Part Two InterView + 
It has cost me more frustration than anybody should ever have
to go through. I mean it's just , I've certainly kept abrest of the life
patterns of a few of the idols of mine in the past. I'm not going through
anything that Mozart didn't have to go through; that many artists subsequent
to Mozart haven't had to go through. It's just that I never thought that
I would ever have to go through so much shit. It's almost like a resentment
that you encounter just because you know who you are.
And you know, it's really indicative of our culture because it's, you
know, for the purposes of turning us into more eager consumers, it's advertisers
will espouse the idea of being unique and being an original, but everything
else in our culture speaks against it. It's almost like the systematic
subtle program that's run in a school system, in the corporate world,
everything that influences our lives is basically just become a number
and accept that you have a small voice and it doesn't really count. And
it's a belittling of the people that is indicative of everything.
See, I don't think that it's coincidence. I mean, I don't believe in
coincidence for start. Coincidence is just the mind's way of acknowledging
that it doesn't yet see the big picture and how everything is connected.
But, I think for the most part there's a reason why since the sixties
and seventies there haven't been really allowed to elect Beatles and Dylan
and Hendrixes on a level where people were not only making great ground-breaking
music, but were really saying things that were allowing people to...that
were encouraging people to think for themselves, to take their power back,
and to stop giving your power away to everyone.
I mean the way our system is set up, pretty much by the time we get through
the doctors, the lawyers, the this, the that, the preacher, everything
in our culture seems geared towards us mortgaging a piece of ourselves
and each of their cronies getting another piece of ourselves. You know,
you can't even have...a family can't even sit down and have a meal without
somebody intruding upon their fax machine, or their like phone, or trying
to get at 'em some other kind of way. Even the law allows consumers, or,
the law allows businesses so much more leverage to just harass the fuck
out of people living their living experience.
You know, and it's like, I do believe there's a force behind the industry,
that the industry itself even answers to which is kind of like as long
as you don't let any of this... you know as long as you're given 'em Backstreet
Boys and 'N'Sync, which has its click at the table, at the feast; as long
as you aren't saying anything beyond that, then it's o.k. But I do believe
that even the Backstreet Boys would have a big problem somewhere if they
came out with something that, that they wanted to come out with something
that was basically saying to that demographic who they speak to, "Take
your power back! Think for yourself! Stand up for yourself and be who
you truly are! And stop letting other motherfuckers belittle you and tell
you that you're just this!" I don't think that that would be allowed to
happen.
I mean, there's reason why, you know, I don't think it's just a talent
level, because the world is a large place and only getting larger, but
if you condition people from the cradle to not have any thoughts that
allow them to see themselves as connected to the whole of humanity and
yet a unique original individualized aspect of Creator...you know we're
easiest to control and manipulate if we can be made to feel that we don't
really count.
And so, it's understood, it was seen in the sixties by the establishment,
the powers that be, the powers behind the throne that we never even see,
that music does have the power to galvanize and to shake shit up. I'm
with the Dylan squad, I'm with the Beatles squad, I'm with the Stevie
squad. That's just who I consider myself a part of that legacy. I ain't
here to just like lull to help lull people into a deeper sense of consumer
complacency, that's not who I am. And if I've got to speak to five motherfuckers,
I'm gonna tell the truth to those five people because, hey, I'm just a
part of the John the Baptist squad for the Elvis generation. But if that's
what I'm here to do, then I'm gonna be the John the Baptist that I'm gonna
be, to set up the next Elvis, who will be the next team of the forces
of liberation.
So, it's like the net, for me, allows me an opportunity flip over, they
didn't want to put the record out, they felt like it was not a commercially
viable situation, and quite frankly I that to some degree they were afraid
that it didn't sound like the cookie cutter shit that they feel comfortable
putting out, and that's the truth of it, because it's what it is. And,
you know, you've got people running labels now that don't even love music
man. You know, they were switched over from the aerospace division of
whatever conglomerate bought the label; the record company.
They were put there because the chairman at the very top of the pyramid
understands that Ed Jones understands the bottom line that the company
represents. And these guys it seems lost (to them), and try as they might,
music is a whole different thing than running a tire company. It's just
a whole different thing; and they're suffering because of it. No matter
how much they like trumping numbers and say that we've made so and so
profits, none of these guys are making nearly as much money as they think
that they should be making. It's because they don't trust the very artists
that represent the public that they're trying to reach.
