred ground for music. According to legend, the Tennessee River, which flows through Alabama, was referred to as “the singing river” by the Yuchie Tribe because they claimed that the breeze whistling off the water sounded like a woman singing. “That’s the philosophy behind why this is such a musical town: There’s a spirit in this place, something you can’t put words to,” Starita told Noisey while discussing new song, “The Wake Up Re-Call.”

The Mississippi-born multi-talented artist and songwriter’s discography demonstrates his experience and flexibility in crafting songs, with collaborators ranging from Childish Gambino and A Tribe Called Quest to Christian Scott, aTunde Adjuah, Madame Gandhi, and Los Amigos Invisibles. As an artist, a producer, and an engineer, Starita has played many different roles on both sides of the glass on dozens of records.

Tracing “The Wake Up Re-Call” back to its beginnings, Starita said that DJ Rasta Root—the late rapper Phife Dawg’s longtime manager—was instrumental in its creation. “I was working on Tribe Called Quest’s most recent album, We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, and then Phife and I started working on his solo album,” Starita said. Phife Dawg passed away two days after wrapping up work on the album track “Dis Generation” in 2016. “I recorded his last record,” Starita said. “So that turned into a deeper relationship with the Tribe Called Quest family.”

“The Wake Up Re-Call” first took the form of a slow and solitary instrumental from Starita and Trent Park released in 2021, fittingly titled “The Wake Up Call.” The track was transformed by Starita’s friend and collaborator, Otis McDonald, earlier this year. McDonald, a producer and multi-instrumentalist, recharged the record by infusing swing and breaks, making it into a soulful hip-hop instrumental track. The recording then went to Rasta Root, who invited a trio of rappers to the studio to add verses: Zay BcuzNicX, and Illa J, the Detroit singer, producer, rapper and younger brother of J Dilla.

“It is unbelievable what Otis did with the record,” Starita said. “I never could have imagined it would evolve into this.”

But Starita added that he doesn’t refer to the new recording as a remix because he said the process “turned into something so collaborative and different.” The verses each contribute specific angles and meaningful prose from the featured rappers, who flowed effortlessly over McDonald’s warm and soulful approach. Illa J sets the tone insightfully with the first verse, Zay Bcuz brings his focus and flexibility to the second verse, and the tight dexterity of NicX elevates the track’s final verse.

The collaboration for “The Wake Up Re-Call” grew from seeds planted over the last decade, which took root in the same recording sessions that immortalized Phife Dawg’s final lyrics. The music video, fittingly, came to life in a packed club in Atlanta at a listening party for Phife Dawg’s posthumous solo album, Forever, released in March. Rasta Root granted permission for the artists to film “The Wake Up Re-Call” music video at the LP’s listening party. It was a fitting tribute to the cycle of hip hop: It doesn’t die; it’s continually reborn.

Today, after decades of collaboration and history across a wide spectrum of sound, Starita said he is focused on maintaining a beginner’s mindset. “If you think you know how something is supposed to be, you can’t explore and drop the mind,” he said. The words he found to describe his philosophy to music were rooted in spirituality. “Curiosity and consciousness power art,” he added. “Art is constantly trying to mimic reality. Being curious begins this entire exploration. The inquisitive nature to question and the nature to make art are linked. You can’t separate art and consciousness, that’s where it comes from.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgmyjb/starita-otis-mcdonald-the-wake-up-re-call-music-video

Premiere: Northern Transmissions ‘Love & Pain’ feat Trent Park, Michael Hays

Starita has shared a new visualizer for “Love & Pain” Featuring Singer/Songwriter Trent Park and Guitarist Michael Hays. The track will be released Via Be Still Records. The multi-artist is Known for collaborations with Childish Gambino, A Tribe Called Quest, and many others, his music blends electronic elements with live instrumentation that stems from his deep roots in dance, ambient, and classical music. “Love & Pain,” with it’s lush vocals and smooth beats, transcend you to a better place.

