SRI Kirtan’s recent album Live Your Love which hit #10 on the Billboard World Music Chart was reviewed in the June issue of Yoga Journal. Our favorite part is the very beginning, “Buckle your seatbelts bhakti fans! Live Your Love, with Sruti Ram and Ishwari, the dynamic duo behind SRI Kirtan, is a wild, kinetic ride.”
Live Your Love is available on iTunes and in our store.
MRIDANGA MUSIC VIDEO TO PREMIERE ON YOGAJOURNAL.COM MAY 19TH
Cross-over world music sensation and performance art troupe, The Mayapuris are to release a music video to showcase the title track of their hit album Mridanga (2010) which reached #7 on the iTunes world music chart the first week of its release. The video imbibes the dual nature that makes the Mayapuris unique: spunky and youthful with a new spin on the centuries-old chant culture of ancient India, kirtan. Their instrument of choice: the mridanga drum, a hand instrument invented over five hundred years ago and is a portable alternative to its well-known cousin, the tabla.
“Why the obsession with the mridanga?” asks Krishna Kishor (vocalist, flutist, drummer), “It was invented by Chaitanya, who revolutionized kirtan by bringing it out from the temples and into the streets for everyone to take part in. Through him we want to keep the revolution going. So…got to keep drumming.” In the video The Mayapuris are joined by The Temple Dancers consisting of Visvambhar’s wife Vrinda and his sister Ganga both of whom studied the ancient art of Bharatnatyam in South India.
The band’s ties to mridanga and kirtan run deep. All three of them attended boarding school in India where they learned the fundamentals of mantra music. Naming their group after the holy village of Mayapur, where the kirtan movement started, the Mayapuris returned home to Florida before signing to Mantralogy, a division of Equal Vision Records, in 2009. The title track of their first release, “Mridanga,” is the rhythmic instrumental composition that, when performed live, is a dance as well as a drum ensemble. It was an aspect that the band wanted reflected in their video.“We wanted it to have the energy and impact of our live performances,” says Kishor, “But with a twist.”
Gaura Vani and Rasa Acharya, who are both longtime friends of the band members and co-owners of their record label, Mantralogy, had ties to the movie industry and were eager to bring a fresh visual representation of the artform to the Mantra Music scene.“The Mayapuris are vibrant and fun people,” says Acharya who, alongside Vani, produced and directed the video, “It would be hard to not capture their spirit on camera.”
Visvambhar, lead-vocalist and drummer says, “I believe in kirtan. I believe people naturally want to give something–to sing and partake in mantra chanting. I see the Mantra Music scene growing every day in a big way. The video will add a new dimension to all of it as we begin to recognize chant culture as something much bigger than music.”
The video will premiere May 19th on YogaJournal.com and will later be viewable on YouTube, Facebook, Mayapuris.com and Mantralogy.com.
Released today, the auspicious birthday of Sri Rama (see Gaura Vani’s great email about that), Prema Hara’s new album Tears of Love is currently at #15 on the iTunes World Music charts.
Thank you to everyone for supporting their beautiful offering. If you purchased the album on iTunes please leave a comment on iTunes to let everyone know how you like it.
The Spirit Voyage Blog praised the release by saying “With Tears of Love, Prema Hara has secured their place as one of the greatest new Sanskrit kirtan groups today.”
Prema Hara will be at the Spring Bhakti Fest Ommersion festival this weekend in Joshua Tree California. Check out their tour schedule for more info.
Also, you still have a chance to win a free iPod Nano plus a copy of Tears of Love. Instructions on how to enter the contest are on Prema Hara’s Facebook.
By Gabe Heymann
SXSW was a success! Check out this video of our adventures:
This year we decided to tag along with our parent record label Equal Vision Records down to Austin TX for the annual rock marathon. Our intention was to bring our unique brand of Mantra Music to SXSW to create a peaceful oasis in the eye of the rock and roll storm.
Being my first time at SXSW, it’s an inspiring experience that I recommend for any music enthusiast. Everywhere you look, musicians and bands are performing to eager crowds looking to discover the newest music from up and coming artists. 4-5 days of non-stop music!
It was a busy week for us at Mantralogy. Worldwide recording and touring Mantralogy artists The Mayapuris and SRI Kirtan paved the way, successfully launching Mantra Music at SXSW 2011 with three powerful showcases throughout the weekend. The Mayapuris also set up in the middle of 6th street in downtown Austin for two promotional street performances, which attracted a lot of interest and attention.
Thursday March 17th at Whole Foods marked the first time for Mantra Music at the SXSW festival with an inspired Mayapuris set of chanting and drumming. They set up in the middle of the Whole Foods Market. As I walked around the store to gain different perspectives of the performance, ancient mantras and mrindanga drums echoed through the aisles of the store. The vibrations from the delicious organic food at Whole Foods, combined with the kirtan music creating an amazing elevated energy.
Shoppers stopped to watch and witness. Some hearing kirtan for the first time, others already well founded in Bhakti. It was a pleasant surprise for all.
We want to thank Whole Foods Market in Austin TX for working with us on this monumental introduction of Mantra Music at SXSW. We look forward to next year and expanding on this beautiful experience.
Photos below from Mantralogy events at Black Swan Yoga and Whole Foods Market.
Namaste
It has been an exciting start to 2011 for Mantralogy! Recently our Mantralogy lifestyle clothing Ganesh Ahimsa T-Shirt was selected by the Chopra Foundation as the uniform for their 80+ staff as well as gifts for the featured speakers / entertainers at their annual ‘Sages and Scientists‘ conference at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA.
