Shambhu Interview #4 - The Final on Vinyl Podcast

It's always a pleasure for me to speak to this man! Shambhu is ready to release his tenth proper studio album, Lotus Dream, and we had a good discussion about that!

Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:14

Hello everybody, this is Keith MuzikMan Hannaleck with the Final on Vinyl Podcast, and today we're with the artist known as Shambhu, and he's getting ready to release Lotus Dream, an incredibly beautiful album that is coming out on September 26th. Welcome back.

Speaker 0:31

Thank you so much, Keith. Uh I think this is my fifth interview with you, right?

Speaker 1 0:37

Fourth in the last five years, yeah. Well, it's good.

Speaker 0:42

It's good, good for you.

Speaker 1 0:43

There's always something new to talk about, right?

Speaker 0:46

Well, there is. Because I've been pretty busy uh producing a lot of music over the past uh two or three years.

Speaker 1 0:55

So producing your own music and in other artists as well? Is that what you mean? Or just your own?

Speaker 1:00

Uh producing my own stuff. Uh this year alone, I I've got two albums out. Uh right before this was an album called Transcendence, which is a collection of ten popular songs that I remixed in Dolby Atmos. It's absolutely beautiful. It's called Transcendence.

Speaker 1 1:19

I didn't get a chance to hear that one, did I?

Speaker 1:22

You did not.

Speaker 1 1:23

Uh maybe I'll send it to you.

Speaker 1:25

I'll send it to you for a review.

Speaker 1 1:28

Okay. So Dolby Atmos, it seems, is becoming the standard. Uh everything that's coming out lately, I'm seeing that it's available in that.

Speaker 1:39

Well, I'm lucky that the gentleman I work with to mix and master, Todd Boston, jumped into Dolby Atmos really early, and he kind of kind of convinced me to get into it as well. Um so I I've enjoyed the results. You know, for an album like Lotus Dream, it it creates a really spacious context for the music. So if you're listening with Dolby Atmos speakers, it kind of surrounds you and gives you height and depth, left and right, front and back. You can you can you can play around with the music better.

Speaker 1 2:13

So as far as recording and production, uh, you record and then you can have it um reproduced and Dolby Atmos, which is a totally different uh engineering and recording process.

Speaker 2:27

Exactly. Yeah. So in other words, uh Lotus Stream, my new album, it got mixed in stereo, but it also got mixed in Dolby Atmos. So right now, if you want to hear Adolby Atmos, there's only a couple uh three platforms I know of that that uh enable that. One is Title, uh, one is Amazon Plus, something like that, and then Apple Music. So on those three platforms you can hear Dolby Atmos.

Speaker 1 2:57

I'm surprised uh Spotify hasn't jumped in yet. Wow.

Speaker 3:03

Well, uh I'm not surprised because I I think you know it would it would take a lot to to cre change their platform to add this other listening dimension to it. Um and you know, they keep trying to make more and more money.

Speaker 1 3:21

Yeah, it'd be a lot of back-end work, I suppose, so with that. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. So so tell me more about Lotus Dream. Uh I like the artwork that pops. And um honestly, um I've covered your music for so many years now. This just to me it just seemed like you you've just reached another level uh of music, I I would say musical proficiency and talent, and and just everything about it was just beautiful, and every song was different. Um I don't know, I can't say enough about how wonderful this album is.

