Born in the USA, this California-based experimental musician sought to extend the ambient principles associated with Brian Eno and mid-90s chill-out artists such as the Orb. He characterizes his approach as ‘Brain Hemisphere Harmonic Healing’, a phrase that conveys his aim of devising sonic forms that ‘induce a meditative state that synchronises brain wave frequencies’. Once mind and body achieve alignment, Mantra’s pieces are said to trigger the release of endorphins, elements of the body’s internal chemical resources that function at the potency of opiates. Electronics integrated with location recordings of the Pacific sea, seagulls, and acoustic instruments including the didgeridoo serve as the means to this end. He asserted that these explorations of sound’s neural affects opened an entirely uncharted path for music.