I represent the public just like Britney Spears represents the public.
She represents one aspect of the public, and I represent a different aspect
of the public, but they're out there. If you deny me access to them, you
deny yourself a chance of participating in those people's lives on that
level. So, it's obvious that these people do not know what the fuck they're
doing, which is why when they have success, it's almost like an accident
of fate. They're reactionary by nature man, if you had people like the
old David Geffens and the old Ahmet Irdigans, to some degree the old Jeff
Ayoroffs; if you had people like this consistently running companies who,
yes they understood their corporate responsibilities, but they were also
fans of music, and they were music lovers, then it would be a different
thing because some of these guys were mavericks.
Very very...they don't let a maverick get near running a label now and
in the same way they don't let an original motherfuckerin idea get near
the presidency. You know what I'm saying, it's like if you even had a
thought about having an original idea, you would be immediately be given
some medication to make sure that that thought was killed immediately
before it got to the other side of your brain, because the next thing
you know you might actually inspire the people to think for themselves...
(who knows what would happen then) Exactly, and what have they got a brilliant
mind like Jeff Ayoroff doing now? Reissuing the Beatles. Jeff Ayoroff
has got some genius in his mind. It doesn't take genius to reissue the
Beatles though. He should be running fucking Capitol is what he should
be doing. Giving him free range to reinvent the company to something that
it used to represent when they had the Beatles and the Beach Boys instead
of now just living off the gas fumes of those people's music.
It's really really sad, but it's also really funny, so it's just kind
of like these guys are so busy being afraid they look at each other and
they don't lead, they follow which is why everything always sounds like
what was happening last week. And the net is a wonderful opportunity for
me because I've experienced such frustration that I've just decided hey,
you know what? the important thing for me is that people hear this music;
so, just give it to them. And if it winds up basically pissing off a couple
people at labels hey I'm not going to run away from that, because I've
definately experienced my share of pain at the hands of their arrogance
in assuming the reason that I was born was to basically follow their idea
of what I should be doing when they don't have any ideas.
So, I'm very excited that I also get a chance to reward the patience
of the people who have basically supported me emotionally and psychically
with their wavelengths and their vibes. I'm really grateful for them,
I have to say you've given me a wonderful opportunity to let them know
in many respects I do what I do for them I don't wish to sound as a martyr,
I'm not here to be a martyr, but I believe in the people so much, I'm
not going to talk down to them. I don't recall promising Creator that
I would come here and talk down to people, but that the genius that I
was given, and loaned by nature for this experience I was going to use
to remind the people that we all...we all have genius within us. If we
would but trust the unique voice that each individual has, which is their
aspect of Creator that Creator shares with them.
And I just remember that I promised to uplift them and not to talk down
to them. I'm here to talk motherfuckers up, not down. When I used to communicate
through Java's site, that was the first time that I was able to see some
of the things, I remember seeing yours, I remember seeing a guy I think
he was from Sweden...I was deeply touched. Sometimes people assume that
artists know all of these things, but in our own way when we're kept isolated
deliberately or whether we keep ourselves in a relative isolation, you
just don't tend to know, and that's why, for example, with myself whenever
I come across any artist who has touched me, I have to let them know,
because so many people assume that you hear things all the time, and you
don't really hear things as often as people assume that you do. I don't
take these things for granted, regardless of my opinion of myself.
You know, one of my favorite people in the world artistically is Julian
Schnabel, because Julian Schnabel or however you pronounce it...you know
here's a guy who's never directed a film so "I'm gonna direct a movie"
the second film he directed his actor is nominated for an academy award,
and it's won rave reviews, but he lives extremely well, his art does extremely
well. And one of the talent knocks against him is that he has a very strong
sense of confidence, and it always baffles me that people don't seem to
understand that this is precisely why he does so well.
You can't connect...you can't disconnect the fact that worth is synonymous
with self-worth. People who have healthy opinions of themselves, do tend
to live well; people whose self-esteem has been compromised and is suffering,
do tend to suffer more than it was intended. The bottom line is, I am
here to play my part in reminding people that everybody is the shit, everybody
is the bomb, each person is a unique singular example of God's grace,
and that Creator's greatest desire for any of us, Divine Mother's greatest
desire for any of us is that we stand up and be counted, let our voice
be heard, and walk with confidence, with full stride, with confident steps.
