Badashi: How long did it take you to record the Stages of Life album?

DJ Story: About a month.

Badashi: So you did all the technical work?

DJ Story: Yes I did.

Badashi: See that blows me away! So you had a lot of fun recording it?

DJ Story: Definitely my friend Dr. Do Right is on there with me. I was staying at his house, and we had other guests on Love and Light.

Badashi: Wait… you know Love?

DJ Story: Yeah Love yeah…

Badashi: And you know Light?

DJ Story: Yeah Light…

Badashi: Dude you’re down with Love and Light?

DJ Story: Oh, I’m down with Love and Light.

Badashi: See, that’s the thing when you make an album and you invite love and light on the album dude, there’s no way it’s going to be a bad album.

DJ Story: Oh yeah.

Badashi: It just Can’t be

DJ Story: Oh Love’s a great singer, and Light’s a great didgeridoo and flute player, and so that was a great combo, and then we had Sasha Butterfly come on, and she’s another great singer.

Alicia: A bunch of blessed out puppies…

Hahaha

Badashi: I literally feel like I’m sitting on the beach on Kauai. Was it just really sunny when you guys made this? Be honest…

DJ Story: Definitely. Most of the CD at least I think.

Badashi: Did you guys eat anything or drink any shamanistic teas or anything while making the album?

DJ Story: No…

Badashi: Good, cause I don’t condone the use of those substances.

Hahaha

Badashi: So why did you choose the name DJ Story?

DJ Story: Cause music for me is the only way to really convey the story I’m trying to express.

Badashi: Yeah, that’s a good point. I can’t argue with that.

Badashi: So when did you get into the real like electronic sound?

DJ Story: Well I took a DJ class and it was a scratching class in New Mexico so I was doing the hip hop scratching for a while. Then I got into mixing house beats, because the teachers were into house music too. Now I’m really into the all different types of electronic fusion.

DJ Story: I was also in a marimba band for four or five years playing traditional music from Zimbabwe.

Badashi: Really? Wow that’s intense!

DJ Story: Yeah there were 7 marimbas. a bass, a baritone, two tenors and three sopranos.

Badashi: What’s a marimba?

DJ Story: It’s like a xylophone except it has wooden keys.

Badashi: So there’s 7 players?

DJ Story: Yes

Badashi: What would you even do with that many people?

DJ Story: We would all have these interlocking parts that went together creating an incredibly rich sound. So that was fun.

DJ Story: I’ve been recording for about 7 years now all pretty much self taught. Well, a few people have told me a little bit here and there, but I’ve never really worked with anybody that knows the technical ins and outs of the studio.

Badashi: Well you know what, that reminds me, I don’t know anything that I’m doing when I come in to the studio. I walk in and look around and go, “Oh hey, I guess I’m here.”, and start pushing buttons and all these alarms start going off…

hahaha

Shoshana: I wanted to ask you a little bit about all the music we’ve heard so far bringing us up to the top of the hour.

DJ Story: Sure.

Shoshana: You have other voices and musicians on there obviously but you’re doing most of the instruments yourself?

DJ Story: yeah I just love to play with the synthesizers and the microphones. putting them in different configurations, and I play other instruments too like the marimba and some mbira (African thumb piano) and I like to sing, and I really love to bring other artists in and get them involved with stuff like didgeridoos and flutes and other voices or whatever they have to contribute guitar, saxophone whatever you know.

Shoshana: And your father plays with you too sometimes? What does he play again?

DJ Story: Yeah, he plays the tenor sax and the alto and soprano flute and his main instrument is his voice.

Shoshana: You’re sort of a local here. I mean you’ve been living in Paradise with your family, but also you grew up in or spent a lot of time in New Mexico in the southwest right? And you spend a lot of time on Kauai.

DJ Story: Yeah I was born in Jamaica.

Shoshana: Alright wow that’s cool. So you’re kind of multicultural here, and when you go to Kauai a lot in the winter time like that last voice we heard on transforming with Sasha Butterfly, a lot of the California artists go over there and hang out for the winter right? So you get to record with them?

DJ Story: Yeah a lot of people from all over the world come to Kauai, so it’s a really great hub for music and art and again music is like another form of photography except for it’s with sound. Like with photography every picture has its own story that it tells, and it’s the same with sound. It’s like there’s a story behind the creation of every song or melodic composition.

Shoshana: You’re a young man here barely what you’re 21 or 20?

DJ Story: I’m 20 right now yeah.

Shoshana: I’m amazed that you uh I mean you have a lot of talent, and I mean just a natural feel for mixing the music, and getting the moods going.

DJ Story: Thank you

Shoshana: How long have you been doing all this?

DJ Story: I’ve been playing music my whole life, although recording, I started out DJing. I was scratching and stuff doing hip hop stuff at first, and then I started learning how to mix electronic music and then I really started getting into the studio work, cause I wanted to do something a little more original and start incorporating that into my sets, so I still like to DJ live for people, and I’ve been recording in the studio for about the last 8 years.

Interview with River Freedom by DJ Story

Maui Story: So you make didjeridoos and flutes on Maui?
River Freedom: I’ve been making didjeridoos and bamboo Shakuhachi
flutes as a way of creating sound healing tools on Maui for the last
10 years. I lived out in Kipahulu in a cave for a year. That cave has
a history of flute makers coming and going.
Maui Story: How long did you play the Didj and flute for before you
started making them. What got you interested?
River Freedom: It all started when I got to Maui in 1995. I had been
dreaming about dolphins and aliens and having experienced
multidimensional reality I started working with Bamboo right away.
That was in Haiku down Haumana Rd. I was living with some real hippies
who actually made money making bamboo drums. I needed to experience
dreamtime. I felt a magical calling to share mind expanding experience
with others. The didjeridoo with the right player and vibe can take
you there.

Maui Story: How long did it take you to record your album Didjeridoo Dreamtime?
River Freedom: It took 40 days from the time I met Dreamseed at
Miracles Bookery, now it’s a crystal store called Supernatural. We met
in Makawao. Dreamseed and I instantly connected. He was carrying his
didj and a small backpack He was sleeping in cow pastures and eating
avacado sandwiches. I was managing a retreat center called Angels Nest
up Olinda Road and the owner was away so I had run of the the mansion.
I just wanted to make an album so bad. Those were heady days of
Shamanism on Maui. We did everything natural no psychodelics at that
time. The didjeridoo was enough. We would go to house parties and
blast peoples chakra’s with the didjeridoo . We’d blow them away into
the dreamtime. They wouldn’t know what hit them. Some people would
even astral travel.
DJ Story: Cool where is the River taking us now?
River Freedom: That is a mystery. We all have to find it within
ourselves. One Spirit is our guide. I am a healer and I have a special
life mission in mind expanding communication and the arts. We’ve got a
Breathwork and Sound Healing workshop coming up to help people access
the Akashic Records so they can discover and learn for themselves. As
we realign ourselves with the Tao our collective power will
predominate. First we need to care about what’s going on inside of our
minds and more than other peoples. We get to evolve or perish.
DJ Story: Where would you like to see yourself in the next 10 years?
River Freedom: In the moment.
DJ Story: Good point!