interviews
Interview by Machinelf December 17, 2005
Images courtesy of Goa
Gil
Goa Gill will be playing
in
<SNIP>
\
hi
jeff,
namaste
and greetings from kalifornia !!!
here
are the answered questions !!!
please
keep the whole thing intact as one thing,
and
please do not edit, or remove, any of the answers or the questions !!!
so
here you go:
In
a message dated 12/5/2005 2:16:05 P.M. Pacific SA Daylight Time,
machinelf@tranceamericana.org writes:
When I was
selling advertising for the Mayor of
the spiritual trance cd...
that is quite a long time ago.. more than 10 years !!!
it is the Cosmic Spirit who programs all the messages,,
guiding us through what we call inspiration
!!! 
I love the photo of you in 1970.... you looked like Jesus, but even then you had those deep soul
staring eyes. But your face was like a baby, with the whole world in your
future. Where were you in that photo? Did your beard come much
later?
that photo was taken in
i was 18 years old at that time....
i know it was 1970, because in the beginning of 1971,
i shaved my head at the sangam,
the confluence of the ganga, yumuna, & sarasvati rivers
on the occasion of the ardh kumbh mela,
where i was staying with one of my guruji's in the juna
akhada....
What kind
of upbringing did you have? I assume classic baby boomer postwar 1950s
Beaver Cleaver variety. Were your parents closet beatniks? Jazz
musicians? Descended from Vikings? Communists? Are you Jewish?
What gives (there has to have been a mutant strain in there somewhere
:-)
wow, you want my whole story !!!
maybe we better do this on the phone !!! :)
i am 5 generations san franciscan...
my great great grandfather came here in the mid 1800s
and they started a tobacco, tea, and coffee import business
in the gold rush era and did very well !!!
when my great grandfather inherited the business,
he sold it, invested the money,
and they went travelling around the world...
they were some of the first tourists !!! :)
my grandfather and his brother travelled with them,
and my grandfather turned 18 in
he became a professional photographer,
and every year when i was in grammer school,
he used to come to our school and show a slide show of his
photos
from
so that was a big influence,
also my both parents were very musical...
my dad was born and raised in
so he was always playing ukelele and singing hawaiian songs,
and my mother sang, played piano, and tap danced also
!!! :)
so all of these things were a big influence...
Did you
move to
although my family is an old san fran family,
when my mom and dad married they moved to
where i lived the first 10 years of my life,
as there were many oppurtunities there at that time...
we moved back to the bay area in the early 60s
and i had my teenage years growing up in marin county,
and hanging out on haight street a lot !!! :)
If so did
you ever run into the Ken Kesey people?
yes
Did you
ever live the Electric Kool Aid Test SF scene?
yes
Did you
ever go the Psychedelic Circus in NYC in its hayday? We did a party
there before it got turned into condos in the late 20th Century:-(
no, never went to
What cool
pleces were there outside of
amsterdam, tangiers and marrakesh, mikinos,
istanbul, teheran, afghanistan, katmandu, bali,
just to name a few...
there were many cool places
hidden away from the world in those days
Did they
try to draft you for
yes,
well kind of...
i turned 18 in tangier, morocco, in 1969,
so i registered at the us embassy there,
because i was travelling
i got registered to the foreign board in
by the time i recieved my induction papers a year later,
i was living with my Guruji in a temple in kashmir,
and had already received my initiation as a hindu monk !!!
so i wrote a whole paper on our rules of monkhood
and our vow of ahimsa (nonviolence in thought, word, and deed)
and my Guruji also wrote a letter for me,
as did the chief of police of
and then when i got my draft card i was designated as 4D
minister of religion or student of divinity,
so i was exempt from the draft....
