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 Bring a little optimism into your life with The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast from Hello Sunshine, hosted by me, Danielle Robay.
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And me, Simone Boyce.
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Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, and so much more.
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I am so excited about this podcast, The Bright Side.
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You guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives, shine a light on a little advice that they want to share.
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 Listen to The Bright Side on America's number one podcast network, iHeart.
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Open your free iHeart app and search The Bright Side.
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 Discover a new educational and interactive podcast, Stories for Kids by Lingokids.
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Our episodes are packed with fun activities.
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Right, Elliot?
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Listen to Stories for Kids on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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 Hey everyone, this is Molly and Matt and we're the hosts of Grown Up Stuff How to Adult, a podcast from Ruby Studio and iHeart Podcasts.
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It's a show dedicated to helping you figure out the trickiest parts of adulting.
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Like how to start planning for retirement, creating a healthy skincare routine, understanding when and how much to tip someone, and so much more.
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Listen to Grown Up Stuff How to Adult on America's number one podcast network, iHeart.
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Open your free iHeart app and search Grown Up Stuff.
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SPEAKER_06
 Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world, and I'm here today with none other than Willow and Janavi to talk about their new collaborative EP, Rise.
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Willow is a singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer,
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 She's well known for her 2010 hit single, Whip My Hair, and has appeared in several films.
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I'm also drawn to so much of her new music today, which is absolutely phenomenal.
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And her album, Willow, is a repeated album in my car.
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And Jahnavi is a musician known for her Kirtan music and is a presenter on BBC Radio's Something Understood program and her Pause for Thought.
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 And she is a long-term friend.
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I've known her for over 15 years and we have served together in so many wonderful ways.
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And today I'm talking with both of them about their newly released EP that they collaborated on together.
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Willow and Janavi actually met through my wife and I last year when they came to our home for an event and we were doing the launch of Red Table Talk Season 2.
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 And it's just turned into this beautiful family, community and atmosphere.
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So I'm so excited for this episode.
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So excited for you to hear it.
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SPEAKER_06
 Today is a very special episode for a million reasons.
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SPEAKER_06
I'm going to start with a couple to get going with.
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This is the first time that Radhi and I are going to do an interview together.
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Yeah.
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So this is fun.
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And there's a special, special reason for why we're doing it together.
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Because today we're interviewing two of our dearest friends, incredibly talented, the most creative, who have launched a brand new EP called Rise, which we cannot wait for you to hear.
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 It is none other than Willow and Janavi Harrison.
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Thank you for having us.
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We're so grateful to be with both of you.
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I'm so excited to have you both here.
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We're both so excited to have you here and just excited to just have this whole energy here, which we have anyway all day long.
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SPEAKER_06
And so why not bring it into an interview?
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So Radhi's going to go with the first question actually.
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I am.
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 Jay Shetty vibe on.
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SPEAKER_07
Okay, so Willow and Genevieve, tell me about the first time you guys made your music together.
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SPEAKER_12
Oh, well, that would be Surrender.
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I was, I just have to put it out there, I was super nervous the first time we got in the studio together because, you know, listening to your music and seeing you doing Kirtan, it was a level of
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 a level of like channeling that I had never seen another musician have.
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And so I was just like wanting to be worthy like so badly to be able to make music with you.
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 So that was my initial emotion when we first started making music together.
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I was probably feeling the same way.
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It was actually such a magical experience.
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 Just as it worked out, I was only in LA for about, I think like eight, nine days.
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And we only managed to actually get together in the studio the night before I was flying out.
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So we knew we had like six hours or so, or actually we had as much time as we wanted, but we could only meet in the evening.
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So we were like, okay, there's only so long we're going to go for.
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SPEAKER_08
 But there was just such a special energy actually.
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We had met up and we had practiced something and I was nervous too because I find the studio can be a lot of pressure.
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Especially when there's not like an idea that's already set.
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SPEAKER_08
Exactly.
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We didn't have a finished composition or anything but I think both of us were just feeling excited to work together and we were like,
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 Let's just see what happens.
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Let's just have fun with this.
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And if it's not anything, we'll just have had a fun experience and we can work on it another time.
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And we got so absorbed in it.
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And it just was flowing.
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And I remember that, you know, it was around midnight when we finished.
