Just returned from a trip to Glastonbury and the surrounding area. Enjoyable time as always. Spent much of the time outside with nature, drinking alcoholic apple juice, discovering new poetry, messing about with the kids and generally chilling out. We travelled along some of the St Michaels Ley – with trips to the Tor and Avebury being inevitable!

Also purchased a Hammered Dulcimer made by Roger Frood of Dove Dulcimars. Apparently, they are made on the Ley itself which should mean it will be at home when it returns to the studios of utopiaXO (as our studio sits on one of the largest leys in the UK). I’ll post some sounds of her ASAP.

Also took dulcimer lessons with the amazing Dizzie. Check her out at www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxjpYHhfRyI This is a special instrument played by someone who has dedicated her life to it.

Love and Light, David.

JB Priestly’s Dream-Vision

I dreamt I was standing at the top of a very high tower, alone, looking down upon myriads of birds all flying in one direction: every kind of bird was there, all the birds in the world. It was a noble sight, this vast aerial river of birds. But now in some mysterious fashion the gear was changed, and time speeded up, so that I saw generations of birds, watched them break their shells, flutter into life, weaken, falter and die. Wings grew only to crumble; bodies were sleek and then, in a flash, bled and shrivelled; and death struck everywhere and at every second. What was the use of all this blind struggle towards life, this eager trying of wings, all this gigantic meaningless biological effort?

As I stared down, seeming to see every creature’s ignoble little history almost at a glance, I felt sick at heart. It would be better if none of them, not one of us at all, had been born, if the struggle ceased forever. I stood on my tower, still alone, desperately unhappy, but now the gear was changed again and time went faster still, and it was rushing by at such a rate, that the birds could not show any movement but were lick an enormous plain sown with feathers. But along this plain, flickering through the bodies themselves, there now passed a sort of white flame, trembling, dancing, then hurrying on; and as soon as I saw it I knew this flame was life itself, the very quintessence of being; and then it came to me, in a rocket burst of ecstasy, that nothing mattered, nothing could ever matter, because nothing else was real, but this quivering, hurrying lambency of being.

Birds, men or creatures not yet shaped and coloured, all were of no account except so far as this flame of life travelled through them. It left nothing to mourn over behind it; what I had thought of as a tragedy was mere emptiness of a shadow show, for now all real feeling was caught and purified and danced on ecstatically with the white flame of life. I had never felt before such deep happiness as I knew at the end of my dream of the tower of birds…

This is one of the pieces that inspired me to write the album ‘The Light’.

An amazing vision,

Light,

David.

Natural Magick

Sacred and magickal trees are found in the mythologies and religions of almost every culture. Trees form the link between the earth and sky – because they have their roots in the soil and their branches in the air.

Here is a picture of the magickal Yew to be found within the valley of UtopiaXO.

Many rituals and spells are cast  under sacred trees. I find the tree in our valley to have a calmness and inner strength that simply doesn’t compare with the modern, crass commercial world we live in. As the tree is said to be 2000 years old, I imagine many rituals have taken place here through the centuries.

If you need to step outside the busy, commercial world and bring back your focus, find an ancient tree and spend some time. You will hear her if you listen.

Here’s a tree meditation taken from Natural Magick, by Cassandra Eason:

Leaves three
Grant to me
Protection this night
That from thy sight
Harm and malice
Darkness and danger
Fears and intruding stranger
May flee

Light,
Dave Hesketh.

I came across the poetry of Steve Thorp about 15 months ago. This was at the time I was writing ‘The Light’. I found his work was as refreshing as a summer breeze beside the sea. I found out that Steve is one half of the ‘creative thorp’. A husband and wife team. Mary is a graphic designer. Her work for the creative Thorp instantly says ‘nature’ to me. As Mary states:

“I love the raw integrity of simple landscapes: lots of sky, bare stones, ragged seas and dry grasses blown by the wind. Colour and light affect our experience of environments. I try to capture the drama of wind, sky, weather and sunlight changing over the landscape in the sparse graphical images that I print.

