Music
Press
"Peace & Quiet is the perfect music for your guided meditation. Japetus has taken the best music from a 20 year career and remixed it to create a deliciously relaxing flow of tranquillity. Every track oozes peace and quiet. There are two CDs in the set - the first 'Peace' has the moving and relaxed tracks, whilst the second CD 'Quiet' has the still and relaxed pieces. If you like background music that sets the true tone of tranquillity, then this double CD is a must-have for massage, studying, driving cars and meditations." - ART OF HEALING magazine February 2004
"Peace & Quiet is the kind of music which should be listened to when you are naked, lying on a table covered in oil, being worked on by your masseuse. This is the perfect soundtrack for breathing and getting in touch with that deep quiet within, perhaps a spot of yoga... a perfect accompaniment to those extended tantra sessions... it's like having your psyche teased with a feather... perfect for conflict resolution sessions, perhaps in court and even better... in council chambers to enhance the likelihood of thoughtful decisions."
- BYRON SHIRE ECHO newspaper October 2003
"Japetus has been a leading ambient and New Age musician in Australia since the 1980s. Over the last year he has been remastering all his earlier works. Deep Space is a collage of cosmic moods that wash through you, taking the soul on a trip through the universal mind. The CD is divided into to lengthy tracks: 'Starlite' - winner of a 2000 Dolphin Music Award and 'Celestial Ocean' which ebbs and flows into the soul. Deep Space is a broad sweep, taking you on an extra-human journey, not unlike Kubrick's 2001. Very powerful and profound music."
- NEXUS magazin
Of all the releases by Japetus, I find 'Visions Of Paradise' the most accessible, but also the hardest to describe. It is music unto itself, an emotional feeling, a cosmic mood. As with places we may journey to, we feel we have been there before - deja vu. If that feeling could be translated into music, you would have 'Visions Of Paradise'. Composed, arranged, produced and performed by Japetus, an Australian master musician.... this is deep soul music." - SOUTHERN CROSSING magazine
"Australian artist - Japetus - is well known to listeners of meditation music. His past recordings are all adventurous works being applauded in the press as belonging alongside popular overseas artists. 'Visions Of Paradise' was inspired by and composed for International Year Of Peace. This music is superbly suited to meditation and transcendental states of consciousness. Each side moves through three different phases, blending together to form an unbroken flow. A fine example of New Age music at its best!" - THE CRYSTAL VISIONARY magazine
"Japetus stands out as one of Australia's most adventurous synthesiser musicians, and he has ventured into unfamiliar areas where few others have dared to go. On the Radiant Self he is exploring new territory. It is at times melodic, but there are also sequences that are confronting and mechanistic, as he contrasts the utilitarian world of mankind with the infinite reaches of space, beyond. The Radiant Self is intended as a musical journey of self-exploration and makes few concessions to the blandness which characterises much New Age Music." - NATURE AND HEALTH magazine
"Another positive contribution to the shire’s creative output.... the images are set to an ambient soundtrack that is relaxing and unimposing.... the subject matter is, of course, outstanding... the locations are sensational.... it’s a brilliant chill-out DVD for anyone who loves watching nature.... I'm sure visitors would also appreciate it.... and the price makes it a possibility – $9.95 for a download or $19.95 for the hard copy."
- The Byron Shire News 30/10/08
"Wow, when my son and I watched the Visions of Byron DVD we became very restless about our living situation in Melbourne and immediately wanted to move there! It has been so sensitively filmed and it is wonderful to have your beautiful music playing in the background. Thanks." - Jo Buchanan, Melbourne
Discography
Titles
Japetus
- The Great Great Silence
- Once Around The Sun
- The Kabbalah / The Zodiac
- The Major Arcana of the Tarot
- The Egyptian Book of the Dead / Kundalini Yoga
- Visions Of Paradise
- The Radiant Self
- Infinity
- Shaman Journey
- Tales From Atlantis
- Crystal Light Awakening
- The Threshold
- Deep Space
- Peace & Quiet
- Journeys Beyond (sampler)
Photos
Bio
Vibratory worlds
I was born and raised in Sydney and from an early age I heard music in my head but it was not until I taught myself to play a variety of instruments including drums, guitar and keyboards, as well as singing, composing and production that I managed to capture it. I combined these skills into audio/visual production and worked for several years as an audio/visual producer. To assist in my desire to be a recording artist, in 1980 I set up my own recording studio and began creating songs and experimenting with sound using some of the new digital music keyboards launched in the early 80s. I recorded over 40 songs and sent them to record companies all over the world, however I was still a few years ahead of my time, recording as a solo studio producer writing Pop songs about social change and extra-planetary influences.
Spiritual paths
Along the way, I stumbled upon the practice of meditation, gathered information on various spiritual paths and gradually came to understand the importance of a higher more universal awareness. As this new perspective of life grew within me so, correspondingly, my interest in traditional pop music began to diminish, and I found myself working in a more instrumental vein. I began to recognise the connection between sound, colour and imagery and the more I worked with it and continued to explore consciousness the more I began to channel the various inspired journeys that went on to become my Visionary Journeys catalogue.
Framework
Since 1983 I have composed 12 inspirational albums (plus two compilations) and released them through my own record label doing all the production, manufacturing, distribution and promotion myself. This catalogue is an evocative and colourful collection that presents a profound musical framework for exploring the vibratory worlds of imagination and sound for the purpose of self-discovery, meditation and healing. Most of the albums were created on keyboard synthesisers and music samplers intuitively synthesising my own unique inter-dimensional sounds, perfecting ways to provide the perfect atmosphere and colour to evoke the particular journey and imagery. Later I added spoken guided visualisations based on the original imagery I saw when I developed the concepts for the original music.
Synthesis
Although I have focused on music, as a synthesist in the broader sense, my talents include video producer, vegetarian chef, creative writer and graphic/web designer. To support one of my best-loved albums, Visions Of Paradise, in 1987 I filmed and produced a video of magnificent natural vistas, rivers and sunsets, creating an audio-visual healing experience. This had wide applications in therapeutic areas as well as in the home and workplace. It was even shown on its own Qantas in-flight movie channel as part of a meditation package and I will be re-shooting that in digital video later in 2006. I have also performed some of my musical soundspaces at various healing workshops and conferences on metaphysics including the Esoteric Sciences and Creative Education Foundation conference in 1990 (where I also held a rare workshop) and of course the opening of Conference Earth in 1995 where I also had the delight of providing a live soundspace behind Dr James Hurtak during his mind-blowing guided visualisation.
Commissions
In 1985, Australia's most prolific writer in mysticism and the occult, Nevill Drury, asked me to produce a series of three albums of inner space music to accompany his book Music For Inner Space (ISBN 0907061745) for release in Germany and around the world. Over the last 20 years, I have worked with Denise Linn (USA) and Jo Buchannan (Aust) on guided visualisation albums, produced the soundtrack for an alternative movie called 'Into The Light', recorded and produced a series of Tibetan Buddhist chanting practice tapes for Lama Trijam, and supplied music exclusively for the National Federation of Healers Inc (Australia) guided visualisation album. In 1996, I was commissioned to create the title theme and incidental music for the 26 part TV series 'Yin, Yang and You' already shown to over 100 million viewers on NBC Asia as well as in The Middle East and South Africa. In 2002 my music and video was selected to support a guided meditation video for Qantas.
Awards
In 2000 I won Best New Age Ambient instrumental track + Best Environmental/Message song + Best Promotional Artwork design in the North Coast Entertainment Industry 'Dolphin' Awards and in 2002 I also won Best Folk song and numerous nominations in 2003.
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