Franc O'Shea

Franc O'Shea: about Jazz and Alkimia

by Enrique Farelo from www.tomajazz.com, Spain, October 2006

Franc O'Shea is a musician, a human being and a spiritual son of the XXIst century.

An alchemist and global musician in pursuit of the fusion of fusions, from his native Ireland through Africa and continuing to Spain; a philosopher and citizen of the world; and as a son, he has Gaia, the Earth, as “mother”. 

Alkimia, his project, despises materialism, it looks for Music that enriches in the course of time, becoming eternal and transmuting into gold Journey of initiation in space-time.

Franc O’Shea, composer, arranger, bassist, producer and sound engineer and, above all human being, offers us his verb and his knowing, in exclusive interview for Tomajazz.

The human being. His Philosophy.

EF: What is the meaning of Music in the context of Life?

FO: To me real music is a gateway to another realm of consciousness. The whole Universe is music, the whole Universe is vibrating. I believe that music can calm our minds and our thought processes so that we can connect with the true Oneness of everything. We can experience it without the words and labels that we veil this realm with in our normal everyday lives.

EF: Is happiness the aim of music or is it something deeper?

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FO: I believe that happiness is more fleeting and superficial than joy and peace. Happiness is like an emotion whereas joy and peace are eternal states of being. Some music brings happiness often due to association with a memory, but timeless music like J.S. Bach comes from joy and peace and therefore connects with the eternal not just personal memories. Music’s ultimate intention is to heal and take us out of time to the Source that we are.

EF: What is Art?

FO: Art to me is the utilisation of the natural creative power inherent in us all. To be creative, inspired and use our imaginations is our natural state and I believe when that is taken away from people they become ill. This power can be used in any creative medium whether it be music, painting, acting, conversation, teaching, writing, serving others and so on.

EF: How do you differentiate from music that is artistic and music that isn’t?

FO: I think most music is artistic on different levels to a point, but obviously commerciality for commerciality’s sake is often completely devoid of any artistic merit. I also think it is important to realise that ‘artistic’ doesn’t always equate spiritual.

EF: You have expressed in some occasions that you would obey your heart before following money and fashions, that the soul is the important thing. How do you to bring together these ideas into the everyday life, with the people that form your family circle?

FO: I believe that if you follow your spirit and allow your creativity to flow becoming a channel of the Source then everything falls into place in your life. You don’t have to worry as the Universe, which you are, takes care of things. Sometimes it’s scary and you might not be able to see the bigger picture but in hindsight you look back and you think ‘wow, that worked out so well!’ I am blessed as it isn’t just me that feels this way but also my immediate family.

EF: When you speak about the soul, are you referring to anything that transcends the material?

FO: I believe that you can’t separate the spiritual and the physical. It is all part of the same thing. Just because your eyes can’t see microwaves doesn’t mean that they exist in an entirely different realm. Some people think that the physical realm is something of lesser importance than the spiritual and that they are just biding their time till they enter this realm, when in fact it is already here and NOW! So to become enlightened is to actually fully realise this.

EF: In the same way you have expressed that, on having submerged yourself in the music of other cultures, it is as if you knew them already from a previous life. Are we capable of remembering past lives and, consequently, music’s from the past?

FO: I believe that all things are happening at once, all time is happening at once. I think that the past is no different from the future, it is just that the limited perception of our conditioned minds only sees a small proportion of the bigger picture. If you think of a computer game, all the possibilities and outcomes already exist in the digital data, everything is there already at once and the player is only following a path or thread through the sum total of outcomes. So I believe that ultimate reality is like this analogy, that time doesn’t actually exist in the linear way that we perceive it, in the same way that most people believe that we are all separate beings when in reality we are a ‘unified field of energy’, to quote Einstein. So as John Lennon said ‘I am you and you are me’. In this sense I am every life that has ever been and every life that is and will be, therefore if I connect with music from another time and culture, I am only ultimately connecting with myself.

EF: Do you pick up sounds from all parts of the planet, elaborate them on a unconscious level and then manifest them on a conscious level?

