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2023

Monthly Healing Sounds Concert aims to bring healing power of music to Savannah community

Josephine Johnson For Do Savannah, January 31st, 2023

If you’re struggling to make those New Year’s resolutions stick, or looking for a music experience both introspective and cathartic, Matthew Duplessie’s monthly “Healing Sounds Concert” at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center may be the catalyst you need.

With a panoply of folk and traditional instruments — hand drums, didgeridoo, wooden flutes, singing bowls — Duplessie weaves his voice through these, and in live performance, stacks layers of sound with looping pedal technology to craft a sonic tapestry of relaxation and contemplation. Projected images, swirls of color and pattern, complement the melodies, harmonies and rhythms, fashioning an experience primed for deep thought and transformation.

“We all have the power within to move past limiting beliefs, ways of thinking that inhibit our growth as humans,” said Duplessie. “Sound and meditation are tools we can use for growth and personal understanding, and if you consider our bodies as works of complex technology that we can optimize with proper care and maintenance, then sound and meditation are powerful tools of expansion to help us focus, learn and overcome obstacles.”

For some, this may all seem a little too woo-woo, but for Duplessie, he is living testament to the words he speaks and the sounds and philosophies he shares.

A painfully shy and sound-sensitive child, Duplessie routinely found refuge in exploring nature and took comfort in the school library where he could read and study without loud distractions. Music as a profession was never a childhood ambition. But then he picked up his brother’s guitar at age 19 and began figuring out the instrument.

Matthew Duplessie – The Corner Suite Savannah – Photo by Colin Grey

“I found I had an ability to understand and play, and I continued exploring it,” recalled Duplessie. “Working with the guitar opened up a new sense of confidence in expression where I could share ideas and thoughts and not be afraid. The guitar connected me with truth and healing, and music connected me to myself, and to other people in ways I hadn’t known.”

Duplessie went on to study visual and motion design at SCAD but soon figured out that such a career would require long hours sitting at a computer — a hard fact he wasn’t eager to embrace.

In 2015, he made a radical decision to enroll in a 30-day Kundalini Yoga course in Mexico. The experience changed the course of his life. Duplessie began seeing connections between sound, light and the human body and how what we speak to our bodies affects our day-to-day lives in both positive and negative ways. He became interested in traditional and indigenous instruments and how their sounds could positively alter and heal the body.

Now, Duplessie has a long list of certifications in sound healing, meditation and voice therapy. His teachings on the meditation application, Insight Timer, are popular worldwide — more than 11,000 students have joined his healing classes since 2019. And when he isn’t performing at spiritual health and metaphysical festivals across the Southeast, Duplessie teaches audio-visual arts at Hubert Middle School in Savannah.

The Savannah Cultural Arts Center located at 201 Montgomery St. Photo courtesy of Martin Gendelman

The concert this Friday at Savannah Cultural Arts Center features the didgeridoo, Native American flutes and a range of traditional percussion instruments in addition to Duplessie’s voice. With the looping pedal, he will record each instrument multiple times and stack those recording to create a harmonic almost trance-like wall of sound.

The audience is encouraged to participate in vocal chants at key points during the performance.

“Because I know from experience in my life the healing power of sound and how it changed me, I am looking forward to sharing this transformative potential in our community,” said Duplessie. “Sound healing can be life-changing, for personal awakening. I’m grateful to be part of creating a safe space for people to look into themselves to find truth that could take them deeper into their lives’ fulfillment.”

See the original article here

2022

CanvasRebel.com Interview
October 3rd, 2022

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-matthew-duplessie/

Meet Matthew Duplessie

STORIES & INSIGHTS OCTOBER 3, 2022

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matthew Duplessie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matthew below.

Matthew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I believe my most meaningful (ongoing) project that I have worked on is my participation as a teacher and music producer on the meditation app Insight Timer. Insight Timer is an app anyone can download on their phones/smart devices to practice daily meditation, mindfulness exercises, and expand their sense of self through courses, workshops and guided practices.

I have been a part of the app’s growth since 2018 when I signed up to be a teacher. This opportunity has inspired me to create my first online course called The Power of Sound Healing with Voice, where I inspire and guide students to look to their voice as a source of power, creative potential and healing.

I currently have over 10,000 students worldwide, over 13,000 followers and over 1 million plays of my meditation music tracks.

