Sound Portraits Radio {EP22} Iasos — Sound Portraits Radio

IASOS

EPISODE 22

If you’ve ever had a near-death experience, chances are you’ve been fortunate enough to hear music that sounds identical to the blissed-out tones of IASOS. In 1989, the psychology department at Plymouth State College discovered that Iasos’ music bore a remarkable resemblance to the sounds heard by people as they dipped a toe into that dimension between life and death. A true outsider and in many ways a visionary artist, Iasos is up there with the likes of Vangelis, Brian Eno, and his old pal Steven Halpern as one of the electronic pioneers of what became known as New Age music. Using custom built analog and early digital synthesizers along with flutes, pianos, and environmental recordings, Iasos creates expansive, celestial, uplifting electronic music that floats, shimmers, and transcends the earthly to induce higher states of consciousness. This episode was broadcast live on Cashmere Radio and is hosted by Doron Sadja.

“New Age music has the intention to harmonize a person, to raise their frequency, raise their awareness, help them connect to celestial realms, help them connect to love – universal love. If you’re not vibrating on a higher frequency, you’re not in tune with that music.”
Iasos
“Some people say it’s a dichotomy that I’m trying to create organic nature music and yet I’m using all these electronics. What could me more organic than electrons? What do you think a flower’s made of? I think of electrons as these very, very sensitive God-beings that are extremely sensitive to consciousness and are just rushing – literally at the speed of light – just to fulfill your will. All these wires are creating different paths. You tell the electrons which way you want them to go, and they jump at the chance to serve. They go exactly where you want them to. So I think of them as my joyous little servants.”
Iasos
“Basically, each musician puts out where he’s at… In other words, a musician is a merchant. He’s not selling music, he’s selling emotions served on a platter of sound. In my case I’m a merchant selling ecstatic emotions served through sound.”
Iasos
“Here’s the deal, my focus is beauty, but then I found out that beauty means healing. Love is the cause, beauty is the result, then beauty is the cause and healing is the result. The automatic byproduct is healing, but i don’t think about it.”
Iasos
“Heres the funny thing about music. An architect creates forms in space. I think of a musician as a time architect. I create forms in time. But the irony of that is that time is an illusion! How’s that for irony?”
Iasos
“Ever since the 1970’s I’ve been doing multimedia concerts, started off with slide projectors, now video. Here’s the philosophy behind it: music has the potential, the capability to induce divine emotions. Visuals have the capability to induce divine thought forms. When they work together synchronistically and synergistically their combined influence can ignite a person into a higher state of consciousness. That’s the whole point of my multimedia concerts.”
Iasos

Sound Portraits is a series of lectures/listening sessions, curated by Doron Sadja, focusing on the work of iconic composers who have paved the way for contemporary electronic music. Started in 2015 as a live event at Spektrum in Berlin, the series quickly grew and exists now as both a live lecture series and a radio show on Cashmere Radio. After an introduction of each artist’s life and work, we listen to a selection of excerpts and complete works from the artist’s repertoire. Besides providing an opportunity to introduce these seminal artists to a new audience, the Sound Portraits series also offers an open forum to engage in group listening in a quiet atmosphere.

Doron Sadja is an American artist, composer, and curator whose work explores modes of perception and the experience of sound, light, and space. Find out more at www.doron.sadja.com

Check out our sister-site Dissolving Sounds.

SOUND PORTRAITS IASOS

About Sound Portraits