TERRY OLDFIELD
I arrived late one evening from London and was greeted warmly with a cup of tea which is just about the most welcoming thing you can offer an Englishman far from home. Anyway we spent a nice couple of days getting to know one another and the idea for this album was born. We didn't know then quite what to expect but I remember that both Bhikkhu and Waduda had great confidence in me and I went home feeling that there would soon be some new music there.
Recently things had turned quite literally upside down for me and my family as we had decided to make a radical change in our lives and move to Australia. We had sold our lovely Cotswold house on a whim and a prayer and I was faced with the daunting task of finding somewhere amenable to work on the new music whilst the rest of the family went ahead to make the transition "Down Under." True to the spirit of the times, a perfect solution in the shape of a lovely Cotswold barn was offered to me by some friends and I quickly set up a studio there and set to work.
When I start work on a piece there is always the feeling that I can't do it. It seems an impossible task to create something from nothing but over the years I have learned to let this feeling be there whilst making myself available to the muse by improvising on some instrument or other (usually the flute which is my greatest love). If nothing happens then I might go and do something completely different like shopping. This seems to allow the unconscious room to work and usually when I come back there is a tune or something there and I know then that it will soon blossom into a song or instrumental.
The music of "Turning Point" is about making a transition - moving on into the new and letting go of the past. It has been a reflection of my own process of inner and outer change over the past year or so - And although I know that the process continues - right now we are building a house and studio on a beautiful piece of land not far from the coast just where the rainforest begins and I think we might call our new home "Turning Point" as well.
BIOGRAPHY and INTERVIEW
I was born to an Irish mother and an English father in a Northern suburb of London called Palmers Green. I have absolutely no memory of anything before an incident on a frosty morning when my older sister Sally and I were playing in the garden of a tall house and were confronted by a large white dog. We decided that this dog was Jack Frost, a character apparently well known at the time in childrens' stories. There are happenings that I have been told about my childhood that are not really true memories for me although I suppose they too are stored away there somewhere, locked away in the vaults for some unconscious purpose. Then there are other snippets here and there; quite a few based around frequent visits to Margate, a seaside town in Kent where my grandparents on my father's side had retired to live. These were happy days with endless days on the beach collecting shells and building sand castles. I particularly remember the awesome expanses of black seaweed amongst which the two of us would wander in search of crabs and things. This was a world that I lost at some forgotten point in time or rather it was swept away in the rising tide of complexity that we call 'growing up.'
I think I was fairly happily immersed in life by the time I was 12 years old and it came as a tremendous shock to suddenly find myself sent away from my friends and family to board at what can only be described as an open prison. It was actually a Public School and this was to be the bane of my life for the next four years. I was so unhappy that all my writing books were full of days crossed off, as each one laid the way open to a future when I would be free. This freedom was called the School Holidays. To this day I cannot for the life of me see how my frequent cries for help were never heard. Each time I ran away from school I was taken back in disgrace as though I had made some dreadful error of judgment. There were of course some there who were perfectly happy to be controlled and herded about like sheep but I could never understand them. Anyway eventually someone got the message and I was given my freedom.
To break free from the conventions that society had placed upon me in the way of habitual responses and patterns of behavior, has been my aim ever since I read a book called 'The Hidden Side Of Things' when I was about 16 years old. I was brought up in a pseudo-religious environment of ritual and mimicry that became the launching pad for my effort to break free in that it provided me with the necessary level of unease to set me moving upon the path in a search for liberation from the 'Mind-Forged Manacles' that are the source of all suffering in this world.
There was a fun period when my brother Mike and myself started a band called Barefoot. I enjoyed the atmosphere of that a lot. We played quite heavy stuff in various clubs but I couldn't play the guitar for toffee! Mike later went on to become a megastar.
Traveling was my saving grace as it led me to experience the great diversity of life on this planet. It was during a stay on the island of Hydra in Greece that I discovered the flute for the first time. I also drifted into Australia when I was 19 and so began a relationship with the place that has finally drawn me to live and work there downunder.
Religion for me as a child was just another tedious subject at school, one that had a rather boring practical side, keeping me away from the important things like football and fishing. It was only when I came up against some of the unanswerable questions in life that the "Spiritual" quest began. I think all religion is an attempt to explain the mystery that is life. The rational mind (the problem solver) -ego- cannot bear the inexplicable. I have read all the books - mystical, practical, esoteric, etc. and done a good many courses, retreats, etc. and it has always slowly but surely led me back time and again to this point, this living moment in time that contains the eternal that these religions profess to seek.
Writing and playing music is a wonderful tool for me. It brings the whole maelstrom of thinking to a halt. I'm sure any artist would say the same, that the creative process is so rewarding in this way - That it reconnects or puts the creator in touch with himself, with that inexhaustible flow of energy and power that is always there, but only in this present moment, which is eternity unfolding. To that extent being creative, writing music for me, is simply making myself available to that which is, and then it all happens by itself or through me. That's why the question that always comes up is "How do you write music?" and it is impossible to answer because I simply don't know. It can only happen when I (thought) am no longer there to get in the way.