This project has been meaningful for me, mostly because of the daily feedback that I get from my listeners, audience, and class participants.

The amount of and quality of comments I receive has been so powerful and touching, not only to affirm my path as a teacher and producer, but to reflect to me all of the beautiful healing that my words, ideas and music have inspired for others.

On those occasional days when I feel less connected to my self or my path, these comments ignite my spirit’s remembrance as to why I have come to this planet at this time, to transmit sacred sound for healing, guidance and inspiration.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My journey began over a decade ago when I moved to Savannah, Georgia to pursue a degree in Sound Design, as I wanted to learn how to make soundtracks for movies and film. I ended up graduating with a BA in Motion Media and a Minor in Sound (they only had one music class at my university), and thus began a decade long endeavor as a freelance creative designer (motion media, video editing, websites, image editing, branding and more).

Along the way, I started to see the results of the hours and days, sitting at my computer creating for my clients. My body was getting sore, I was getting headaches and eye-strain. I started to listen to my body and realize, I needed to find a sense of balance. I had dabbled in meditation and yoga here and there, but my journey was just beginning.

In 2014 I moved into a Healing Arts Center and began my exposure to all the various healing arts, ways to align, attune and balance our body, mind and spirit. It was here that I discovered a passion for Kundalini Yoga, and the following year in 2015, I sold everything I owned that didn’t fit in my minivan, and packed up for a one-month immersion to New Mexico to study Kundalini Yoga and become a yoga teacher. It was here that I discovered the power of my breath, the power of meditation, and the power of sound as healing tools that we can all access.

At the time my brother was living in California as an actor in Hollywood, so after my Kundalini Yoga training, I drove to California and ventured the west-coast on a 6-month road trip of travel, self-discovery, adventure, and self-awareness.

After a few months of travel, I was sensing the need to ground and digest my journey, so I rented an off-the-grid cabin in the mountains of Santa Cruz for two weeks so I could organize all of my newfound inspirations from my travels and training.

During my first four days I fasted on nothing but juice, water and tea, and had profound insights about my relationship to food and my body, and the imbalances I had created for much of my life. I had also time to focus my passions for sound and began my first true business as a passion which I named AudioSoul Healing.

AudioSoul Healing was the creative outlet for me to channel all of my wisdom I had learned about the body, breath, sound, the voice, and our creative human potential. I created a website, and started uploading the meditation tracks I was creating, along with insights I was discovering about the healing powers of sound.

Fast-forward almost 7 years later, and I am now teaching courses at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center about the healing powers of sound. Add to this my years experience as a producer and course teacher on the app I had mentioned called “Insight Timer”. I am also an Audio Visual Arts / Communications teacher at a middle school in Savannah where I weave my wisdoms of health, wellness, self-awareness and body/mind/spirit balance into my lesson plans.

I believe what sets me apart from others is the diversity of my offerings, as well as my ability to weave them together synergistically to help individuals “re-connect” to themselves most powerfully through their discovering their voice, exploring their self-expression, and through re-examining and re-wiring their self-beliefs.

I am most proud of my ability to help so many people, from my students each day, as well as countless other souls all around the world through my website and the meditation app.

I am truly grateful to have gone on my journey of self-discovery to shed my skin of old insecurities and limiting self-beliefs, to see the powerful, mature, and inspiring soul that I truly am.

And it all started by going within and uncovering the forgotten, ‘hidden/lost’ and denied parts of myself to retrieve my awareness of my natural and cultivated gifts to humanity.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me the most rewarding part of being an artist and creative is that I honor my intuition and am able to give it voice through the myriad of artistic expressions I have given myself permission to explore in my life’s journey.

One very common theme I discover in so many of my students and individuals I meet is how many share the common inner voice of self-doubt, self-sabotage, and self-critiquing.

I immediately am able to recognize when this voice is speaking through others, because I too allowed that voice to sabotage and limit me for so many years.

At some point I just began to question that voice and realize that I didn’t have to believe that I was unworthy, or not ‘good enough’, ‘talented enough’ or ‘experienced enough’ for my ideas or expressions to have value.

At this point in my life, being creative truly is my lifeblood. If I don’t create and express regularly, I get stressed out and sometimes even sick.

Some where along the way I heard the Eastern philosophy that ‘all dis-ease is the result of unexpressed emotion’, and this rung through me like a bell when I recalled how repressed, shy and self-conscious I was growing up.