You've been
an musician all your life. Can you expound a bit on that? What
instruments did you play, what were your influences,I'm guessing you were into
jazz and early psychedelia, maybe Ravi Shankar and Roky Erickson, 13th Floor
Elevators, Can, Eno, Yellow I heard, Pink Floyd, that kinda stuff...
i first played piano from very early age, but soon switched to
guitar...
my first 45 single was elvis
my first vinyl album was the ritchie valens memorial album
i was into all the music of the time,
starting with early rock and roll, motown and soul,
blues, jazz, and the acid rock from
i saw everybody live, as i was involved in the
working for chet helms and the family dog at the avalon
ballroom...
saw the beatles last us concert at candelstick park,
saw the stones with brian jones, saw pink floyd with sid barrett,
saw dylan when he did his first electric tour in the like a
rolling stone era,
saw jimi hendrix a number of times and even hung out with him
the first time he came to
and i knew most of the
(drank quite a few rainier ales with janis 
)
anyway, the list goes on and on !!!
i have always been very passionate about the music,
and have been through nearly every style of music
to arrive to where we are today !!!
Were there
any uncannily prescient sonds from the 60s, 70s, 80s that predicted the
psytrance soiund?
for me it all has been one evolution
of music and musical education
that has brought us to where we are today musically...
Has your
Kundalini ever unleashed itself serpent style?
Yes
What is it about
Babas that set them apart from others, and connect them to others? Do
they have their own secret codes?
yes
MUSIC
What's your
current passions, music and otherwise?
God and music, in that order...
Any labels
or artists that you think are doing groundbreaking things, in of course no
particular order of favoritism?
same as above
From Bryan
Ladd - What do you think about the barrage of new dark psy springing up all
over the
great !!! 
my quest for the musical holy grail
has been an unceasing search for new sounds and new beats !!!
and most of the new ideas that are pushing the boundries further
come from the global underground....
and for me,
this is the most interesting and psychedlic music at the
moment !!!
if you have been into this music as long as we have,
you get bored of hearing the same old thing all of the time....
we need something stronger !!!
Do you
think on-line music file sharing is helping or hurting your success?
it doesn't really phase me,
never really think about that...
but probably it has helped...
as it has given access to the music globally,
and in places where, normally,
people would not be able to come into contact
with such underground sounds...
I
personally think (and I bet I'm in the majority) that mixing things up with
other genres adds a great freshness to the
i think that whatever
you believe in you should do...
and maybe then you might come up with something new !!!
everything is about inspiration and believing in what you are
doing !!!
after that,
music is a question of taste...
some people like italian food,
some people like japanese food, etc etc etc
it is all a question of taste...
Some have
said that the pairing of you and Ariane has brought a harder sound into the
mix. Is this a coincidence?
ariane has been with me since 1986,
and we have always liked the harder side of the music...
for example, our favorite group of the 80s was front 242...
but ariane did bring a lot of the african tribal feeling into
the music !!!
I think
beat matching is no substitute for inspiration, composition and
relevance. Agree/Disagree?
agree
I think
some may thin you live in a hut or a clay temple in India somewhere, with the I
think some may thin you live in a hut or a clay temple in India somewhere, with
theonly nod to technology being computer and audio. Are there any other
handy westernized techno tools you use for music or otherwise?
sometimes it is like that !!!
in
over the phone also comes in handy !!! and a camera !!!
From Bryan
Ladd,
it will keep evolving in unexpected directions, i'm sure !!!
From Bryan
Ladd,
God only knows !!!
From Scott Abott,
well, we are trying !!!
at least now it is a global movement,
with circles of light all over the planet
in communication with one another through the internet !!!
so we have made a lot of progress
from our humble roots on a deserted beach in goa !!!
From Scott Abott,
that is the problem !!!
to keep the original spirit and feeling intact
when it becomes too big
or one becomes too successful !!!
the pitfalls are many !!!
one must be strong and remember his duty !!!
that is where a good spiritual and moral foundation is important
!!!
when one in One in the Spirit,
then one can withstand the pressures of success & fame,
remaining pure within the framework,
and staying true to the mission !!!
in pure service to the Divine Will.
BIG IDEAS,
ODDS,
ENDS AND FLAT-OUT OFF THE RADAR SCREEN
I heard you
and John Draper AKA Cap'n Crunch ran into each other in
yes,
he did visit me in goa,
at my dhooni (holy fire),
when he was there a number of years ago...
glad to hear he is doing well !!!
haven't seen him in quite a long while !!!
