Interchill Records considers Adham Shaikh's Journey to the Sun as an essential album for any lover of ambient / spiritual music.

Initially released in 1995 by Instinct Ambient, Journey to the Sun sounds as beautiful today as it did then.

Adham looks back on this project:

* What was the inspiration for journey to the sun?

The inspiration for journey to the sun came from my first trip to India, and of using a portable dat machine to record the ambiences along the way. A sort of acoustic diary.

* What was your route / timelines?

the route was basically arriving in New Delhi and acclimatizing to India (this took a week) from there we ventured north up into the Himalayan mountains. A 45 hr bus ride and a rental jeep got us to within viewing distance of Mount Everest.
From there we took a train south and then east to Benares
We stayed here for about 5 days exploring and recording
The very old city is home to many musicians and is the area where the Ganges is quite slow and large. Many people come there for holy communion with the mother Ganga from there we then 36 hours by train to Bombay and then 20 hrs south to goa. Where we visited my friend Goa Gil, got a tour of Goa and the secret temples in the mountains east of there.
From this point we then traveled around locally and explored the hidden spots of India that only the locals know of.

* Did you set out to make an ambient album ?

The idea to make an ambient album was in my mind before I went and Gerald @instinct had given me encouragement that they would be interested an ambient record from me.
But the record I made was not the record I imagined I would make before departing.

* Looking back on it, how does the music strike you now?

I am still very pleased with how the record sounds. I rented a Warehouse for three months to make the record after returning from India.

* Has your production and compositional style changed much since then?

I have evolved (I like to think) the tools I have access to now make certain processes so much faster.
What used to take five hours (beat synching loops) now can be done in a matter of minutes. This seems to allow for more time to be spent on other creative processes. Recently my musical explorations have been more up-tempo that journey was, although I shall be exploring another ambient release soon.

* What other journeys do you wish to make?

At this point I am very interested in South America /Australia New Zealand/

* What impressions from the journey still make an impact on you today? …

The analog liquidity of the album. It was all analog except the “field recordings” - a very smooth cd

* How did people react to your mic?

I found it a challenge sometimes. I spent a great deal of energy disguising the mic or hiding or looking inconspicuous so that no one would disturb me while recording.

Many strange looks. But I think that since I didn’t have a camera it wasn’t as intrusive. And on the occasion when I would let locals hear what I had recorded, I saw astounding looks of amazement and wonder.

* What role did you find music playing in people's lives?

In the ambient context. Music is bringing and creating a space for people to reflect, to journey inwards in an active mediation. Relaxation and dreaming. Then more up-tempo music is bringing the tribal community together for dance celebration and connection. Communication. Quite powerful reallly.

* Please tell us of two of Brian Eno's oblique strategies that you particularly appreciate

Honor thy error as a hidden intention
Don’t be afraid of things cos their easy to do.

(andrew@interchill.com)

Indigenous music throughout the world vividly captures, in intense
clarity, all that humanity has experienced and come to understand.
Without the burden of words, music can record and convey the
spiritual evolution of human cultures through the ages. To me, India
represents one aspect of this evolution.

The music on this album is a fusion of our own western technology,
with the tribal mysticism of an ancient civilization on the brink of
modernization. My trip to india was initially a quest to explore and
capture new sounds -- discovering and integrating textures not common
to western music. The tonal complexity of eastern scales acutely
balances western electronic production and modulation techniques --
resulting in a truly magical blend of sound.

I have attempted to musically convey my journey through India
including the rich bright colours that I encountered, as well as the
kindness and warmth of all the wonderful people I met

adham shaikh, 1995