Medicine music - the hypnotic sound of the summer

Encompassing everything from the hippy drummers on Benirras beach to the packed dancefloors of Amnesia, Ibiza’s music scene is the best in the world. Over the last ten years, a new style of music has emerged on the island, known to those who are familiar with it as medicine music. Medicine music is music with a spiritual intention and is perhaps best described as a sound birthed in indigenous ceremonies. Whether coming from deep in the rainforest or high on a mountainside, the primary purpose of medicine music is to connect and to heal. One of the first events in Ibiza to invite this style of music was Namaste, the long-running party at Las Dalias that is curated by Ibiza’s World Family.  Namaste has held live concerts from ceremonial musicians including the Yawanawa and Huni Kuin tribes from Brazil and the Huitxol from Mexico, along with contemporary musicians who have learnt from tribal teachings. 

Medicine music seems to be the new hot topic in Ibiza. But what is it really?

All music, in a way, is medicine. But medicine music is specifically music that is inspired by plant medicine ceremonies, or that has been forged somehow in that energy. Medicine music seeks to express the sacredness teachings of indigenous life. At its best, medicine music carries the very spirit of the plant medicines. These frequencies are the force of the medicine, and you can have extremely profound and transcendental experiences simply by listening. The current of the medicine music is growing, and keeps growing, because the world is hungry for that soul connection, for that sustenance.

What was the catalyst for the medicine music movement?

I guess the encounter between Western and indigenous cultures. In order to understand medicine music, we have to look at the context in which it has emerged. During our era, which is very much an era of transition, there has been an increase in people seeking indigenous knowledge and culture. They are searching for knowledge, for a different type of cosmovision, for healing, for spiritual growth and for curiosity. Coming from a confused and distorted world, which the industrialised world is in many ways, I think people find an immense relief in discovering another layer to life, another mindset, another reality, in which the heart and soul of nature governs everything. It is quite the gearshift to the Western mind, to find that there is also a way of life that is kind, good and sacred, that is in direct dialogue with a living, benign natural world and with the ancestors. It is a feeling of coming home and it can be like an epiphany. It can also leave people with a great desire to express themselves, for example using art. 

What makes a good medicine musician?

In my opinion, the truly interesting medicine musicians are those that keep one foot firmly in the spiritual realm and the other in the musical world. There are a lot of excellent musicians that are not so into the medicines and the ceremonies and keeping that path in focus. Then there are some amazing spiritual warriors that are not necessarily musicians, per sé. All have value and all roles plays an honourable part, but personally I am drawn towards those that balance both worlds - the prayer and the real dialogue with the invisible world on one hand, and the musicality and musical craftsmanship on the other hand. The combination is super potent, and it really draws me in.

You were raised in Norway. How did you find yourself on this path?

I started working with plant medicines in around 2005 and was introduced to indigenous healing and prayer ceremonies in 2011. I have sung all my life and performed since I was a child, but the plants have taught me to use my voice in a different way. The medicine has helped me to understand, and to heal. It has taught me to pray to cultivate myself and my purpose. The plants have somehow opened a portal in me to sing in a way that gives voice to something beyond myself. 

What is medicine music’s message to the world? 

I might be totally wrong, but it feels to me as if the medicines show each of us how to heal. They show us how we can use our talents to forge the world we really want to live in. When we give up our own convictions and entertain the wild idea that life is way beyond what we can fathom, magic happens. We are born with a unique talent and a unique purpose. Only you can figure out what your purpose is and how to go about fulfilling it. The ancestral traditions have keys for unlocking the doors. They have the knowledge of how to cultivate and maintain a good, healthy life. I guess what I want to convey is… believe in yourself, allow yourself to explore your talent and your purpose. Allow yourself to make mistakes, to learn, to heal. Allow yourself to be imperfect, to be human.  Live it, walk it, celebrate it. Just be as fiercely yourself as you can, wild and free and real. Life is too sacred to miss out on the fullness of ourselves. 

What are your plans for this summer? 

We are doing a fundraiser called Water is Life in which we gather funds to bring clean water to the indigenous Yawanawa people of Northeast Brazil. It is a collaboration with the organization WaterNow, the artist Mose and our record label, Nixi Music. So far, we have managed to raise around 20,000 euros for the campaign and WaterNow is heading there this month to install the first clean drinking water supply. We are also releasing two new songs. First is our new single Freedom Song, the second single from our new album coming later this year. And secondly a song called Bella Flor, written by Taita Bladi and recorded with Curawaka and Astral Flowers, for the soundtrack of the movie Beginning of a New Era by Olli Aurinko Ylinen.