“Love & Pain,” features singer/songwriter Trent Park and American musician and guitarist Michael Hays, is the fifth single release from Starita’s new compositional ambient, avant-garde, experimental album, The Wake Up Call, described as “a body of work that expresses his journey of introspection across the various stages of the human experience (from openness and curiosity in childhood to pain, closure, resistance, and darkness in adulthood), leading to awareness, acceptance, and awakening on the search for peace and freedom.” “Everything about this album elicits the awakening to our true nature and listening to ‘the Spirit,’” says Starita.

Read the full premiere here…

Premiere: Glide Magazine ‘The Dream’

GLIDE MAGAZINE PREMIERE: Starita ‘The Dream’ feat Christian Scott, Trent Park

From his collaborations with members of A Tribe Called Quest to Los Amigos Invisibles and Michael Franti and Spearhead, multi-talented artist and songwriter Starita has astounded worldwide audiences with his unique mix of electronic and acoustic instrumentations (drawn from his deep roots in dance, ambient, funk, rock, and techno music).

Read the full premiere here…

The Dream” is truly a collaboration between artists who managed to tap into the same musical wavelength and make something special.” 

The lush yet complex signature soundscape showcased within various artist collaborations have consistently produced jaw dropping, original out-of-the-box productions that dare to defy odds, break the ‘rules’ of music genres, rise vibrations, while offering a note of spiritual introspection.

“The Dream,” featuring acclaimed trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and soulful singer/songwriter Trent Park, is the fourth single release from Starita’s new compositional ambient, avant-garde, experimental album, The Wake Up Call, due out August 13th. The EP contains a body of work that expresses his journey of introspection across the various stages of the human experience (from openness and curiosity in childhood to pain, closure, resistance, and darkness in adulthood), leading to awareness, acceptance, and awakening on the search for peace and freedom. “Everything about this album elicits the awakening to our true nature and listening to ‘the Spirit,’” says Starita. The seven song collection showcases an intentionally open longer format that allows listeners time to drop in, access, connect, and flow with whatever emotions and memories that may surface throughout the sound journey.

Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the video for “The Dream,” a sure standout on the upcoming EP that showcases Starita’s unique and open-minded approach to collaboration. With delicate instrumentation that is enhanced by fitting visuals of serene settings, the song is a soothing journey into the idea of purification. There is an element of orchestral pop that is elevated through the enchanting jazz trumpet of Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, who lets his instrument float beautifully over the sonic landscape. Trent Park’s vocals add a level of emotional power to the song, slowly building alongside the music to reach a cathartic release. “The Dream” is truly a collaboration between artists who managed to tap into the same musical wavelength and make something special. 

“This song digs down and stirs up deep rooted emotions in the body to be purged and cleansed from the consciousness. The sound design, structure and production was designed to capture that purification. With the explosive journey that we all experience as humans – individually and collectively – this purification outlet is necessary and needed. To be able to use sound art to provide that access point is a tool that I tap into and hope that listeners can benefit from as well. While considered the most emotionally charged song on the album, it is also very relatable. The vocal melody and chord progression quite naturally reflects the visceral quality of the human emotional experience,” Starita remarks.

Drawing inspiration and guidance from ‘Spirit’ along with the textural and emotional range of his influences, Olafur Arnaulds and Nils Frahm’s bodies of work, Starita created a dramatic, neoclassical, compositional ambient, cinematic sound design (a blending of acoustic with electronic elements and instrumentation with analog synths) on this track that holds the expansive range of emotions – from intense devastation to hopeful – artfully. “This very special feature from Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s trumpet solo adds a unique layer of emotional intimacy to the song. Trent Park also dropped right into the spirit of this track; eloquently channeled this painful melody and conveyed the intensity of the song beautifully through his recognizably rich and soulful vocal interpretation. In the same fashion, guitarist Robin Applewood captured the energy left behind by his departed friend, playing the guitar part on an old classical guitar that was left to him. It has the original strings that came with the guitar when he inherited it. So, there is an energy and vibe to the sound although most would say the strings are dead and need to be changed. This track demonstrates the power of a masterful collaboration; bringing forth the best that each has to offer. With each piece that is added by an artist, we are symbolically weaving our collective stories, uniting our energies. I don’t think there could have been a better group of collaborators to express this message and piece of art,” Starita shares.