Now my life makes sense, and my path is clear. It is to help others who share the same self-inflictions, to help reveal the power of self-expression, and to find my daily joy in creating for creativities sake, so that my ideas, my life-force, and my creative energy are able to flow through me and nourish and inspire those I love and those in my community to share their gifts as well.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

It has been my perspective through the human narrative that many people who consider themselves ‘non-creative’ look down upon those who choose creative paths. This is where I believe the term ‘starving artists’ has developed in our culture.

To me, this simple phrase struck through me and my family generations by the warnings that ‘you need to have a good job so you can succeed in life’. This idea that I couldn’t support myself by being an artist or creative was somewhat super-imposed over me through society and partially through some of my family values.

I was however also blessed with a family that recognized and encouraged my creativity at a young age, as this helped nurture my confidence in my possibilities to create for a living.

I do believe it is possible for society to support artist and creatives, as a recent trip to Canada showed me the vast difference in how cities like Toronto and Montreal provide an outspoken support to their creative communities, by realizing the significance and need for the arts in our human lives.

I believe this same mindset could be cultivated in more cities in the United States by creating not only an arts initiative but also a health and wealth initiative.

Where I feel these two sectors intersect is through self-expression.

As a collective, if we can all learn to value the power of individual and collective self-expression, I do believe we could help initiate a powerful healing and powerful transformation of our current way of living, which in it’s current state, seems to not truly benefit all.

This metaphorically could be rippled across all cultures as a message that ‘ your voice matters’ and ‘your ideas are valuable’.

It begins by listening to one another, by observing with open hearts, and having compassion for our differences and our struggles… as we all share the commonality of the human journey and of being denizens of our planet earth.

I believe seeing the world from these perspectives can help revitalize the arts and see what a powerful force it is in reminding us who we truly are as human beings.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Seated didgeridoo photos – Colin Grey Kneeling outdoor with mic & standing with didgeridoo / hat – Yanir Yankobitz Outdoors with white outfit / hanging instruments – Molly Hayden Kneeling gold suit with mic – Sunflowerz Photography

Author Rachel Merrill Interview –
January 19th, 2022


2021

Voyage Savannah Online Interview –
November 2nd, 2021

https://voyagesavannah.com/interview/conversations-with-matthew-duplessie/

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Duplessie.

Hi Matthew, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I grew up near Cleveland Ohio and moved to Savannah in 2008 to study soundtracks for film at the Savannah College of Art & Design. I ended up graduating with a BA in Motion Media Design and a minor in Sound Design. Thanks to this great education I had my own freelance design business for a decade helping local clients’ brand and advertise their companies and services.

Along the way, I realized that there was something deeper calling me beyond the world of technology and multimedia.

In 2015, I answered the call and travelled to Espanola, New Mexico for a month-long Kundalini Yoga teacher’s training immersion. This deepened a heightened awareness in me of the power of breath, posture, and daily ritual to begin to learn to navigate all of life’s challenges in a near-effortless flow.

Also being a musician, while out west I started my company AudioSoul Healing, inspired by the healing chants and mantras of Kundalini, as well as my personal desire to understand more deeply the healing powers of sound.

Fast forward to today and I teach audio-visual arts at a local middle school in Savannah while teaching thousands of students online on the international meditation & mindfulness app Insight Timer. I have a 10-day voice course that nearly 10,000 students have attended worldwide called The Power of Sound Healing with Voice, which has helped so many discover the healing powers of their very own voice to face and feel the range of emotions we are confronted with on a daily basis.

It is my new dream to start my own healing arts facility partnered with the city of Savannah to offer alternative healing opportunities and practical tools to our community.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
What I’ve learned on my journey is to follow your own unique instinct and trust your gut. I feel our intuition is an underdeveloped part of ourselves that through proper diet, mindfulness, meditation, mentorship, and the cultivation of self-awareness in our environment, we can deepen our relationship to our intuition which to me is our inner compass, and helps guides us in and out of challenging situations, as well as guides us to the life that is meant to resonate most deeply with the unique being that we are.

My greatest lifelong struggle in my life’s journey has been the challenge of feeling confident and good in my own skin.

These past few years of doing the deep inner work and facing my fears have helped grow me to the most confident version I have ever been.