What else
are you into besides the music? I assume you don't play first person
shooter video games... Anything that may surprise anyone?
Being a servant of God, Ma, Shiva,
the Cosmic Spirit, or whatever you want to call it,
Music, and the numerous duties of life, take up most of my time,
there is little time for video games....
Are there
any good nutritional/dietary advice from your travels and exposure to so many
cultures?
yes,
be
kind to animals by not eating them !!!
i have also done very well since i stopped drinking coffee,
chai, and sweet drinks a few years ago, and started drinking a
lot of green tea !!!
my best diet is a fruit diet, as when i do that i feel sooo pure
and energized !!!
Any emerging technologies that will be majorly trance inducing do you envision for us?
Boxers, briefs,
nothing?
how about a biofeedback virtual kundalini meditation program
?!!??
Are there
any psychedelic drugs that no one has tried that you may recommend, for
research purposes of course.
that is not my main area of expertise !!!
perhaps you should ask that question at the hofmann symposium
next january !!!
Any
thoughts on the
no comment as i have no experience with this movement...
Do you see the
pairing of psy-trance and Mexico/Brazil as a natural evolution?
i see it as a natural evolution globally,
as in earlier times,
every tribal group on the planet has used music and dance
to communicate with the Cosmic Spirit and become One with It !!!
and this is what we are doing for this time we live in now
by redefining the ancient tribal ritual for the 21st century !!!
You've
travelled far and wide in your life... as a forerunner and pioneer in the first
truly globalized transmogrified music movement that breeds fertile grounds for
exchange of ideas from many world cultures, where do you think is the Next Best
Shore for psychedelic trance?
the moon ??!!??
Where do
you think UFO's come from?
from uranus.
Do you
think Timothy Leary was the devil?
no
Any
opinions on his Intelligence Agents book which expounded on his theory that
human races evolved in two directions, one migrating east from northern Africa,
following the rising sun and genetically becoming more Hive minded over
generations, culminating in the Confucian Far East nd the Rising Sun (and by
extension the Native Americans), and of sourse Westerners migrated over harsh
terrain away from the sun, basically evolving into a sstrain of risk takers
that culminated into the West Coast of the U,S?
sorry, but no comment,
as i did not read that one by leary !!!
my favorite book by him is the original (not reedited) version
of "the psychedelic prayers after the tao te ching"
which he wrote while he was in almora,
Do you
think any of Terence McKenna's ideas made sense, such as us learning language
from mushrooms or even Timewave Zero? He did say the plant based
shamanism was the direct source to the divine with the middleman taken out, and
that
no comment,
as i have not read his books...
although i read many many books in my time,
by the time his books became popular
i did not have much time for reading anymore...
but i do have close friends who grew up with him,
and have heard many stories from them about him,
even from the last moments, so i have a great respect for him.
TRANCE AND
THE WORLD
How is the
world different from what you'd thought it would be when you were in that
pictuire in 1970?
it is different than what i expected at that time...
as at that time i expected to be all my life a yogi living in
the himalayas !!!
but looking back now, everything that has happened makes perfect
sense !!!
i prayed so hard at that time to Ma to please make me a pure
instrument of Her Will,
never realising that it would happen in a completely new and
unexpected way !!!
but looking back, i understand now, that through all the life
experiences,
i have been perfectly programmed to complete my mission
!!!
You've
played all over the world. Any particularly memorable or favorite
places?
of course goa in it's heyday was the best
!!!
we love the parties in kalifornia and
the tour of japan this summer was really great also !!!
we just got back from a 5 week tour of south america that was
nice !!!
in europe we love the party every summer in
russia, italy, portugal, greece, etc, etc, etc, they have all
been fun in one way or another !!!
we had so many good parties all over the world, and it continues
to grow and flower !!!
I've heard
Prince William is/was a major goa head At least he had Flying Rhino
posters in his room.
cool
!!! 