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We were like, okay, let's listen to the whole thing now.
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 And we were just standing there and Willow was like... We were delirious at this point.
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We were tired, but we were just... And then we came out of the studio and we're like, what was that?
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What just happened?
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That was so beautiful.
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And it was just so natural.
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 So, and it's very rare that I have those kind of like synergistic, is that a word?
0
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Experiences with other artists because artists are so, I know I'm very opinionated and I have very outlandish ideas and sometimes the push and pull of that can be kind of
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 uncomfortable, but for me and Genevieve, it was like second nature from the start.
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It felt like old friends and even though we're so different in many ways, there was just this feeling of ease and understanding, which is, it's like, that's what you always hope for in collaboration with other artists.
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So yeah, we were like,
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 We have to do this again.
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I love that.
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The reason it's so special as well is that Radhi and I both absolutely adore you individually in your own music.
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So, like, we would be in a car and we'd be playing and listening to you, Willa.
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Like, we'd just be listening to your music.
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And then I've known Janhavi now for 15 years.
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And so I've always been attracted to her music and the way she creates and how devotional it is.
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And so for us to see you both together... Magic.
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 It's just, it's so fulfilling.
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So I want to ask you both, and we're going to uncover all the layers as we go along.
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I also, just before you start, I also just want to thank you both.
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SPEAKER_12
Yes.
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For bringing us together.
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Round of applause.
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SPEAKER_07
 You guys were meant to meet either way, like whether it was through us or whether it was through another way, there was a hundred percent like, you guys were meant to meet.
0
SPEAKER_07
This was meant to happen and everybody needed this in their life.
0
SPEAKER_07
So I think it was just, happened to be us, but it would have been somewhere, somehow it would have happened because you guys were meant to meet.
0
SPEAKER_08
But I think you need to take credit.
0
SPEAKER_07
Yes.
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SPEAKER_08
That's what I feel.
0
SPEAKER_08
Leave it, I'll take it.
0
SPEAKER_08
 If you don't want to take it, I'll take it.
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SPEAKER_08
But I think you're both such special people that you attract such wonderful souls all around you.
0
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And you're always, I think it's probably going to happen throughout your lives that you're making these beautiful connections.
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SPEAKER_08
So yeah, we were both, we always talk about that.
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SPEAKER_08
We're so grateful that you introduced us.
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SPEAKER_07
It's just selfish, really, because I really wanted some like new music of yours.
0
SPEAKER_06
 No, thank you.
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You guys are both really sweet.
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We love you for that.
0
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And we're loving seeing both of your collaboration and friendship and our friendship all blossoming because of this devotional connect that we all have.
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And I want to ask you, what did you, what have you both learned from each other in this process?
0
SPEAKER_06
And it can be musical or non-musical.
0
SPEAKER_06
It can be anywhere you want to go with it.
0
SPEAKER_08
 A lot of things.
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SPEAKER_08
Yeah, I'll say, I feel I've learned so much from Willow.
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I think one of the very obvious things about the process of working together was our different, just different like pace and way of approaching creative work.
0
SPEAKER_08
 And Willow's obviously had so much more experience as a recording artist, as a composer, you've recorded so much and composed your own, written your own songs.
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SPEAKER_08
And for me, even though I have recorded music, it's still something I get very nervous about, because most of what I do is sort of live meditation experiences.
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SPEAKER_08
 So, but we hadn't worked together that much apart from that one song.
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So I didn't really know Willow's sort of style.
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Especially with production.
0
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And the first day I was like, I was taken aback.
0
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I was like, wow, Willow's so confident about, you know, what she's looking for in the sound and also fast pace.
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And I tend to be quite slow, too slow sometimes, like people are always
0
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 wanting me to make decisions faster.
0
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So although it was like, by the end of it, I was like, wow, this has really pushed me creatively in such a wonderful way.
0
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Initially, I was like, I know I was I was trying to like, not in a bad way, not in a scary way.
0
SPEAKER_08
But it was just like, you know, when you just like, oh, okay, I'm gonna be growing here.
0
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I'm gonna learn something here.
0
SPEAKER_08
 Yeah, it took me off of gear.
0
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But I love that.
0
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You know, I was sharing with someone the other day that it's just Willow's approach is so I feel it's the ideal artistic approach, which is, which is to be.