The past few months when I wake up every morning, I tell myself “Today is going to be the best day of my life” and I l can honestly say I love myself more than I ever have in my life before.

It all comes from practicing radical acceptance of self and others, feeling and honoring all of my feelings, and finding daily gratitude while striving towards my goals with practical actions and intuitive guidance.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
One of my greatest gifts is my gift of voice and music production.

Growing up I was very shy and introverted and had a very strong social anxiety. I realized now looking back that I didn’t allow myself the ‘norm’ of expressing all of my feelings, and so much of my teen years were spent in self-chosen isolation.

It wasn’t until I was 19 that my youngest brother inspired me by his asking for a guitar for Christmas that year. Watching him play awoke something in me as I asked if I could play when he took his breaks. Well, it’s been over 20 years and I never put the guitar down.

Over the years I strengthened my ability to play not only guitar on my own but in bands, as well as piano, percussion, wind instruments, string instruments and most importantly, my voice.

My voice has become my trademark musical gift that I am most proud of.

I have learned over the years with my interest in soundtrack music to layer my voice and create harmonies and vocal choirs with my live looping equipment.

I have hosted many healing sound workshops and sound journeys where so many people have commented on how strong and powerful my voice has developed, and to me this makes me feel so embodied in my sense of self, and reminds me, that this is truly what I am here for… to inspire others with my gifts… to give them permission to do the same.

The greatest gift we all hold is in our power of self-expression, and I do my part to champion, uplift, inspire and remind others that they too hold a special gift and the world is waiting to receive it.

Listen to my

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The quality and characteristic that I feel is most important to my success is authenticity.

I realize now that the journey to discovering one’s true self lays in letting go of all that we are not…

All of the inherited programs, the belief systems, the cultural norms, the media messages, that have been imprinted upon us relentlessly from the day we entered this world, have conditioned so many of us to follow the footsteps of what everyone else is doing… the masses, the hive mind, the popular opinion, etc.

I have found for me, over the years, taking a step back from the media, spending more time with myself in nature, meditation, self-analysis and self-expression have revealed deeper and deeper layers of myself that are so much more authentic than the versions of me that was showing up in the world, ‘thinking’ I had to be a certain way to be accepted or loved.

The truth is we are good enough and lovable enough exactly how we are. And that truth can shine through when we are brave enough to walk in our authentic path, without anyone’s personal beliefs or inherited cultural beliefs trying to limit the greatest shining of our soul’s light.

STephen Shiels radio show Interview –
July 30th, 2021



Savannahjams.com interview –
January 8th, 2021

Source: https://savannahjams.com/interviews/matthew-jaidev-duplessie/


Progressive and healing artist Matthew Jaidev Duplessie is interviewed about family vacations to the Bahamas, yoga teachings, discovering his voice, and much more.

What are some of your earliest musical memories?

My earliest musical memories take me back to the first time I heard the steel drums on a family vacation to the Bahamas. It was at this time that I realized I loved the sound of Reggae music and discovered my early favorites of Inner Circle, UB40 and Bob Marley. Years before that, I found I naturally enjoyed making sounds with my mouth and listening to music at night to help me fall asleep.

Who are some of your musical influences?

My musical inspiration is vast as music has always been a sense of comfort, escape and a feeling of ‘home’ for me. Before I realized I had any musical talent, a girlfriend of mine turned me on to the French language recordings of Céline Dion. There was something about the traditional folk music and the foreign language that I was drawn to. When I first learned how to play guitar when I was 20 years old I loved learning the riff’s of Creed’s guitarist Mark Tremonti. From there I explored the many veins of rock, alternative and grunge music.

Some of my favorite groups were the pop bands from England, The Cure, UB40, U2, Radiohead, Muse – there was something about the English accent that I was drawn to. Over the years, I continued exploring world sounds and was inspired by the chants of kundalini yoga. Movie scores probably offer me the most consistent inspiration and I would say the work of Hans Zimmer is my favorite. Some of my current influences are from my mentor Brazilian live-loop world soul artist Poranguî and singer-songwriter Trevor Hall.

There was something about the English accent that I was drawn to

Who are some of your spiritual and philosophical influences?

My spiritual and philosophical influences are probably as wide as my musical influences. I’ve loved the words of Celestine Prophecy author James Redfield, the kundalini yoga teachings by Yogi Bhajan, which I am trained in, and the words and perspectives of Alan Watts. Reading the book Be Here Now by Ram Dass was a great paradigm shifting book for me and the belief system of the Law of Attraction by Abraham Hicks still speaks to me to this day.