This works perfectly with how Steve approaches his poetry:

My poetry is intended to be accessible, observational, reflective and emotional. I’m fascinated by words, imagination and creativity: my biggest inspirations come from the simplest things: a soft, summer wind; a birdsong, the changing moods of the ocean; a sense of belonging;  a gentle, loving look or touch.”

Check them out at www.creativethorp.co.uk

Light, David.

We are currently developing a Utopian art installation. We’re looking to explore the notion of Utopia. What it is. What it means to different people.

I feel, that by posing such a question, we also consider, with a more objective eye, the life we lead now.

Hope you like the installation above. It’s called ‘Garden’ by Malakoff.

I sat looking at this as I played ‘Garden’ on the new album. Take a look in the music section if you would like to hear this piece.

Light, David.

I find walking in nature everyday inspires my writing. This poem by Thomas A Clark perfectly captures the essence of how nature inspires music.

A school of minnows, darting in a shallow stream, is jazz

A clear brook, tumbling over pebbles, is counterpoint

A pair of orange-tips, fluttering in a meadow, is Mozart

A cloud of dust moats, drifting in a sunbeam, is chamber music

A patch of thistles, lurking in the fog, is dissonance

A herd of deer, stepping in oak woods, is plainsong

Taken from Jazz by Thomas A Clark.

Picture of the Ancient Yew Tree Hope Bagot.

Utopia studios is lucky enough to have a 2000 year old Yew Tree less than 200 yards from it. This is a special place. It is worshipped by many (the summer solstice was busy). It also has a natural spring running underneath it – nourished by the roots of the tree.

A quick search on google, hope bagot, ancient yew will bring back a number of videos taken of the tree by druids, worshippers and tree gods!

I find the spring is the perfect place to wash yourself clean before composing music.

The track ‘The Sun, The Stars’ was inspired by the concept of the light dancing on this spring. You can listen to it

The Spring itself can be heard on the ‘Above You’ – alongside a 70s Mellotron!

Hope you enjoy… Love and Light,

David.

Picture of Utopia Studios in the path of a major earth energy ‘ley line’.

Utopia Studios lies in the golden valley of Hope Bagot, England. This is the area where Alfred Watkins had a vision of ‘a chain of fairy lights’ across the beautiful landscape. Since this time ley lines have become associated with prehistoric pathways, ancient astronomy, UFOs, mysterious earth energy, ghosts, flying shaman and spirits of the dead.

We discovered, upon moving here, that a major ley line runs straight through the studio and through the ancient Norman church that lies in the Hope Bagot Valley. I totally believe this energy drives the music we create here. Many visitors have commented on the feeling of energy they experience when here for a period of time.

I like to think of these energy lines as the noosphere – a concept Teilhard de Chardin the philosopher coined for the energy created by the human collective consciousness. I have tried to depict this ‘human energy’ throughout the album.In fact, it’s the first sound you hear and appears throughout the piece.

I hope this positive energy reaches you through your speakers (try to listen on something half decent – you deserve it!).

Love and Light,

David.

From the Garden of Eden it came… The most beautiful drink known to man! It’s been well known for a long time that we offer cider to the music folks who visit Utopia! On a beautiful sunny afternoon, sat outside the studios many a musician / music biz type have fallen prey to its potent power.

… Because we’re not talking the commercial, fizzy stuff here. We’re talking the real thing. Just apples (and sometimes a little organic cane sugar).

We’re lucking living in the West Country (in fact one of our neighbours is a cider farm!) so there’s an abundance of the product in the area. Dunkertons, Westons, Mahorral, Ralphs… They are all within 20 miles and highly recommended.

It’s a beautiful drink. And I would highly recommend it as a driving force of creativity (although there is a fine line between inspiration and passing out!).

Wassail, wassail!

Summertime in England Video

There are always small ways to make the world a better place. Here’s 10 ideas… pass them on to friends. Ask them to add an idea and pass it on to their best friends… We’ll have a credo with 1,000,000 actions before the end of play today. We can then just pick those we’re most apt to implement. Beautiful idea.

10 Ideas to get things started:

Take public transport
Decline plastic bags where possible
Plant a tree
Read a story with a child
Introduce yourself to your neighbours
Watch less TV
Write to someone who inspires you
Hug someone
Shop locally
Fit at least one energy saving light bulb, or
Join something!