“When Starita first approached me about this collaboration,” Scott says, “I instantly resonated with this track because of the message I felt behind the song. There was a deep yearning energy; need for one to express their love and aspirations and holding that in a certain light. The reference to ‘someday’ in the lyrics was hopeful and grabbed me. This is a message relatable to us all. I wanted to use this time, during the pandemic, while the world was ‘resting’ and ‘reflecting,’ to explore musically. Starita’s genre-blending style of music, combining electronic and live instrumentation intrigued me. Listening to Starita’s initial interpretation of ‘The Dream’ piqued my interest and I was drawn to creating a trumpet piece to go with it. I wanted to explore what we can do together. The music industry is not set up to foster ‘building together,’ so this was the perfect opportunity to do so. As a conceptualist and producer, I share Starita’s vision of ‘letting go, not thinking, and letting it flow.’ That was the basic premise that was agreed upon by all of the collaborators….just let the song come naturally with no force from the mind. Let the heart lead. With that, I listened intently and created a sound that was very specific for this track. Many have heard me speak about the ‘whisper technique’ which is a warm air technique that only a few of us use. The technique is basically using warm air and prioritizing your breath at the mouthpiece of vibration. The warmer air actually rubs the inner-workings of the brass a little bit differently, which gives more of a hazy sound. To be able to get certain phrases out while the core air is warming up, you have to learn to refine warming the air up in your diaphragm and feigning phrases from your chest air, or frogging. It is so interesting and rewarding to witness what we have created together. It is my mission to unify people via their musical and cultural voices by tearing down the sonic and social constructs that separate them. To me the idea of ‘genre’ is the same. It’s just an extension of that type of self-segregating and kind of linear thinking. Similarly for this collaboration or my work with Stretch Music, my stance is the same, in order to stretch music, you have to be able to stretch yourself.”

“After listening to this sound journey, I hope that the listeners felt cleansed, had a moment that they needed, and perhaps let go of some emotional pain,” Park closes.

Starita ‘The Dream’ feat Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Trent Park and Robin Applewood

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Premiere: Vocalist Pratika Gopinath Joins Starita for ‘Changing’

The Chennai-based singer was recruited by the San Francisco-based composer, who also has guitarist Robin Applewood on the track from ‘The Wake Up Call’

American artists Robin Applewood, Starita and Chennai-based Pratika Gopinath (from left) collaborate on “Changing.” Photos: Tam Starita, Nikita Borges

After a few years of establishing herself as the soulful voice in Pune alternative act Easy Wanderlings, vocalist Pratika Gopinath takes a step into solo material with a transnational collaboration called “Changing,” for San Francisco-based electronic/ambient/new age producer Michael Starita. The calming song, part of Starita’s upcoming album The Wake Up Call, also features fellow San Francisco guitarist and artist Robin Applewood.

For Gopinath, “Changing” comes as a breakthrough in terms of finally putting out solo material. She admits that there’s often too much pressure in the music industry and a struggle to be expressive, but she didn’t want to let go of this opportunity.

Starita — who has previously worked with hip-hop artist Childish Gambino as well as Indo-American producer-drummer and singer Madame Gandhi — says he chanced upon Gopinath’s work via Rolling Stone India. “I was blown away by the purity, soulfulness, ease, and spirit of her voice. Nothing about the collaboration and making of this track was planned. This container allowed us to effortlessly unleash the uniqueness and qualities that are within each of us as distinctive artists… to create music that is pure, interesting, and honest,” Starita says.

Read the full premiere here…

 

Starita Kickstarts 2020 With A Feelgood Dance Track

San Francisco-based Starita is a 2 time GRAMMY®/Latin Grammy recognized producer and engineer. Surviving the Golden Age is excited to kickstart 2020 by premiering his new single, Fashion.

“I chose this song as the first release for 2020 by design,” said Starita. He continued, “I wanted to offer a song that energized people to start the year feeling invigorated and strong; ready to seize everything that life has to offer, letting go of everything that doesn’t serve them, and just go for it! So, don’t think. Just dance.”

With effervescent production, the uplifting track features lush yet complex soundscape. With descending piano arpeggios, shuffling house beat, and silky R&B vocals, the track is sure to get your January moving.

Read the full premiere here….