#109 Allen Holmes, a conversation about the spirit of music

Allen Holmes is an excellent musician and good friend, and was one of the first interviewed for the Planetary Gig Talk podcast. He remembers me saying that Victor Wooten talked about music being a living entity and he has reflected on that a lot recently. Allen says, "I believe that music is a living spirit, it's alive, and that some people that devote themselves to it, that practice, are able to have a relationship with this spirit and learn from it." He also believes there is another living entity whose purpose is to destroy or counter music; like yin and yang, they co-exist and help each other grow. Allen calls this, for lack of a better term, anti-music. He says some musicians choose anti-music. Allen says each of these have their own minions; the minions of music are things like pitch, tone, rhythm, skill, passion, emotion, and collaboration. Anti-music also has minions, such as passion without skill, materialistic and ego-driven playing, that pollutes music. The intention behind music is a key ingredient. Allen says, "I feel like I am an instrument for the entity of music." Allen also says, "I believe everything is one; everything is interdependent in the biosphere of earth. We are all biospheres … we are all one. … I think it's important to recognize that. … I believe that Mother Earth is a living entity." And Allen says a change is coming. "I believe that mass consciousness is growing. … This is my new goal. … I want to write and make music that is going to help mass consciousness grow. … The people are rising. … I think there is a shift."