‘Sages and Scientists’ is an amazing event which seeks to merge spirituality and science, two areas which previously have had trouble coexisting. Every year Deepak Chopra brings together both top sages and scientists from around the world to engage in a discussion to find common ground exploring topics such as consciousness, reincarnation, meditation, and science. Where does it all fit together? What is consciousness? Can science explain or begin to understand what happens in meditation?
It was an honor to be involved with the Chopra Foundation. They do amazing work all around the world. I don’t know if we will ever be able to fully understand spirituality in scientific terms, but the ‘Sages and Scientists’ conference is a step in the right direction.
So much of life depends on faith, and not knowing. To me spirituality is a feeling. A light that once lit, cultivates, grows and never burns out. Global and universal consciousness is expanding all around us. Seeking to explain a spiritual experience is a tough task. But it’s a beautiful thing to bring great minds together to begin the process.
As Russell Simmons put it (paraphrasing from my memory): “Science seeks to explain what we already know in our hearts… the science of Yoga.” Among the celebrity moderators were Deepak Chopra, Peter Guber, and Russell Simmons.
Our Mantralogy ‘Ganesh’ t-shirts were a great addition to the event. Everywhere you looked around the conference, you could see Ganesh on the t-shirt of staff and entertainers. As ‘the remover of obstacles’, Ganesh held the space setting the tone for a smooth and uplifting conference from start to finish. The response to the t-shirts was overwhelming as people attending the conference eagerly wanted to purchase shirts as a souvenir of the conference.
We look forward to doing more great work in the near future with Deepak Chopra and the Chopra Foundation to spread love and raise consciousness.
The Ganesh Shirt can be found in our store.
MANTRALOGY TEAMS UP WITH WHOLE FOODS TO BRING A PIECE OF OM TO AUSTIN, TX
Mantralogy will bring fresh vibes to South by South West 2011 (SXSW), with their youthful brand of Mantra Music and clothing. The imprint label, of legendary rock label Equal Vision Records, promises to bring something new, something different – and something peaceful to the festival. Mantralogy will focus on their ultimate goal of uplifting and positively transforming the foundation of people’s hearts through music, lifestyle products, and events that support the growing culture of sacred music.
For their debut SXSW appearance, Mantralogy has teamed up with Whole Foods Market and local yoga studio, Black Swan, to host a string of showcases and events. “We intend to offer a peaceful breather during the non-stop rock marathon,” states Mantralogy and Equal Vision Records’ owner, Steve Reddy. “We want to create a place at SXSW for music industry people to share their love of music and yoga.”
Whole Foods Market representative Richard Gabaree adds, “The wondrous sights, sounds, smells and activity in the store make each trip to Whole Foods Market Lamar a tour of discovery. We are so excited to add Mantralogy to our list of events during SXSW and look forward to their contribution to our guests’ experience.”
Mantralogy artists, The Mayapuris, will be performing at Whole Foods on Thursday, March 17 at 5:30pm and at Black Swan Yoga on Friday, March 18 at 8:00pm, joined by labelmates, SRI Kirtan. SRI Kirtan will also be performing at whole foods on Saturday March 19 from 12:00pm – 2:00pm.
The Mayapuris, kirtan’s youthful breakout band, have been touring non-stop behind their debut album Mridanga touching six continents including stops at Wanderlust (alongside Moby), The Bhakti Fest, Princeton University and Jivamukti NYC. SRI Kirtan bring a fresh sound to the Mantra Music scene combining a variety of western instruments and styles with traditional chants and melodies. Their second album, Live Your Love, recently debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard World Music Chart.
Mantralogy combines an edgy, punk rock attitude and underground DIY ethos with the ancient uplifting philosophies and culture of spirituality, yoga, conscious living and Mantra Music. Mantra Music, or Kirtan, is an ancient form of music heard in yoga classes around the world.
No badges required. Black Swan showcase admission by donation.
| Mar 17 Whole Foods – Mayapuris @ 5:30pm – 6:30pm Mar 18 Black Swan Yoga – SRI Kirtan / Mayapuris @ 8pm Mar 19 Whole Foods – SRI Kirtan @ 12pm – 2pm |
Whole Foods Market 525 N Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX 78703 Black Swan Yoga |
Mantralogy is excited to announce the release of Prema Hara’s second album, Tears of Love on April 12th, 2011. Pre-orders will begin soon on the Mantralogy store.
Tears of Love is both a memory and a new exotic taste; a journey through the villages of India and back, to where mantra music blends to meet the western world. At once rhythmic and melodic, grounding, yet uplifting, Tears of Love brings new relevance to the age-old devotional chant culture now burgeoning within yoga and ethnic music communities around the world. Keshavacharya’s chants are deep and meditative, Kamaniya’s, silvery and soothing. Both meld to the smooth beat of the mridanga and tabla drums. The album features master musicians Steve Gorn on bansuri flute and clarinet and Benjy Wertheimer on the traditional Indian esraj, as well as a remix influence from New York City’s conscious rap artist Srikala. Tears of Love imbibes the energy of a live kirtan concert experience: melodious, energetic and utterly infectious.
Since their last release, Sweet Surrender, Prema Hara has traveled across the country on three tours, quickly gaining recognition as one of the West’s most prominent kirtan bands. The band is a regular at distinguished kirtan music venues on both coasts, including Jivamukti Yoga (NYC) and Bhakti Yoga Shala (LA), as well as at heavily attended music festivals such as Bhakti Fest and World Peace & Yoga Jubilee.
Prema Hara is currently on tour along the East Coast, from New York to Florida and then through Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Arizona to arrive for their album release party at the Spring Bhakti Fest. After their album release party they will continue touring through California and then on to the Mid-West finally returning to their base in New York in late May.
For more information about Tears of Love and Prema Hara’s tour schedule, visit www.mantralogy.com and www.premahara.com.