How did you get your start in the Savannah music scene?

I moved here in 2008 to go to to SCAD to study “sound for picture” and the making of soundtracks/scores for film. SCAD had a sound design program but only one class about music, so I switched my major to Motion Media Design and made music my ‘in my free time” passion. I began connecting with local musicians, jamming and going to open mics. This was back in the days when the Wormhole was just coming into inception. From there, I joined an 8-piece band of creative artists called Word of Mouth, an ensemble with as many unique genres blended into one expression of multi-layered, uplifting sounds and conscious lyrics. From there I wrote and mixed an electronic pop album with my fiancé at the time Electric Grandma. All the while I was working on my own creations under the guise Clandestiny – dark, moody, atmospheric, acoustic-driven ballads and instrumentals.

How did your sense of spiritualism come about?

Everything changed for me when I discovered the book “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield that local songwriter Lauren LaPointe gifted me when I first moved to Savannah. The book introduced to me the ideas of synchronicity and the idea of a web of energy that guides us in our path through life and unites us with others we are destined to meet and play out karmic unfoldings with. A few years after that, a friend turned me onto Kundalini Yoga and I was fascinated again about discovering deeper levels of energy awareness in the body that could be harmonized and explored through breathwork, chanting and yoga. I went very deep into the path of kundalini yoga and practiced it daily for years. From the practice I discovered more about the power of mantras and enjoyed connecting with other friends locally and regionally to chant together.

Talk a bit about how you apply your personal philosophies with your music …

My personal philosophy about my music is that it is my medicine. It is what keeps me going and gives me a chance to express my emotions. Growing up I was a very shy, sensitive and introverted child. I realize now looking back, it was easier to hide myself away then to feel the complete dynamic range of the human experience – bliss, suffering and everything in between. Many years of keeping quiet had bottled up all my emotions and when a significant relationship ended, I was taken to a very dark and depressed place within where I had thoughts of taking my life. Within that dark place was the fertile seeds for the birthing of my first album The Introspective Year. I was able to carthart the pain, suffering and emotional confusion that was within me through singing, playing guitar, writing and producing songs.

The most consistent thing I’ve learned through my journey with making music is that it has healing powers, because it gives us a safe place to feel the fullness of being human. All the beautiful highs and joys, and the dark and “dirty” emotions that society has easily made shameful for us to express fully. In particular I have found that singing, emoting and toning sound has been a huge part of my healing journey … One that I realize is universal.

Because of this I have become a self-appointed ambassador of the healing power of the voice. On the app Insight Timer, an international community for mediation and mindfulness, I have had over 7,500 students worldwide attend my course The Power of Sound Healing with Voice, where I guide listeners through 10 days of exploring how the voice can be used to release emotional energy and help us remember who we are.

Are there any Savannah artists you admire, but have not worked with, but would love to?

Over the years I’ve had fun watching Nico Chasty of The Mercers grow to become a talented frontman of his band. Over time we would consistently run into each other in town and at shows and share our mutual respect for one another. He has become a good friend and I am looking forward to the potentials of collaboration with him in the coming weeks.

I have also always admired from afar the persona and image of James Lee Smith. There is something about his drive, professionalism, and his decision to make music his life that gives me an innate sense of admiration and respect. When I see him, I say there is a man who is owning his role in society and to his soul.

I just got my first piano in my new home, and after playing it first thing this morning, I exclaimed out loud, “I’m a songwriter!”

What are some of your favorite local venues to perform in?

For many years I loved going to the Wormhole for the sense of close-knit community that has been forged through their open mic nights. Their sound engineer Jeff is one of the most talented in town, and I have always respected his passion and talent for sound and for making a great venue for music. Performing on the Forsyth Stage and in the park for Earth Day has always been enjoyable because I love being outside in the fresh air, and making music on top of it for others to hear is always a gift.

I would love to get to perform at the new venue Victory North as I feel it would be a great venue to have an album release party of my album Victory that came out this year.

What are your thoughts on the current state of the Savannah music scene?