Speaker 4:03

Wow, I appreciate that very much. Uh you know, in the past two or three years I've been focusing on acoustic guitar, going away from those large arrangements from the early years, because it seems like there are really a lot of opportunities for just guitar playlists and and and and taste, people listening in the background, that kind of stuff, studying, going to sleep to music. So I found a lot of success with my acoustic guitar work. However, uh last year I put out a song with a young guitarist uh named Leo Steinread, who just graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, where I also attended decades ago, many decades ago. And we produced this tune that got picked up by Sirius XM. And I thought, okay, you know, if Sirius XM, which is spinning 13 of my songs right now, if they're taking this one, maybe there's interest in this kind of electric ambient sound. And so I decided on this album, instead of going all acoustic meditation, I would try some more of this, I call it electric ambient, ambient electric, uh chess synthesizes electric guitars and uh reverb and echo and that kind of stuff. So there's several songs on this album that go in that direction. So, you know, you've got you've got the beautiful acoustic guitar on songs like Shall We and Awakened Dreams in Blue Matra, and then the ambient cinematic sounds are like Ananya, Resilience, Chrono Tides, and Visions. And then I I had written years ago, maybe six or seven years ago, some piano pieces that I just couldn't find a place for them because I was going all acoustic guitar. And I thought, you know what? I want to take these two tunes, which I really liked, and I finished them up, added guitars and synthesizers and bass and stuff, and then I put them out. And those are those are the songs Majestic Mountain and Lotus Dream. So they're kind of more classic piano in a shambu mode, uh you know, uh broadened with with other instruments. And uh, you know, I I I I'm glad you like them. I hope people like them. Because uh, you know, I don't want to rock the boat going in too many directions.

Speaker 1 6:36

Well, actually, you know, it was progressive for you. But I loved it. Really. I mean it was so different. Yeah. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that will enjoy it.

Speaker 6:51

I hope so. I mean I mean, like my influences on piano were guys like David Lanz, who I heard back in the eighties, and I just loved his music. You know, and and so you know, I had taken 18 months worth of piano lessons when I was at the Manhattan School of Music, and I thought, well, maybe I can do a piano tuner or or a couple. And so that's how we ended up with these songs.

Speaker 1 7:17

Ah, interesting. Okay. So are you constantly recording? Do you ever just, you know, say, well, I need to at least take, you know, a few weeks off here, not do anything, or you just keep going?

Speaker 7:33

I just keep going. I'm lucky in that uh, you know, I'm able to basically flow music. I pick up the guitar, turn on record, and have it set up to capture properly the sound. And you know, within five or ten minutes of playing, something new comes out. And then I hear the idea, I have perfect pitch, I just start developing the song. And sometimes I'll I'll be on it for 20 or 30 minutes until I feel I've got all the parts of it. Uh I like I play through the mistakes and redo parts until I've got it all. And then in some cases, I've got a finished song right there. In other cases, I'll re-record the whole thing, maybe slow it down, uh do something more with it than the original idea. Um so, you know, as I was mixing Lotus Dream, I was listening, and I have been listening for two months, to about 50 or 60 different song ideas that had come out in maybe six weeks of recording. Wow. Um so that's kind of my process is is um, you know, I I I record for about six weeks, um, and then I go through it all and I p and I kind of pick out, harvest the ideas that I think have merit, and then I'll listen to them. Like in my case, I swim a lot. I have a pool at my house in the Hamptons, and I swim and and I play the new songs, and every 11 strokes I come up and I hear the song, and while I'm swimming underwater, I'm getting ideas. And I I don't need to write them down because it it flows organically for me. You know, whatever ideas I have will come through in the right moment. I trust the process.

Speaker 1 9:22

Uh you are blessed. Wow. I got 50 or 60 songs, and it's a lot of music. So I can see why it's like a continual process for you.

Speaker 9:32

Yeah. Uh I mean, out of 50, I I'll get 10. Uh the last album I I did the process that had 13 songs, and in the end, I cut out four. Um, and I ended up with nine. So um, you know, I'm blessed that the music is still flowing after ten releases, both albums and ETs, uh, over 15 years. It's just an endless supply of sound that comes through my guitar. And so, you know, I try to honor that by putting out as much music as I can while I'm still breathing.

Speaker 1 10:15

I hear you. Yeah. Living the moment. Um just thinking uh about your career, uh, it's been so long and so successful for you. Um I've heard from other artists that XM Radio is probably the one of the better platforms to put your music out on and to actually make some money instead of a fraction of a cent like Spotify. Is that right?