I am the shit, if everybody agrees, that's cool, if nobody agrees that
still does not compromise my awareness that I am that I am, I am who I
am, and hey, if you ain't feelin' it, cool. I'm feelin' it.
You know, it's just that...but to know that other people have an opinion
of you that means that you're feeling is not in vain, is wonderfully supportive
and galvanizing and it's just that way, man. You know, any time somebody
else goes to the trouble of putting up a site; even if they didn't put
up a site, but anytime anyone embraces your work that is so deeply nourishing
and touching and it is really what sustains you, and I want to remind
the people that...you know sometimes you might wonder well gee what inspired
Bob Dylan to write a song like, "The Times They Are 'A' Changin'"? I mean,
muses are real. I know I get much of my material from the dream state.
I know that I get my music from the muse. But I also know that sometimes
the people that give you...that where you get your music is from the people
themselves. We are all connected on a level of collective unconscious,
if you want to look at it from a psychological standpoint to use a psychological
term.
Sometimes it's kind of like the people might dream music in their subconscious
and where it comes out is in one of the artists that they favor. So, some
of my music comes from you guys! And I'm not saying that to be like, you
know, because I'm not a good butt-kissser regardless, but I realized just
a few years ago when it came to me that oh shit some of the music that
comes through artists are coming from the actual fans that these artists
inspire. If the artist inspired the fans then nothing is one-way. Then
the artists and fans must also, at times, inspire the artist.
Because if you respond to something that I do, it must mean that it comes
from you in the first place or else how would you respond to it as though
it speaks to you if perhaps it didn't speak to you in the beginning. And
then I heard it, I heard it speaking to you, and I said, "o.k., cool.
I will write this song because you are the person who inspired it in the
first place." I've got a song that I'm going to be recording for this
next project that I've had for quite a while, which I'm finally ready
to record. It's kind of such a dramatic piece, that while I was still
dealing with that Sony situation I wasn't confident that I would be able
to sneak it past the censors as it were. I don't mean censors as far as
profanity or anything like that.
But it will require me sharing the stage with a female vocalist, but
the song requires someone who can really sing their ass off, so, there
are a few people that I have in mind, but I'm going to let it come to
me, that's the way I tend to do things. At the appropriate moment I will
know who to contact, and I will contact them and ask them and they will
say yes or no. But it kind of requires such a voice that there are very
few people...and there are people, for example, who I am a fan of, who
I won't mention just in case it's misconstrued, who I'm a fan of, but
they also have to be the type of voice that can handle the range of where
the song is pitched and where it's at and the type of drama that the song
involves.
Yeah, it's really a casting job as much as anything else. Like casting
a film, it's not just about the hot singer, it's somebody who can really
fulfill the role, and I don't really care if she's known or unknown. But
you know, I have a project in mind that won't be the next project, but
I actually have a project in mind that is a duet project and the idea
was to...I don't know if I feel comfortable giving away too much of the
idea at this point, but the idea did involve two other female vocalists
or a female vocalist and another male vocalist. I don't want to reveal
too much of it because it was an idea that I've not yet seen done.
Although when I was speaking to André Harell, who was trying to get me
to join forces with him and his new label project, I did mention it to
him that I had had in mind for a few years and was just waiting for the
right time to announce itself to me that it was time to do it, and I was
also willing to consider it as a separate...it's not been done since Tammi
Terrell and Marvin Gaye. To find a woman with whom I had musical chemistry
and doing it as a separate career path thing. Every so often I would do
my duet record with her, and we would develop that and at the same time
still be able to do what I did as a solo artist.
So, those things have been brewing in my mind, but what I really wanted
to do was to re-establish myself in a space where I could get that off
of the ground and then turn my attention to those other things because
one thing's for sure, and I do want to make sure the fans know this, once
I come back in this way there won't be those delays that there've been.
When you consider that my first record...this will be my fifth record
that I will be releasing and I came out in '87. A lot of that was just
not my intent, although I'm not insecure to the degree where unless I
put out a record every eighteen months, people are going to forget about
me, I don't really worry about that because I do want to live a life also
which allows me a time to experience things to put back into the work.
But suffice to say that it was not my intention for there to be these
interminable delays between projects. It's just been the nature of the
beast that I've had to fight. The great irony in this frustration that
I've been blessed by Creator I'm very prolific. I've got material that
I don't even need to write for the next five years. I've got three albums
worth of material that I could comfortably go back into and go, "Cool,
let's do this." Stuff that I've even forgot about that I'm sure...you
know all the time I stumble on songs that I've had for years that I've
forgotten about. "Oh yeah, I remember this!"