FO: The whole thing is done from a level of consciousness but using the thinking mind only as a tool. The deepest expression of music for me is beyond thoughts and words. Words are merely signposts that point in the direction but are not the things themselves. Confusion arises when people believe that words and symbols are the things themselves, as you can only REALLY experience something by being in its presence and quietening the mind, taking away the mental veil of images and preconceptions. In this sense I believe that written music is merely a tool but it is not the music itself, so to really understand music from another culture you have to be quiet and feel it. Understanding something technically can help but ultimately you have to be able to feel it.

EF: Do dreams have any influence on your compositions?

FO: Chuang Tzu once said that he dreamt of being a butterfly and when he awoke he began to wonder if he was a butterfly dreaming that he was a man. To me it is all part of the same thing so in that sense yes! I have actually had many dreams where I have been composing and playing but I have never written them down but I am the same person that dreams and wakes, so when I compose the same channels are open whether I am asleep or awake.

EF: Are you interested in psychology? And in parapsychology?

FO: I am interested in metaphysics and science, but not particularly psychology per se.

EF: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu is one of your bedside books. Is that right? What is the Tao, and to what extent does it influence your music?

FO: The Tao Te Ching is an incredible book that completely changed my life. When you ask the question ‘what is the Tao’ you ask the same question that many before have asked for thousands of years. The answer is that you are asking the wrong question. You should ask what is the Tao like. You can’t say what the Tao is with mere words because once again the words themselves aren’t the actual thing itself. You can use words to point someone in the right direction but in the end it is something that you have to discover for yourself. To try and describe the Tao directly is like trying to get your finger to point at itself so we have to use analogy. Probably the best analogy we can use for the Tao is water. Water flows freely, taking the least path of resistance, in this way being in accordance with the Tao is not fighting against the flow of your life. To be a channel for my music I use these principles.

EF: The front cover of Alkimia is an Aleister Crowley temple painting titled ‘The Tree of Life’, who was this character and to what extent does he influence your life?

FO: The front cover painting represents the ‘Tree of Life’ amongst many other things but that not what it’s entitled. Crowley was a complex, controversial and charismatic figure who died age 72 in 1947 and was cremated in Brighton where I live at the moment. Much of his work with the Magick Arts was ahead of its time and misunderstood during his life. He spent a large portion of his inheritance on publishing books that didn’t sell whilst he was alive but original copies now exchange hands for thousands of dollars. He was an extremely gifted mountaineer and climbed K2. He was also a very intelligent outspoken character, who was the head of the Cambridge Chess Society and could play three opponents simultaneously. But his path was ultimately cut out in Magick and by the swinging sixties he had become one of the esteemed spiritual leaders along with Timothy Leary and Aldous Huxley. He appeared as one of The Beatles ‘favourite people’ on the cover of Sgt. Peppers and others were drawn to Crowley’s teachings such as David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. I wouldn’t say that Crowley massively influences my life but is definitely one of the few people’s lives that I find inspirational.

EF: And to end this first part: what other arts are you interested in?, literature, painting, cinema, etc?

FO: I love Salvador Dali’s work as well as Gustav Klimt’s paintings and Frida Kahlo’s amongst others. I love the great British philosopher Alan Watts’ work as well as Eckhart Tolle, and enjoy studying various spiritual teachings from around the world. I like reading biographies and autobiographies too. I also enjoy great films especially ones that challenge our preconceptions of what reality is and I enjoy watching dance especially Flamenco.

The Musician. His work.

EF: When did you start being interested in music and who influenced you in these first years?

FO: I remember becoming aware of music in the early seventies when I was about 7. My brother John was into Bowie and I liked him. Later on I got into Hendrix and Santana courtesy of a box of records that a friend of my mothers had left at ours. The Beatles affected me a lot too and then the whole Punk thing was starting in the UK and I got into some of the more musical bands like The Stranglers, Ian Dury and Bauhaus. Out of that came the New Wave thing which was very experimental and it really was a creative period of time, there was some crap but there was some absolute works of genius. I eventually got into Jazz and the first Jazz record I bought was a Jan Garbarek record. After that I got into Weather Report, Miles Davis, John McLaughlin and then music from around the world including Paco de Lucia and Ravi Shankar.

EF: When did you start playing electric bass?

FO: I started playing guitar when I was 11. I really liked the bass on records and I used to play bass lines on the deeper strings of the guitar. A year later I got hold of a bass and started playing that.

