“I became a part of that magic. I have understood what that’s really about,” Bansuri flutist and Bhakti music circuit darling, Manose Singh, confides while sitting in the green room at Portland, Oregon’s iconic Revolution Hall. He’s been touring with Deva Premal and Miten for the better part of their perpetual, two decade, global tour.
“I was finished with music as a career when I came to Osho. I was damaged,” Miten reflects on his early years as a British rocker as he sits next to Manose on the couch, laughing as Deva Premal joins the party. A framed photograph of Osho sits on a small table behind her. Deva Premal is the ever-graceful mantra diva who essentially maxed out the genre; she sys she is still forever “humbled to think that I could have an impact on one person’s life.”
A sea of adoring followers always in their wake, Deva, Miten & Manose have opened a very intimate space in the Temple at Midnight. A deceptively scaled-back, acoustic set-up magically produces a fuller, deeper resonance than the bigger productions they’ve staged in the past. Deva, Miten & Manose are always elevating the vibration with a richness of sound commensurate to their ever-deepening collective devotion.
The tour feels like hybrid. It’s victory lap for Miten, because they’re traveling to support his new solo release, Temple at Midnight, while also offering the mantras their followers know and love. Miten’s new songs are woven throughout their set with equal time given to Deva, the mantras, as well as a special spot in the set featuring Manose that taps us into his Himalayan roots.
Tayata Om Bekandze Bekandze Maha Bekandze Radza Samudgate Soha
(May the many sentient beings who are sick, quickly be freed from sickness. And may all the sicknesses of beings never arise again.)
Miten’s Temple at Midnight release is the crescendo of a life with a decidedly steep karmic arc that everyone from Snatam Kaur to Stanislav Grof are fawning over. “To go into the heart, to feel embraced by the intimate music and lyrics, and to hear the soul’s longing, are gifts of this beautiful new album…” -Snatam Kaur
The US leg of tour under their belt, the love train heads for European leg of the tour.
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Award-winning journalist, documentary director and long-term LA Yoga contributor Sam Slovick is the director, writer and producer of the Radicalized documentary, currently working on the Kirtan Road Dogs documentary.