0
SPEAKER_08
Yeah, it's it's to be.
0
SPEAKER_08
 curious and not overly controlling of the of the end results like it's really to discover for the studio to be a space of exploration rather than like I want to have this specific thing and it can't be anything other than that.
0
SPEAKER_08
 It's a very playful and curious approach.
0
SPEAKER_08
And I think I can tend to be more focused on like, okay, but it has to be just like this.
0
SPEAKER_08
So yeah, but by the end of it, I just felt like, wow, I'm ready to be just more fearless in creating and more open to what I could discover.
0
SPEAKER_08
That's just one thing.
0
SPEAKER_08
 There's many more, but I love that.
0
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I think, you know, I would even almost say like the inverse.
0
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Like I felt in times that I was overshooting and like kind of getting lost in the, but what about this?
0
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And we could do this and maybe it's this.
0
SPEAKER_12
And like, I felt like John Levy was really instrumental in like kind of bringing, grounding me and being like, okay, what's the intention behind this?
0
SPEAKER_12
Like, I know you like that sound, but why are we using that sound?
0
SPEAKER_12
 You know what I mean?
0
SPEAKER_12
Like, where does that sound go in the song?
0
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What is that sound gonna say?
0
SPEAKER_12
Like, what's the intention of this?
0
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So, like your intentionality with everything, you might think that it's sometimes a hindrance, but I think it's a blessing because, you know, you know in your heart of hearts what every single instrument and every single lyric means to you.
0
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And you're not just throwing things at the wall.
0
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Like, let's see if this sticks and maybe this, you know what I mean?
0
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 I think those two approaches, they just complete each other in a really nice way.
0
SPEAKER_12
As they say, opposites attract.
0
SPEAKER_12
And I think that this was a case of that, definitely.
0
SPEAKER_07
Both of you together and individually, what was your intention for the music that you were creating together?
0
SPEAKER_12
 I always want my music to bring people closer to themselves, make them feel like they're learning something or there's a thought that's being planted that grows over time.
0
SPEAKER_12
And listening to Johnna B's music, that's exactly how I felt.
0
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And then seeing it live, it was like, okay,
0
SPEAKER_12
 How can I just bottle this?
0
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I just want to have this.
0
SPEAKER_12
Obviously, that's the beautiful nature of it because you can't bottle it and you can't just have it.
0
SPEAKER_12
That's why it's beautiful.
0
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But, you know, I think that going into it, that was my... And I had never made a devotional album before.
0
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So I was even extra excited to explore that different part of me and what I could do with this new, you know, with this new path in my life.
0
SPEAKER_06
 I think also just speaking from having heard you do it and just hearing you talk about it when we're all having lunch or when we're hanging out and just, I feel like your intention was so pure for it.
0
SPEAKER_06
Like from the moment that you first heard devotional music, I remember the first time it was, we were doing a session and then I was like, oh crap, I can't sing.
0
SPEAKER_06
And then Radhi can sing, but she chooses not to.
0
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And then we were like, oh, let's play Janhavi on our phone.
0
SPEAKER_06
 And that's the first time we all meditated in that way.
0
SPEAKER_07
And then there's Willow on the floor.
0
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I know, just like, oh my goodness.
0
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Like just fully with your heart open, like ready to receive.
0
SPEAKER_07
And that's the one thing about you, like, and actually on that note, when you were even thinking about doing this album,
0
SPEAKER_07
 I feel like from what Jhanvi has told me and even experiencing from you, you wanted to get things so right.
0
SPEAKER_07
So whether it was your pronunciation or whether it was like, oh, what does this word actually mean?
0
SPEAKER_07
Like, oh, how is this word used?
0
SPEAKER_07
Like you really want to understand the depths.
0
SPEAKER_07
You're not just trying to say... And that journey, I...
0
SPEAKER_12
 I want it to continue and I want to keep nourishing that because just through this music I've found such a deep love for just the Bhakti tradition in general.
0
SPEAKER_12
And I'm just so excited to just dive deeper into that and learn more and just
0
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 just broadened my horizon in that devotional sense.
0
SPEAKER_07
Which is so beautiful, like you want depth, you don't just want, you know, just like, oh, this sounds really good.
0
SPEAKER_07
You know, you really wanted to understand it and feel it in you so that other people can feel it.