So, once I get back up and running I just plan to get on with it now.
There was some talk at one point that André Harell was trying to get me
to do something with Mary J. Blidge and I thought that the only way I
would do it is if we could kind of meet somewhere where it wasn't...because
I'm not an R&B artist and that's just the way of it. Some of the frustration
has been coporate entities trying to get me to focus on that one, but
the bottom line is that one of the things that excited André at the time
we were having this discussion, in his mind, he thinks that she's an untapped
Tina Turner.
And I kind of saw that because there is something about Mary J. where
it's kind of like, you know we haven't had a black rock chick for a long
long fucking time, fuck all that shit, we need one. We need more than
one, but I was really excited about that, we could go into and revisit
a kind of Ike and Tina thing but now, and basically do what would have
been a kind of (interlabelling perspective?) a rock/R&B hybrid and I was
kind of really up for that and I don't know if the discussion ever got
back to her, or ever got beyond just me and André musing about it, (maybe
she'll hear this).
Yeah, the more I talk about it the more I'm reminding myself about it
and it would be cool to have another avenue where I could kind of focus
on that and just continue developping my path as Sananda Maitreya. The
bottom line is, you know, I'm not an R&B artist unless you're going to
expand what R&B is to such a degree...(label the labels) exactly, you
know music is a high profile thing for me and it's not the only reason
that I'm here, I'm doing other things which a lot of people who follow
what I do are unaware of. I have a completely separate life with the music
business where there are a group of people who...who I don't know how
to phrase this in a way that would do justice to it without making it
just a soundbyte thing, but there are a group of people for whom I um
I'm kind of a figure that helps them come to terms with their own grace
and their own uniqueness and I play a role in their healing process.
So, I have a completely separate life away from the music thing, although
everything that I do is really in service to the one idea, which is basically,
whether it is through amusing people, or entertaining them or inspiring
them or encouraging them, it's just all toward helping to get people back
to themselves by reminding them of just how truly amazing and capable
of so much more they are. And reminding them that, you know, you are absolutely
capable of fulfilling all of the true desires of your heart, and if you're
not here fulfilling your dreams, what are you here for?
No one can ever attain lasting happiness unless they're dedicated to
themselves to telling the truth about who they really are, and standing
up and just being that, and that what is the meaning of life? The meaning
of life is, a. what you give it. What you decide the meaning of life is,
is what the meaning of life is because Creator gives you full carte blanche
to determine for yourself what it is. b. Life exists so that you can live
the biggest, grandest idea you have of it in yourself, and that the sky
is the limit and beyond it. Truly to (.........and beyond?)
Because the way that the greatest change that you can effect in the world
is the most profound, is the simplist, is you doing what is necessary
to bring joy into your life. Because a person who is living their life
in joy and in happiness and fulfillment cannot help but to inspire others
to do the same. Whether they are trying to or not. Energy influences it,
and some people will run a mile away from you because they ain't ready
to see the light, and that's up to them. Creator doesn't force anybody
to do shit, all on you and what you want to do. That's why you've been
given the space that you require to determine what you want to do. But
we let other people move into our house, proverbially speaking, who all
got a different idea of what we should be doing.
No wonder the people are so confused. Creator is flexible, we're the
ones trippin' on what to call It. It doesn't give a fuck if you call It
Ralph or Betty, you know, Creator is beyond that level of ego where...that
you are willing to consider Creator anything moves Creator. That you are
willing to call Creator anything moves Creator. Creator is not removed
from our experience, some entity that is just out there, you know, that
you are just willing to even consider whether there is a Creator, moves
Creator beyond our level of understanding. Creator feels man, Creator
is just a giant heart, so you know, Creator is a game of basketball also.
Everything is Creator.
(Something else is on the horizon). Yes. It will be called, again I've
changed this title to "Terence Trent D'Arby's Wild Card." And the next
project will be by the artist Sananda Maitreya. And that will be on my
own label, and I am not comfortable yet announcing the distributer because
the contract hasn't been signed yet (but they know it's coming). Oh it
is coming, it is coming, and if something happened with that I would record
these songs and I would find a way to make them available. I would just...one
thing is for sure, nobody's gonna stop me anymore. I'm sticking to the
people. (You can count on that).
© 2001 Sananda & Smak
Transcribed by Benjamin Westerhoff
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