Speaker 10:39

That's absolutely right. I mean, SiriusXM, you know, pays a percentage, I think there's something like 22% of their gross subscriber revenue goes into the fund, a music fund. And every month that's split among artists equally, meaning for for whatever number of plays correlated with the size of the listening audience at the time, there's a payout. And it could be, you know, if you if you are the record company and the artist, you know, it could be like $35 a play. Something like that. You know, if if you're if your label is associated with someone that has a direct license with Sirius XM, it could be even more. So um that's definitely the best paying platform. Um I'm very blessed that I have you know around 13 songs playing in rotation since 2010. It just keeps going. And they're very kind to me because they play my music. Um earlier this year I had uh a single playing. I think it was openings. Um and you know, for five seconds, I I was the number one most played artist on Sirius XM Spa. So, you know, I've I've gone up and down in the rankings depending on how many plays I have, but um I've had some good moments there, and I'm very grateful to that channel. They have a huge audience, and uh the people that curate the music do such a phenomenal job putting together very eclectic playlists that are incredibly compelling and they're fresh, and um they really kind of honor music like mine. So I'm incredibly grateful to them, and and they are a great platform. I'll also give kudos out to Pandora because Pandora has a lot of people listening. They have an absolutely terrific artist team that you can meet with uh twice a month for seminars they offer, and you can make some real connections with them. They do everything they possibly can to assist artists to amplify their music. Um you know, I I'll give them a lot of credit. You know, I think it's a lot harder to get played on Spotify because in 15 years of submitting music to their curator, I haven't gotten one more than a couple of songs on a Spotify playlist. Wow. Briefly. You know what I mean? And and uh, you know, I I I mean they do get a lot of music, but uh, you know, I I'm not really like chopped liver in the new age world. You know, I've I've put out a lot of good music and I I I have a lot of people listening. So you know, I look forward to the day that Spotify responds to the music. Um yeah, so that's my take on some of those platforms.

Speaker 1 13:41

Interesting.

Speaker 13:42

It's like Spotify is meet the new boss, same as the old boss, huh? I guess so. You know, uh I mean none of the C platforms really pay that much money. Um, you know, you can get 500 plays and earn, you know, four dollars sixty one cents or something.

Speaker 1 14:06

Yeah. Well, physical product is hard to move now, too, because of all the streaming of uh services. But um vinyl has come back big in the past few years. But from what I understand, it's more difficult for new age artists to get their music on vinyl and actually be able to move the product, is that right?

Speaker 14:29

I think so, because uh you know you you've gotta have an audience of maybe ten thousand people to buy a hundred copies of vinyl.

Speaker 1 14:39

Wow.

Speaker 14:40

When you think about it, like how many of my friends are spinning vinyl? I might know one.

Speaker 1 14:49

That's too bad. Because most of the music that I hear is be it would be perfect for vinyl, you know.

Speaker 14:58

Well, you know, I was gonna do a vinyl album and we decided to do a retrospective and Dolby Atmos instead. But I still might come back and put a collection together on vinyl. Because I think that's a great use of my music, is make a collection of the absolutely best tunes and put them on vinyl and try to and try to move that forward a bit. So you know, I w I do want to go there. I think that's an approach.

Speaker 1 15:27

Well, I just had an interview yesterday with an artist that said the exact same thing. You know, release a double LP, you know, do your pre-orders to lock in in the the the price and the and the orders, and you know, you make what 200, 500 copies or whatever. You know, if it sells out, you do a repress, right? Exactly.

Speaker 15:48

So I think it's likely I'm gonna go there uh with a collection uh and maybe do that next year as a project.

Speaker 1 15:57

Uh wonderful next year.

Speaker 15:59

Yeah.

Speaker 1 16:00

I would love to be part of that and cover that, that's for sure. Well, definitely.

Speaker 16:06

But uh, you know, I hope people listen to Lotus Stream. Uh it's just a beautiful collection of these three styles. Um, you know, with a bunch of what I think are strong songs. So we'll see how that all goes.

Speaker 1 16:25

Now you you say three styles, what would you recognize as three styles besides you know, new age contemporary instrumental? What would you how do you would you define those three styles?