To be honest, with all that has been going on with covid-19, I feel a little out of the loop, but I feel a good momentum from many musical friends who are consistently exploring the DIY scene to keep things alive. I would love to see monthly or seasonal concert series in the park at Forsyth. I feel like the stage and lawn are highly underused for concerts, and it could be a great way to highlight local bands while giving touring acts a memorable place to perform as well as remind the locals of one of the gifts of living in this beautiful city.

Any upcoming projects?

I have had a lot of significant life changes over the past few months and my music has been on the back burner. However, I have been quietly piecing together songs for what has the makings of what would be my 12th self-produced studio album. This one would continue in the direction of my last album Victory, exploring the singer-songwriter/folk music thread that I have been turned onto from musicians like Trevor Hall.

A friend of mine Alex Seccombe and I have had opportunities to create healing sounds events at the Savannah Cultural Arts with didgeridoo, gongs, singing bowls, drums, and other world sounds. We are hoping to get back on schedule once the Covid restrictions lift.

I have also been invited in the future to collaborate with a San Francisco sound healing group called Sound Meditation Presents, to offer monthly sound healing live stream concerts virtually to their ever growing online audience.

I just got my first piano in my new home and after playing it first thing this morning, I exclaimed out loud, “I’m a songwriter!” – as I easily forget with all of life’s obligations the power of honoring who we are at a soul level. That being said, I look forward to continuing my musical journey to express the depths of who I am, while creating spaces and events for others to do the same.

2020

Matthew Jaidev – victory album review

MatthewJaidev-Victory

Source: https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/local-album-reviews/Content?oid=14669399

Matthew Jaidev – Victory

Savannah’s Matthew Jaidev recently released Victory, an album he describes as his magnum-opus. It’s a bold statement, for sure, but it absolutely has the makings of that kind of record. Jaidev brings forth a new take on acoustic and piano-based anthemic songwriting, employing a variety of soundscapes and drum machine loops in the process.

What’s most compelling about this album is the fearlessness Jaidev has in his production. There’s ethereal, almost U2-esque guitar work on songs like “Untethered Souls,” but there’s also classical influences coming through on the piano-centric “Awakening the Bright Future.” This is world music in the truest sense of the world, as it really does evoke the sounds and artistic footprints of many different cultures.

“Southern Isle” is a standout here, with its 6/4 time signature and cinematic percussion. Diversity continues with “Love Will You Bring You Home,” which finds Jaidev providing rhythm through beatboxing.

The album ends with “Let It Rise,” which is the perfect song for those who are interested in modern folk and Americana music that truly does source traditional melodies in creative ways. This is something Jaidev does really well, with conviction and precision.

2018

Sacred Sound Journey: A Concert of Healing Sounds @Unity of Savannah

Photo by Molly Hayden

Source: https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/sacred-sound-journey-a-concert-of-healing-sounds-unity-of-savannah/Content?oid=8539503

If you’ve ever been interested in the power of sacred sound, start your journey with Savannah’s own Matthew Jaidev Duplessie. A Savannah musician, music producer, and kundalini yogi, Duplessie is dedicated to finding the connections between music and a human’s health and well-being.

Attendees will hear Duplessie use his voice, the didgeridoo, singing bowls, hand drums, and stringed instruments from around the world. Ancient instruments are fed through a loop station to bring listeners into a state of meditation.

2015

Pick up good vibrations at ManiFest
First-ever sound healing festival offers community, positive energy

Source: https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/pick-up-good-vibrations-at-manifest/Content?oid=2828204

Keeping the beat in the Forsyth Park drum circle; a similar circle will be formed at ManiFest

MATT DUPLESSIE is a believer in the power of sound.

As a musician (currently in his solo project, Clandestiny, formerly of Word of Mouth), he explores the transformative power of positive vibrations and tones; as someone involved in the healing arts, he’s fascinated with sound’s connectivity, remedial abilities, and transformative communal bonds.

In fact, Duplessie says, music and sound’s crucial role in our lives can be traced all the way back to sacred texts, like the Bible.

“‘In the beginning was the word,’” he quotes. “That’s how the whole thing starts. It’s the uni-verse. I see all these musical sound relations. I even like to quote Nikola Tesla: ‘If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.’”

The Savannah community now has an opportunity to explore the healing power of sound for themselves: ManiFest.

A day-long festival down in Morrell Park, Duplessie says the idea has been years in the making, traced back to his days in Savannah band Word of Mouth.