0
SPEAKER_07
And I think that makes a difference.
0
SPEAKER_07
Like both of you feel it so deeply and you've experienced it in different ways.
0
SPEAKER_07
So you're trying to share that experience with other people, but you can only share an experience that you've had yourself.
0
SPEAKER_07
Exactly.
0
SPEAKER_07
 And so I think you really feel that through both of your music and through your words, and it comes from your heart.
0
SPEAKER_07
But I haven't heard from you, your turn.
0
SPEAKER_08
No, I think that definitely that was our desire to try to capture the essence of what that is, this experience with mantra, with sacred sound, and share it in a way that makes it
0
SPEAKER_08
 that little bit more accessible for people who haven't experienced it before.
0
SPEAKER_08
So that's manifest in the form of, you know, these songs, like the typical mantra session might be like half an hour, an hour, and you're singing the same thing over and over again.
0
SPEAKER_08
That might be very daunting for someone who's never experienced that before.
0
SPEAKER_08
So one of our mantra tracks is two minutes long.
0
SPEAKER_08
 And some of our songs are, you know, touching on stories or themes from the Bhakti tradition, but they're more in a kind of typical song format with, you know, a couple of verses, a bridge like that.
0
SPEAKER_08
So it's something familiar, but it's conveying something of this deep, authentic tradition.
0
SPEAKER_08
And so I think it's very natural that when something profoundly affects your life and
0
SPEAKER_08
 touches your heart and offers a space of shelter and upliftment, you want to share it with other people.
0
SPEAKER_08
So that's what we want to just give it as a gift, you know, if we can.
0
SPEAKER_08
And I really treasure the fact that we both had that same intention.
0
SPEAKER_08
 It makes working on anything just a complete joy because you feel so aligned.
0
SPEAKER_12
And that trust was really there.
0
SPEAKER_12
Like we both knew our intentions.
0
SPEAKER_12
And so, you know, trying to do things over long distance because of COVID and, you know, having to make decisions maybe without one another because of time differences.
0
SPEAKER_12
And, you know, that trust was always there because we knew that our intentions were the same.
0
SPEAKER_07
 Which is also probably why what you were saying before about how your differences actually didn't make a difference in a negative way, because you both have such a deep-rooted intention that even if, and we're saying it as if, but even if there was something that you were like, oh gosh, like, but as soon as you take yourself back to the intention, you guys were like, oh.
0
SPEAKER_07
And there were a couple of postings.
0
SPEAKER_07
 Yeah, of course, naturally.
0
SPEAKER_07
Which could bring feuds to people, but because of how deep-rooted everything was for you, it kind of just didn't hit that strongly.
0
SPEAKER_12
Yeah, we just had to talk it through.
0
SPEAKER_12
I remember we had a long phone call because we were trying to do creative things over long distance and there were other artists that were involved and, you know, we just had to call each other and just be like, man, like, this is really hard.
0
SPEAKER_12
And that was...
0
SPEAKER_12
 That was really healing for both of us, I feel, just to be able to express that to one another and to be able to like kind of come back and be like, this is why we're doing this.
0
SPEAKER_12
Let's not stress about something in a material sense, because that's not why we're doing it anyway.
0
SPEAKER_08
So that was a good convo.
0
SPEAKER_08
Yeah, that was wonderful.
0
SPEAKER_08
And even I would say even in terms of the musicality of what we were doing, like,
0
SPEAKER_08
 you know, Willow was taking the role of producer and I know it takes me a lot to sort of sometimes break out of the box of the sound of what I do, which is often rooted quite in the traditional origins of the Kirtan tradition.
0
SPEAKER_08
So I remember we were playing with different sounds and with, you know, kind of bass sounds and electronic sounds and
0
SPEAKER_08
 And Willow was getting so excited on the little sampler.
0
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And I was just sitting behind her like, okay, let's see where this goes.
0
SPEAKER_08
But I always, you know, initially I was like, okay, let's see.
0
SPEAKER_08
But then I really felt a sense of trust because I knew, as we've said, that we were both aiming for people to have this heart connection with the music.
0
SPEAKER_08
So I was like, I'm going to see where Willow takes it.
0
SPEAKER_08
And I trust, you know, we're both aiming for the same space.