Speaker 16:37

I would define them as kind of acoustic folk, the instrumental guitar work, and then and then um electric ambient for uh you know the the songs with synthesizer and electric guitar and that kind of stuff. Uh and then the other one is sort of classic piano. Uh that those are the three kind of styles on there, if I were to categorize the songs by you know genre, that kind of thing.

Speaker 1 17:09

I see. Well, personally, for my taste, I'm all over the place, but I would love to see you create an entire album of that electric ambient music.

Speaker 17:20

Really?

Speaker 1 17:22

Yeah.

Speaker 17:24

Well, that means a lot.

Speaker 1 17:27

I honestly uh I think you'd find an entirely new audience by doing that. Along with the current audience that you already have.

Speaker 17:36

I I agree with you. I mean I mean, would it be an o an audience listening to ambient, electric, blues, uh, you know, indie rock? How would you categorize it? Because you know, you have to kind of target an audience uh to find them, especially playlists or some things. Yeah, it's true.

Speaker 1 17:58

But there's a lot of crossover there. Yep. You know, I mean just instrumental. If somebody does a uh uh goes to Spotify or Pandora or whatever and types in instrumental music, you're gonna get so much that comes up.

Speaker 18:16

Yeah.

Speaker 1 18:18

You know? So to clearly define something like that would be difficult. Just I don't know, contemporary instrumental. That's the title I use a lot, actually. Right. And you know, and uh it does cover a wide range.

Speaker 18:37

Well, you know, that might be the category for uh this album, Lotus Dream, you know, because it is a bit eclectic that way, and uh not necessarily just new age.

Speaker 1 18:51

Right. Would you agree? Definitely. There's there's a lot more to it. You know, it's the way I look at it is it's a tree and it has all these branches coming off of it. And right that that's what your music is like, especially on this album.

Speaker 19:08

I love it. Well, it's funny, you describe it as a tree. I I say to people, I want my music to feel as organic as a tree growing or as wind going through the tree leaves. That's funny. That's how I kind of see the music. Really organic. Kind of like a life force that comes through the guitar and and me, really.

Speaker 1 19:35

Well, the thing is with instrumental music, um, everybody has a different experience with it, and different images enter your brain as you're listening, you know. So you you're like an artist that paints this audio picture, and then it's up to the person listening to come up with their own descriptions and images or feelings and emotions. And that's what that's the beauty of instrumental music. There's no words to pull you away and distract you.

Speaker 20:07

Yeah, I agree with you totally. I think you describe it perfectly because I used to say that the listener completes the music in that uh they do something with it inside, where like you said, the it it becomes part of a story that they have, or or they see something themselves um related to their own experience as they hear the music.

Speaker 1 20:32

So I agree. Yeah.

Speaker 20:34

Yeah.

Speaker 1 20:35

It's like a book that you haven't opened yet, but it's not something that you read, something that you listen to and interpret.

Speaker 20:43

And every chapter is different.

Speaker 1 20:45

Right. Exactly.

Speaker 20:48

Yeah, I agree with you. That's a great uh analogy.

Speaker 1 20:52

You know, it's always wonderful to speak to you. Uh I love talking to you, and I hope that our relationship can continue over the years, and uh next year hopefully we'll be seeing that double LP come out of a career retrospective for a shamboo on vinyl.

Speaker 21:10

I love that. I love that. And and I think I'll send you my transcendence album for review.

Speaker 1 21:16

Okay. Sounds great. I'm sorry I missed that one. I didn't even know that was was out there. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Well that would that would be completing my That would be completing my collection if you get me that one.

Speaker 21:32

Love that. And uh Naya, thank you again for your kind words and for the opportunity to chat today.

Speaker 1 21:39

Absolutely, I appreciate you.

Speaker 21:42

And people can find me at shambu music.com. S-H-A-M-D-H-U music.com.

Speaker 1 21:51

That's right, and Lotus Dreams or Lotus Dream, excuse me, comes out September twenty-sixth. Mm-hmm. Beautiful. I thank you, sir. You take care of yourself. You too.

Speaker 22:04

Be well. Thank you.

Speaker 1 22:05

Bye-bye.