“We always talked about, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if we had some conscious music festival where people could come and share some of this healing art information, bring that conscious, community vibe?’” he recalls.

“And that’s where the term ‘ManiFest’ came from. After the band broke up, that idea was still in my head.”

After recently spending time in New Mexico for yoga teacher training, he decided to go for it.
Duplessie utilizes an array of tools to create sounds.

“I started reaching out to my friends in the community,” he says. “Every time I would put my probe out there, someone would come back with support. ‘ManiFest’ is perfect, because everything has been manifesting so quickly.”

In Duplessie’s own musical projects, he has always connected with “world sounds and ethnic-type sounds.”

“In my own personal expression, I’m learning more about tapping into my voice,” he explains.

“That’s been the biggest kind of insightful aspect for me, seeing the power of our voices and the words we use—even thoughts, we have in an energetic and vibrational fashion. These are the type of things I want to raise awareness about, to help show, in a way.”

“It’s something that we’ve intrinsically found within ourselves: we love expressing ourselves musically,” Duplessie says.

“I feel like that’s just a key element to being human.”

In his personal studies, Duplessie’s learned to consider everything in terms of energy and vibration—when we think about our words and thoughts, we can get into habits of thinking and saying certain things.

“When we can start learning how to move that energy around in new ways, it starts shifting our perspectives and reality,” he explains.

“Whatever you think about, talk about—you attract those things into your life. We’re bringing in that type of language and ideas, and using music as a vehicle.”

Duplessie hopes that, through the power of sound expression, folks will discover a cathartic and powerful way to find inner healing and peace.

ManiFest offers a variety of forms of expression and connection: Vince Green will lead a storytelling session with handpan drum accompaniment. Olga Khalina and Rick Cody will demonstrate the art of Argentine Tango Dance; shortly after, Larry Cooperman will perform songs on the guzheng, a Chineze plucked zither, and native flute.

Experience connection and community through Duplessie’s Sacred Sound Circle Chants (where voices will unite to create chants from around the world), Anastasia Melchina’s Laughing Yoga Circle, and the Angel Walk.

“I learned the Angel Walk up in Asheville at a three-day singing gathering called Singing Alive,” Duplessie elaborates.

“You get two rows of people lined up facing each other and create a column of space in between. One at a time, you send someone down through this space that we create. They can have their eyes closed, and we’re guiding this person like they’re going through a new birth—it’s a welcome experience into community. We offer praise, compliments, kind words…there are different songs we can sing as a group.”

After the Walk, Duplessie and friends will perform a sound healing and movement concert; the event concludes with a rhythmic interactive drum circle.

ManiFest’s healing isn’t just applied to the folks in attendance—the event’s location in Morrell Park, right on the water, has become a vital element of the festival. Duplessie recently learned that the Savannah River is one of the most polluted rivers in the country. Referencing the ideas of Doctor of Alternative Medicine and researcher Masaru Emoto, Duplessie will kick off ManiFest with a blessing of the water.

“Dr. Emoto would label one vessel of water with negative words or phrases, and another with positive,” Duplessie explains. “Then they would study the water molecules—the ones that have more harmonious words attached had more harmonious geography than the more dissonant, jagged, lower vibrations of the hateful words.”

Using that same principle, Duplessie will use a friend’s crystal singing bowl, adding water from holy rivers around the world, including the Ganges.

Putting positive vibrations into the bowl, Duplessie will pour the water back into the river, with the intention of it spreading through the river and right into the ocean.

Duplessie advises that attendees don’t need any musical or singing history to participate in ManiFest.

“It’s not about being a performer,” he says. “It’s about learning that line between performer and audience, and making it really participatory, interactive, and leading by demonstration.”

He hopes = attendees will have the opportunity to make friends, walk away with newfound inspirations and contacts that they can reach out to if they seek to explore sound healing after ManiFest—whether they’re looking to buy a drum, take singing lessons, or start a yoga regimen.

“Sometimes, it just takes one person to get out on the dance floor to inspire others to just be free and have a good time,” he smiles.

Clandestiny: The Journey Aum Album Review

clandestiny_aum[1]

Source: https://1kscreams.wordpress.com/2015/07/13/clandestiny-the-journey-aum/

BY: Chris Horton

In two days, “The Journey of Aum” will be hitting the internet….