0
SPEAKER_08
And that's a beautiful thing.
0
SPEAKER_12
And there were a lot of things that at first,
0
SPEAKER_12
 seemed to you to be like, oh, that sounds a little deep.
0
SPEAKER_12
That's a deep bass.
0
SPEAKER_12
And I'm like, but trust me, Jonathan, people are going to hear this and go, oh, it's going to hit right in their chest.
0
SPEAKER_12
And then you hear it and then you're like, oh, wow, like I see I see this.
0
SPEAKER_07
And I feel that exactly.
0
SPEAKER_07
 And it's such a like, sorry, I'm just going to say how you guys are communicating now, you can just see there's no ego involved in it.
0
SPEAKER_07
It's like, you're like, yeah, you were right.
0
SPEAKER_07
And you're like, yeah, you were right.
0
SPEAKER_07
And just the communication, I imagine it's so difficult, even in relationships.
0
SPEAKER_07
It's sometimes difficult, even if you've known someone for such a long time.
0
SPEAKER_07
 You're sometimes scared of saying something that you think might hurt their feelings.
0
SPEAKER_07
But you guys have built such an honest, you've built a foundation on honesty and integrity and so it's easy for you guys to communicate because you know where that person's coming from.
0
SPEAKER_06
 I think it's a really important part of the story that you guys created this during COVID, during lockdown, being in different parts of the world for a big part of this work, coming together for a very short part of it.
0
SPEAKER_06
It's like you created a really collaborative piece at a time when the music's needed most.
0
SPEAKER_06
 at a time when it's actually difficult to be collaborative and creative.
0
SPEAKER_06
The relationship you guys built, just to anyone who's listening or watching right now, it's fun to watch you both just go back and forth, but to think about the fact that you've actually done this at a time when you weren't always in the same room, I think that's a really important thing to honor.
0
SPEAKER_06
And what I'm intrigued by now is to understand from both of you
0
SPEAKER_06
 and to hear from both of you about your own journey.
0
SPEAKER_06
So Willow, we'll start with you in terms of, tell us about your own journey.
0
SPEAKER_06
You've been sharing so much more about mental health, anxiety, your own healing, always through your music, but also through your words.
0
SPEAKER_06
Tell us about your journey towards wanting to do more, even more healing, devotional music that you felt is going to help people this year, because this collaboration you both created this year was truly wanting to help people.
0
SPEAKER_06
 with the pain that everyone's been going through.
0
SPEAKER_06
So tell us a bit about your journey to that over the last decade.
0
SPEAKER_12
It's a lot.
0
SPEAKER_12
I mean, I don't want to go into like my whole life story, but I mean, is that what I'm... We're listening.
0
SPEAKER_12
Should I do that or should I...
0
SPEAKER_06
 Wherever your heart wants to go, we're with you the whole way.
0
SPEAKER_06
Whatever you genuinely feel like sharing from the heart.
0
SPEAKER_12
Totally.
0
SPEAKER_12
So my first interest in the lifestyle of just integrity and spirituality and meditation, I was introduced to that at a very young age.
0
SPEAKER_12
My mother had
0
SPEAKER_12
 a bunch of beautiful art pieces and books about Hindu gods and goddesses.
0
SPEAKER_12
And I would just sit on the floor of her meditation room and just like look at these beautiful photos and read, you know, about the sentiments of these gods and goddesses.
0
SPEAKER_12
And from a very young age, I was so encapsulated by that and so inspired by that.
0
SPEAKER_12
And, you know, fast forward to...
0
SPEAKER_12
 You know, me doing all the whip my hair stuff and being a pop star and having to realize that that's not the content that I wanted to put out into the world.
0
SPEAKER_12
That's not really the person that I wanted to be.
0
SPEAKER_12
And that was a really difficult decision to make.
0
SPEAKER_12
What made you realize that?
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SPEAKER_12
 I would go out and I would be with peers like kids my age and I would just be stopped and constantly, oh, that's the girl from with my hair.
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SPEAKER_12
Oh, can you do that?
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SPEAKER_12
And I just saw my other friends being able to live and being able to have experiences and being able to make mistakes and not have the whole world know what's going on with them.
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And so that kind of made me think like,
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 Is this really truly the life that I wanna be living?
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Like I wanna actually live.