I don't think much about the audience until the work is finished and out there. It certainly isn't an altruistic thing - more a question of having to do it - mostly because of the focus - an edge to life that it gives. That feeling is addictive and I find life difficult and less meaningful if I can't work. I have heard other artists say the same - not only musicians. I feel it is an energy-flow thing. I often wonder whether I would still write music if nobody ever listened. There is also the mundane side - after all, for me music is also a product that I hope will be popular and sell. The audience is essential for that. But it never enters the creative process - except for a few remixes that I did last year that was a purely commercial venture.
And what of now - this ever elusive will o the wisp we call the present. Sometimes it carries me alive and kicking and other times I try to be carried but more often than not in the words of John Lennon "Life is what happens to me while I'm making other plans".
Your music is often classified as New Age, what does that term mean to you and how would you classify your music?
I suppose it just means anything that belongs to the growing and sometimes fashionable search for an inner meaning to life, which includes the areas of relaxation-therapy-self help etc.---anything that: I try not to classify my music-other people do that for me very well.
You talk quite openly on your website about yourself and your life and you seem very clear about what is important to you. Do you think that music has helped you to find this clarity and a connection to spirit? Or has it been the other way round?
My own personal dissatisfaction with the more acceptable viewpoints of reality has enabled me to write music that other people in like position can relate to. By going into this malaise I discover a longing that expresses itself beautifully through music because it cuts through the very thing that creates the problem - the process of thinking.
Your music draws influence and inspiration from many cultures, do you see yourself as a global citizen? And if so has this been influenced by your early travels?
I do now feel that I could live almost anywhere although the atmosphere of my childhood landscape will always exert an influence on my soul. But I am certainly a global citizen although I shy away from places like Ethiopia and Iraq because they quite honestly scare me because I feel helpless in the presence of so much raw suffering.
Your music is listened to the world over by people from all walks of life and paths; do you believe music is an underestimated transformative medium when it comes to global healing?
I sincerely hope so and I know that it can heal in the sense that it calms the mind and allows healing to take place through the peace that it creates.
What approach works best for you when composing? Does this approach differ when you are writing for say TV as opposed to an album?
I just play until something happens that feels right - usually on the flute, just improvising. This makes me feel peaceful and then I can find something there. Music for TV is different because I am looking to an image on a screen for inspiration and it usually comes from either that direct response or from the people involved who tell me which emotion the film or sequence needs. It is much more of a head thing.
Your latest release includes some excellent remixes with some strong rhythms, is this indicative of a new, more percussion led direction in your music?
Not at all. I feel I have found a new direction with writing songs. The rhythms are of course a part of it but I am not trying to be anything-just going with the flow.
Where do you see the musical new age going?
I haven't the foggiest idea I'm afraid.
To a musician, silence is often as important as sound, how important is meditation to you in relation to being in the world and how does it help with your work as a composer (and as an improviser)?
I have been a meditator for 25 years and although it has helped me a lot, mostly it has led me to see that it is possible to become dependent on anything. At the moment I am trying to give it up and be a dynamic meditator. In other words to be aware on that level in whatever I'm doing. That is not easy--Yet!!
Are there any particular meditation techniques/practices that you employ to help you with your music?
I go for long walks alone when I'm stuck and sit on old tree stumps feeling sad and sorry for myself. That usually does the trick! Recently I have been tuned in to Reiki and I give that to myself often - finding it very powerful. It really works for me like magic.
What is the essential message of your music?
La la la dee dum dee dum dee dum doo waaaaaaahoooo!!!!!!!
Discography:
Sunshine Holidays-Bruton Music, 1983*
In Search of the Trojan Wars-BBC Records, 1982
Cascade-NWM, 1986
Reverence-NWM, 1986
In the Presence of Light-NWM, 1987
Return to Treasure Island-HTV Records, 1987
Resonance-NWM, 1988
Star of Heaven-NWM, 1989
Angel-NWM, 1990 (Original Out of Print. Remastered version below)
Spirit of the Rainforest-NWM, 1990
Zen-NWM, 1991 (Original Out of Print. Remastered version below)
Spiral Waves-Voiceprint Records, 1992
Illumination-NWM, 1992
Spirit of Africa-NWM, 1993
Out of the Depths-NWM, 1993
Spirit of Tibet-NWM, 1994
Australia-NWM, 1994 (Original Out of Print. Remastered version below)
Icon-NWM, 1995
Earth Spirit-NWM, 1995
Spirit of India-NWM, 1996
Theme for the Telford Time Machine-Carlin Music, 1996
South East Asia-Bruton Music, 1997*
All the Rivers Gold-NWM, 1999
Spirit of the World-NWM, 2000
Music for Wildlife-Bruton Music, 2000*
Across the Universe-NWM, 2000
Reflections The Best of Terry Oldfield 1985-1995-NWM, 2000
In the Presence of Light (remastered) -TO Music, 2001
Zen - NWM, 2001 (Remaster, new cover and liner notes)
Turning Point - New Earth Records, 2002
Australia, Waking the Spirit - NWM, 2002 (Remaster, new cover, album notes, and bonus track)
Angel - TO Music, 2002 (Remaster, new cover)
Earth Spirit ReIssue, NWM, 2003 (new cover and liner notes)
A Time for Peace, New Earth Records, 2003
De Profundis: Out of the Depths II -
New Earth Records, 2005
Reiki Harmony - New Earth Records, 2006
NWM = New World Music
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film and other media throughout the world. |