EF: Why did you choose to play fretless bass?

FO: I do actually play fretted bass as well. They both have individual qualities, for instance playing chordal pieces is much more suited to the fretted instrument. In terms of expression, I do prefer fretless as it is much freer and voice like which is why I tend to play it more. I used fretless exclusively on Alkimia.

EF: Could you briefly explain what a fretless bass is and what is the difference with regard to other electric basses?

FO: A fretless bass is as its name suggests a bass without frets. As I said before it gives you much more scope in terms of expression than a fretted as you can slide, bend and use vibrato within your playing with much greater freedom. The sound is more wood like and resonant as the strings have direct contact with the fingerboard and you can also play things like sharp and flat notes that are beyond the Western tempered tuning system like in Indian Ragas.

EF: What bassists have influenced you the most and which seem to you the most relevant ones at present?

FO: Jaco Pastorius has influenced me more than any other bassist and his work is still as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. He definitely connected with the timeless element and his music will stand up as long as people have ears to listen. Other bassists that I really like are Carles Benavent, Percy Jones, Mick Karn, Gary Willis, Geddy Lee and Dominique Di Piazza amongst others. I like some upright players too like Danny Thompson, Eberhard Weber, Neils Orsted-Pederson, Eddie Gomez and Stanley Clarke.

EF: What music do you listen to currently, what styles and, what artists would you highlight regardless of their styles?

FO: I still enjoy a lot of the same music that I have liked for many years including John McLaughlin, Weather Report, Shakti, Paco De Lucia, Jorge Pardo, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Ravi Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, J.S. Bach, Camarón de la Isla, Chick Corea, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Songhai, Herbie Hancock, Zakir Hussain, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Rush, Henryk Górecki, Michael McGoldrick, Flook, Jazzpaña, Bauhaus, Bowie, Kate Bush, the list just goes on and on. As you can see, I don’t just appreciate instrumental music, I do also enjoy vocal music and especially enjoy lyrics that are signposts pointing in some way to the greater reality. Recent musical discoveries include a band from the mid 90’s called Almagama, I really like their album ‘Encuentro’. This mixes Flamenco with Indian percussion and vocals and features an array of brilliant artists. I like the Tomatito and Michel Camilo duo album called ‘Spain’ and Chick Corea’s new album ‘The Ultimate Adventure’ with Jorge, Rubem and Carles is very good too. I have been recently listening to a lot more Indian classical music too.

EF: What periods of recent history, that is to say from the 60’s up to today, seem to you the most outstanding apart from jazz?

FO: The golden period for me is from about 1965 to the late 70’s including some of the early 80’s music. This whole period was just so amazingly creative and I know many others who agree with me. Major record labels were a lot more open to experimental music and a lot of the artists from those times who had great commercial success wouldn’t see the light of day these days in terms of major label support. There was so many ground breaking mixtures of cultural elements that were highly inspirational especially because of the innocence of the players who refused to allow themselves to be tainted by cynicism. Audiences were very open to this music too and it was definitely a circular buzz of energy that was growing but eventually got destroyed in many quarters by the industry.

EF: And from jazz?

FO: I would say the same period too but also the amazing music Miles and others were making in the Kind of Blue period. All periods of music are as important in comparison for different reasons of course but I guess you are asking me about my preference in terms of taste. It is heartbreaking to see Jazz documentaries like the Ken Burns series where all the great Jazz music from the 70’s is just skipped over as if it was unimportant. It’s like who creates this music, the musicians or the critics. Wayne Shorter’s and Miles Davis’ music in the 70’s was just as important to them as the music they made in previous times. If Charlie Parker was around in the 70’s he would have been playing with electric instrumentalists too. I consider the electric bass first and foremost as an amplified acoustic instrument, because the wood gives you the sound and different pickups are like using different microphones on a human voice. They colour the sound but they are not the source. A lot of Jazz purists complain about electric instruments but remember even Charlie Christian was using an electric guitar in the 1930’s!

EF: Is jazz the base of your music, to which you are enriching with tones, colours and flavours from other styles?