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I don't just wanna be like a caricature for the world to look at, you know?
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So that took a lot of courage to just say, you know what, I'm not gonna continue.
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SPEAKER_12
There were a lot of people who had invested in me.
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SPEAKER_12
There were projects that were already paid for, scripts that were already written that I had to go back on.
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SPEAKER_12
I'm surprised that I didn't get sued.
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SPEAKER_12
It was a crazy time, but through that,
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 I was like, okay, now that I'm free of this lifestyle that I don't wanna live, now what's the lifestyle I wanna live?
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SPEAKER_12
And so I was so confused, I kind of went into just a spiral of just like depression, desperation.
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I was self-harming, I was hanging out with people that were just wrong for me.
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And that lasted for about two to three years.
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 And then I started realizing This is psychotic literally like I have to stop doing this.
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This is not all this is not the person I want to be either So I was like, okay.
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I hadn't been recording music during that time So I was like really in the dark like no creative outlet.
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SPEAKER_12
No No, I was really just in the dark in the darkness I should say and so then I started kind of coming out of my shell and trying to get back into the studio which felt
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SPEAKER_12
 so like weird and daunting because I was like, what do I make?
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Like, am I going to go back and just be like, hey, like what am I going to do?
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You know what I mean?
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So like the first song that I had put out was, it was called Sugar and Spice.
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You could probably find it somewhere, but it was a radio head, a radio head loop.
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And I remember just listening to that and going,
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 I think, I think I can continue like that little spark of like inspiration was just like, Ooh, Ooh, like, I think I'm, I think I'm coming back.
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SPEAKER_12
And so, you know, ever since then, I've just been kind of digging more into that.
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And as I've gone deeper, just over that time of just, you know, trying different types of music out, learning how to play the guitar, I just really realized that,
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 I just want to be in service.
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The only thing that makes having this lifestyle worth it and for me to feel like I have a purpose at all and to not fall back into that dark spiral was making music that I felt would inspire people and that I felt would be in service to others.
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 That's really the only reason why I feel like I got out of that dark place because people would come to me and tell me, you know, that they were in that same dark space that I was and that my voice brought them out of that.
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And that would just bring me so much joy and just make me feel like I had a purpose.
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Like there's a reason why I have all of these resources and why, you know,
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 people are looking at me and why I'm in the tabloids and all of this.
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And so it just gave me a reason.
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And this is just expanding on that reason.
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And I'm just so excited to continue to expand that reason and to grow that reason and to help that reason spread to others.
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SPEAKER_07
 Thank you for sharing that.
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SPEAKER_06
That is beautiful.
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SPEAKER_06
Thank you so much for sharing that.
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SPEAKER_06
That is beautiful.
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SPEAKER_06
That's phenomenal.
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SPEAKER_06
It's amazing how you came to that conclusion for yourself that service is where you want it to be.
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And that's at the heart of devotional music.
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SPEAKER_06
Like that is it.
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SPEAKER_06
So it's incredible to hear you explain just the natural challenges that come with
0
SPEAKER_06
 your experience of life and the kind of back and forth and the recognition of both that I don't want to be this but I also don't want to be... Exactly.
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SPEAKER_06
Thank you so much for sharing that.
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All before the age of 20.
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SPEAKER_06
I know, yeah.
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Willow just turned 20.
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It's a crazy life.
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It's a crazy life, y'all.
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SPEAKER_12
I love it.
0
SPEAKER_11
 When you find that bright spot to help you get through your day, it's powerful.
0
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That's where The Bright Side comes in.
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A new daily podcast from Hello Sunshine that's bringing you a daily dose of joy.
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I'm Danielle Robay.
0
SPEAKER_10
And I'm Simone Boyce.
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Listen, both Danielle and I are reporters.
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SPEAKER_11
We've covered the news and we know the world can feel heavy, but The Bright Side podcast is a space to have a little fun, to learn something new and get into some friendly debates.
0
SPEAKER_10
 That's right.
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SPEAKER_10
Join us five days a week to see how life can look from the bright side.
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SPEAKER_10
We'll hear from celebrities, authors, experts, and listeners like you.
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SPEAKER_10
Whether it's relationships, friend advice, or figuring out how to navigate life's transitions, we'll talk through it all together.
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Listen to the bright side.