Any ideas
on ghetting world leaders clued in to save our planet, or solving the
Palestinian peace process through, say, musical pacts with the Sufis?
would be nice,
but i will leave that to others
whose duty it is to take care of such things...
i am not into politics as such...
and for me it is all Maya !!!
Do you
think
i believe it is already started in a small way...
also when we were hitchiking across
in 86 and 87 (2 times), i gave quite a few cassettes away,
and even did a very small indoor party
with some locals and tourists near kailash in 1987 !!!
Is the
Indian caste system as unfair and hierarchical as say American racism?
that is a big subject...
too big to go into here !!!
but let me say here that,
according to the Sanatan Dharma,
the 4 orders of men arose from the creator,
each man having his particular duty,
and thereby the society and their world turned in harmony...
later on, it was corrupted and abused and recieved the
reputation it has today...
Are there
any historical figures who would have been trance heads had they been able to
hear the music (George W not included!) ?
Guru Dattatreya Maharaj ??!!??
Psy-trance
seems to be huge in countries which lost World War II. And maybe slowest
per capita for one of the, ahem, victors. Do you see any
connection?
not really...
people in those countries were more open to new trends in music,
and since a lot of the early techno was made in
the europeans embraced it as their own !!!
and in
were so locked into radio and mtv music and rock and roll,
that this techno music they found too robotic,
and so it took them quite a long time to understand and come
into it.
there are always exceptions of course !!!
Do you
believe the Mayans were right when they said we'll be entering a Spiritual
Transformation in 2012?
were right ???
ARE RIGHT !!??!! 
THE
Where have
you played in the States before, and will you be playing more dates here in the
future?
Burning Man (several times), that's all i can remember right
now...
hopefully we will play more in the states sometimes...
I've heard
this after in North Carolina last year you played the same loop for ~24 I've
I've heard this after in North Carolina last year you played the same loop for
~24 hours, offset with sounds that sounded like,
well, violence.
that is sooo much crap !!!!!
I'm not
sure an explication about the big idea came out about that. I unfoirunately
wasn't there (everyone said I would have loved it) , but I assumed it was all
about the role of
i played all night & all day
the most new killer unreleased
cutting edge dance music on the planet,
as i always do !!!
that rude person who was ranting and raving on the internet
saying very bad things just didn't comprehend what was
happening
because of his lack of musical education in this genre,
and so it sounded like the loop from hell for
him.... poor baby !!!
What's your
perspective on the Bay Area scene these days.
great !!!
many killer new artists are emerging !!!
alien mental, fractal cowboys
(quasar & dylalien),
ocelot, ghreg on earth, mubali, and yohimbe just to mention a
few !!!
Any kind
words for
May the Light of Love shine
in your hearts and in your minds
and may you always walk in Peace !!!!!
You are
always a positive truth seeker and have recommended meditation to all aspiring
djs. Any other suggestions?
Any suggestions
to the organizers of psy-trance here in the
yes, keep it Holy and keep it Pure !!!
the Magic happens when a party is Holy and Pure
from the initial idea and organisation on up !!!
so remember to keep it Pure & Holy !!!
IN CLOSING
Do you have
any New Years Resolutions for 2006?
my mother always used to say:
"if you don't have something nice to say,
it's better to say nothing at all."
i would like to be able to do that always !!!
What kind of
journey are you going to take us on for New Years?
probably a continuation of the story in
a journey to the deepest, darkest regions of the mind and soul,
so that you confront and exorcise your demons,
thereby unleashing the Triumphant Power of Light &
Love !!! 
From from one
of your fans who works for our government's space program- "If i were
to smoke one of your dreadlocks, just how high do you think i would get?"
***
probabaly pretty high,
but i don't think it would taste very good !!!
ok friends, i guess that's it then...
finally the end of the questions....
see you soon in
wishing you all the best for 2006 !!! .....om
shanti, gil
REDEFINING THE ANCIENT TRIBAL RITUAL FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
www.goagil.com
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA !!!!! HARA HARA MAHADEV !!!!!