Yes, it's possible says yogic musician and DJ Goa Gil. The GUIDE spoke to the flower power grandpa (he's 59) about how he's going to make teeny boppers rock at Sunday's Full Moon Holi bash
Yes, it's possible says yogic musician and DJ Goa Gil. The GUIDE spoke to the flower power grandpa (he's 59) about how he's going to make teeny boppers rock at Sunday's Full Moon Holi bash
Meet Goa Gil: A 59-year-old American-born DJ who plays trance music, spouts ancient Hindu philosophy, loves idlis, and hates airports. "My music is not for everyone. It's only for those who are tired of everything else they've heard," says Gil over the phone from Delhi, on the eve of the commencement of his India tour.
The namesake
Gil, who hopes to get back to the Kumbh Mela once he's completed the tour, reminisces about a fateful Christmas spent playing by a campfire in Goa. "That evening, I picked up a guitar, and suddenly through my deep meditations, entire songs came through me," he says.
The evening also determined what name Gil would be known by for the rest of his life. "People who had similar names were differentiated by putting something in front of their name. So it was like, 'Which Gil?' 'Goa Gil.' So, there was a Bombay Brian and an Amsterdam Dave, as well," he jokes.
Leaving home
Gil left San Francisco in 1960 at the age of 17 to get on what he describes as a spiritual quest. "I bought a one-way ticket to Amsterdam. I travelled through Europe, then to Morocco, stayed a month there, then crossed over to North Africa, came up to Italy and Greece, went to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and then finally to India," says Gil.
Were Gil's expectations of India clouded with visions of snake charmers and elephants? "My grandfather was a professional photographer, and so I actually grew up seeing his photographs of India, and the rest of the world," says Gil. "Besides, in the '60s in San Francisco, there was already some Hindu philosophical thought coming through. India was seen as the centre of spirituality," he adds.
Lessons from India
Once he reached India, Gil immersed himself in the study of yoga for several years, having also meditated in the Himalayas. "I was living with a yogi in the jungle. That was in the early '70s. Besides yoga, he also taught me how to cook Indian food," says Gil, who says he especially enjoys South Indian fare "because it's so clean and easy to digest."
The most important lesson Gil says he's learnt from India is to do with breathing. "By breathing properly with the 'soul hum' you can be in direct connection with the centre of the universe. Being plugged into that has given me full inspiration, full power, and that's what keeps me going," he says.
Message through music
Gil, who has made India his home for the last 40 years, has a home in Goa, which he says he returns to "chill out" for a few months every year. "I am on tour eight months of the year, and I am often in a different country, every weekend. But Goa is my base. It's where we (along with partner Ariane) have bought our home," he says.
"It is a lot of hard work, and I hate airports and flying, but I forget all that when I see people happy to see me. I realise that this is what the Universe has programmed me to do."
About his performance at the Blue Frog on Sunday evening, Gil says, "I kind of have my crowd, they come ready for the music, and want to dance all night, so there aren't so many demons to exorcise anymore."
At: Blue Frog, D/2 Mathuradas Mills Compound, Lower Parel.u00a0
Call: 65251716 / 18
on: February 28, 7 pm to 1.30 am
Entry: Rs 700 per head
Who is Goa Gil?
DJ Goa Gil grew up in the middle of the San Francisco music scene in the 60s, and later left for India in September 1969. Having been a musician all his life, and having indulged in intense Yogic practices with sadhus in the Himalayas, he tried uniting music and yoga. The result was Music House, and the Goa Full Moon parties that are a rage.u00a0 His focus remains on using the party as a medium to 'uplift the consciousness' of participants through the Trance Dance experience.
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