Hi Christopher. Did you really make ALL the music on Enlightened Audio?

Yes. I personally composed and recorded everything that you hear on this website. Making music for Enlightened Audio is what I spend most of my time doing these days (when I’m not out surfing or practicing meditation).

 

That’s unusual for a royalty free music website.  Why not offer music from other artists as well?

I thought long and hard about publishing the music of other artists, but I decided that what I really wanted was to create a specialized music resource that has a genuine "person to person" feel about it. I didn't want to dilute this personal connection by turning Enlightened Audio into another music supermarket with shelves stuffed full of generic music by unknown artists.

Many of my customers use my music to create media productions that help people with stress relief, natural healing or to overcome personal problems and I LOVE being a part of that process. It's a real privilege. My role in this world is to make music that helps people to relax, to heal, to feel whole, happy and inspired and I feel that I'm best able to serve that purpose by licensing my music directly to healers and therapists on a royalty free basis. My music truly comes from the heart and I hope that everyone can tune in and feel that when they listen to my work.

 
So therapists and healers are your biggest customers?

They are definitely the vast majority. Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a lot of different therapists, counsellors, holistic healers and so on. This has helped me in a couple of very important ways.

Firstly it has helped me to attune myself to their needs and to develop a really good understanding of the type of music that works best for hypnosis and various types of meditation. Music that encourages very deep relaxation and other altered states of consciousness is a subtle art form that requires a composer of great sensitivity and personal clarity. I think that my many years of practicing meditation gave me that sensitivity and clarity to begin with, but engaging with therapists and healers and creating music in response to their specific requests really took things to the next level.

Secondly, it’s given me a deep sense of purpose and integrity in what I do. Knowing that my music is used to help relax, heal and support people, some of whom are facing extraordinarily difficult times, drives me to put my heart and soul into every music composition I release. These aren’t just mere words. When someone tells you that your music helped save them from suicide or that it helped them through a period of terrible illness it’s very moving and it changes your approach to your work completely.

 

Can tell us about your approach to music composition?

Sure. When it comes to music for hypnosis or meditation I will spend some time in formal meditation to get myself feeling clear, connected and in a state of deep relaxation before I sit down in my studio. Then I spend a lot of time playing and feeling my way through the music as I search for sounds that draw me into a deeper and deeper state. It’s a wonderful, intuitive process – a process that I have cultivated through years of meditation practice. I’m fortunate enough to have access to an absolutely gargantuan range of sounds to explore as I do this. I’ve been building up my collection of instruments, synthesizers and sound libraries since 1997 so inspiration is never far away.

I should also mention that even though my approach to composition is primarily intuitive, I am also well versed in the scientific principles of psychoacoustics and music therapy, and I apply these principles whenever I write music for meditation and deep relaxation. I also take a very hands on approach to the audio engineering processes that take place during mixing and mastering. I'm very careful about getting the sound "just right".

So it would be true to say that I am an artist and a scientist too. I like to think that I express both these aspects of myself when I create music for relaxation and healing.

 

So you actually practice meditation then?

Oh yes. I’ve been meditating since 1997. Usually twice a day. Inner peace is one of my highest priorities, so I always make time to sit for formal meditation. I like to think that I "walk the talk" when it comes to living a peaceful, healthy life, and hopefully that shines through in the music I create.

I also think that in order to create truly authentic relaxation music with therapeutic properties, one must have some personal experience with deep states of consciousness, like those we experience during meditation or hypnosis for example.

 

I understand that you compose relaxation music full time? Must be a relaxing life!

Yes you’re right about that. I’m very, very lucky to have a lot of freedom and time to devote to music composition and I do lead a relaxation-focused life. Hey, you’ve got to walk the talk if you want to be a really authentic composer of relaxation music.

I’m very fortunate that my success as a composer means that I don’t ever have to rush my work. Life has blessed me with everything I need to create beautiful music - the lifestyle, the equipment, the artistic and technical skills and the natural desire to bring peace and harmony into the lives of others. So I never create music in a hurry. I’m able to relax and focus on quality rather than quantity with the attitude that my work is a service to humanity, not just a way to make a buck.  

I also live in a part of the world that is very relaxing and conducive to creative arts like music composition. My home town of Apollo Bay is known for its beautiful scenery and relaxed coastal vibe. There is also a very strong contingency of local artists, natural therapists and holistic healers here.

 

So what’s in store for Enlightened Audio?

I’m always bursting at the seams with creative inspiration and I have so much planned for Enlightened Audio. I’ll be focussing heavily on music for hypnotherapy. I also have some amazing chakra music projects underway and a whole raft of new meditative compositions in development. I also love creating slightly more upbeat ambient music and inspirational orchestral music too, so you can expect to see a growing collection of those styles.

Enlightened Audio will offer a very narrow range of music styles. It will focus almost entirely on music for relaxation and healing, but within that overall genre there are so many wonderful sub-niches to explore. Some days I’ll be working on angelic music, full of light and ethereal beauty. On other days I might be working with toning sounds or deep, warm meditative drones. Sometimes I’ll spend a month playing nothing but Tibetan singing bowls and crystal singing bowls (I have a great collection of both) and from time to time I'll spend a week touring the wilderness, recording nature sounds as I go. Mantra chants, Reiki music, hypnotic tribal rhythms...there's so much to explore that I’m getting excited just thinking about it (breathe Christopher, breathe).

There will never be a thousand different tracks on offer at Enlightened Audio. As the sole composer for this website there is a limit to how much I can create, especially at the relaxed pace that I approach things. But the quality will be there. The authenticity and integrity will be there. You can expect a growing collection of unique music that has been created by gentle hands, a quiet mind and a devoted heart.