FO: To be honest I believe that musical labels are only really used for convenience, especially for major record company marketing purposes. There is so much music out there today that is really beyond categorization that these labels don’t do the music justice. In the end it is just ‘music’, isn’t it. How would you define ‘Jazz?’ If you say it is improvised music then so is Indian Classical music and many other forms have improvisational elements including Flamenco. Is it swing? It doesn’t have to swing! You see the problems you can get into by using labels, we come back to the Taoist situation where we realise that labels are not the thing themselves. In this way my music comes from a foundation of just being music that encompasses the whole of the musical universe without prejudice.

EF: What do you owe to new age, if you are influenced by it?

FO: I have never wittingly listened to any music with that label of categorization.

EF: When you say “They have common roots, even the most disparate music”. What do you refer to?

FO: What I truly meant was ‘seemingly’ disparate elements. All musical forms are branches of the same tree. Just because some have branches further away from the same trunk doesn’t mean they are not related. Human music is made by human beings and no human has developed separately from the human race in isolation. All music is fusion and is just another branch of the same tree. Constant evolution takes place by music from different cultures and regions intertwining. It can’t be stopped. Some people become so closed minded that they suffer from a form of musical racism. These are the purists. You can’t stop time within time otherwise you kill ‘life’ and some people are intent on putting time limits on what constitutes good music, but it becomes a museum piece like an artefact that is dead and lifeless. You can take inspiration from the past but if you get stuck there your music will die. The best thing to connect with is the ‘timeless’ in music because this transcends fashions and touches on something much deeper and profound. This is why I like the 60’s and 70’s, not because of some fashion head trip thing, but because of the openness of experimentation that lead to many creating timeless music. It may sound dated to some because of the instrumentation but compositionally and spiritually there is often that timeless element there. For me timelessness is not about instrumentation anyway, it is about a channelling of the Source whether it be a good orchestra playing Bach or a guru beautifully playing sitar.

EF: Speaking about the musicians who accompany you, there are two members of the old group of Paco de Lucía. What did it mean for your music to have them in your formation and how did you recruit them for Alkimia?

FO: There are actually three members from Paco’s previous group. Jorge Pardo on flute, Rubem Dantas on percussion and Juan Manuel Cañizares on guitar, who was with Paco for ten years including a duo, trio and Paco’s group. Jorge and Rubem are both playing with Chick Corea now. It was obviously fabulous for me to have these guys on my album since they are all such great players and legends in their own right. Also because of the heavy Flamenco influences in Alkimia I don’t think that anyone could have been better suited to play on the album. They were interested in doing the album after they heard my first album and a demo of some of the material from Alkimia.

EF: From all the musicians who accompany you, is Chema Víchez the one nearest to your way of seeing things musically and philosophically?

FO: I wouldn’t say that, everyone definitely brought a warmth of spirituality to the table. I chose everyone on the project because of the depth of their playing and how it affects me in terms of what I wanted to achieve. They all totally were in tune with the whole concept, not one more than the other, and I was and am genuinely overwhelmed with the results.

EF: We can consider Stephan Micus as musician of the world; in this sense do you consider yourself to have similar ideas to him?

FO: What I have heard of Stephan Micus I really like, but I think we are coming from different angles as he is a multi-instrumentalist whereas I play only the bass and also compose. From what I have heard and know about Stephan is that he travels around the world and studies rare and exotic instruments with great masters and then creates compositions for that particular instrument.

EF: What stage or stages would you like to play with your musical projects?

FO: Anywhere in the world where the atmosphere is great and conducive for creating a good performance and the musicians have the space to connect with the Eternal.

EF: Would outside concerts be more suitable to develop the spirituality that is implied in your work?

FO: Not necessarily.

EF: Almost finishing, what type of public do you think listens to your music and goes to your concerts?

FO: A broad spectrum from musicians to music lovers who enjoy styles from World Music to Jazz and just good ‘music’ and even those interested in things metaphysical.

EF: And lastly, what future projects do you have with regards to concerts and recordings?

FO: I plan to do some concerts around Europe next year playing the material from Alkimia with Benjamin Sarfas, Philippe Barnes, Nan Mercader and some other Spanish musicians. There will be special guests on some concerts too. I am also currently writing material for my next album and continuing to study Indian classical music both Hindustani and Karnatic.