If you are new to the sounds of Matt Duplessie, then you are in for a real treat. Matt is a multi-instrumentalist that not only writes all of his own music, but records and produces most of it alone as well. He has been a part of many musical projects over the years, and I have had the chance to work with him before, as well as be his friend. I’m lucky to know him, and always love the positivity he exudes.

That being said, this review has no bias. Just my honest opinions.

Matt believes that music can be trans-formative, and healing. I tend to agree. The great luthier, Paul Reed Smith says: “When you are sitting there… playing guitar, you are in no pain. You are in your own world. Music is a natural drug…a painkiller!”

I think Paul and Matt share the same sentiments.

Matt is also a rather dapper looking dude, photogenic, with a sense of style that most of us cant pull off:

For that reason, he is a bastard.

But seriously…

Matt Duplessie has been recording under the moniker “Clandestiny” for quite a while. He had just finished his first full album when he moved to Savannah from Ohio, and has since reinvented himself many times. From dark and brooding soundscapes, to delicate acoustic songs, chants, or even wailing guitars…. Matt always seems to have something new up his sleeve.

When Matt first described “The Journey Aum” to me, I was thinking that this was going to be a foray into “world” music, which unfortunately, usually has more misses than hits. I’m delighted to say that Matt does not disappoint with this new effort.

Firstly, this is an album to be listened to all at once. There are no “singles” or anything of the sort. The whole album is flows together, and some tracks stand out more than others (more about that later). I recommend putting on some headphones, and just relaxing. That’s how I first took it in. The soundscapes have very sparse vocals, and much of the vocals are used as atmospheric effect. The album truly is a “journey”. As you listen to it, you go through different styles of music, but more importantly different moods. Matt has always leaned towards the melancholic side of melody, and there is plenty of that on “Journey”. But there are certainly lighter moments as well.

There are tracks like “Galactus” that sound like they could be a part of a movie soundtrack. This is the aspect of the album I really love. This album is a “life soundtrack”. It’s pretty safe to say, that this is my favorite track on the album. It has beats and an atmosphere that remind me of the electronic group Orbital, and it is full of emotion.

“Raising the Djed” is another standout track. It has a great pulsing beat, and some really amazing vintage synth sounds. This could easily be a Depeche Mode song. But just when you think you have it figured out, there is a breakdown with eerie flute melodies. The huge electro soundscape that was built at the beginning of the song, is broken down into a minimum. It becomes almost haunting. Like I said, Matt has some tricks up his sleeve.

This whole album is a huge departure from Matt’s previous effort “Songs of Light” (The title track of that album, I’ve shown to so many people, and I listen to it myself a lot. Check it out on his bandcamp site at the bottom of this article). There are elements of every Clandestiny album on “Journey”, but this is meant to be enjoyed as a whole more than any of the other albums. It truly takes you on a sonic journey with ups, downs and in-betweens. No track really feels like “filler”, however some do feel like a lead-in to the next track. No sounds were wasted.
The next time I listen to this album, I think I will put in a favorite movie of mine (Like Donnie Darko) and let Matt’s album play in the background, with the TV on mute. I absolutely love that “Journey” could be the soundtrack to many things: a movie, a happy day in your life, a breakup, a reunion, a birth, a death, or just hanging out at the beach. It is more than a collection of songs. It is a fully realized piece of art.
I usually reserve the last paragraph of the write-ups for criticism. But I cant think of any! Minus a few places where I think the production/mixing is lacking (a matter of taste, being a producer myself). And while you may think this type of music isn’t for you, you might surprise yourself by checking it out.

I am always excited to see what new musical territory Matt explores next, and see how he will once again re-invent the Clandestiny project.

The Jouney of Aum comes out in TWO DAYS! Make sure to check it out!

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Clandestiny-Songs of Light Album Review

Source: https://1kscreams.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/clandestiny-songs-of-light/

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Clandestiny’s “Songs of Light” is not an album to be taken lightly. There is a lot going on here: Former band mates and their parents making guest appearances, ethereal sound-scapes, layered vocals…There is so much going on that you really need to listen to it multiple times. Every time you listen to a track, you discover something new.

Clandestiny (a moniker used by Matt Duplessie) has always been known for these qualities. Even his first serious effort in 2008, “The Introspective Year” was full of the very same qualities as “Songs of Light”. The difference between the two is the vast leaps in song-crafting, and use of melody. Where “Introspective” was a little less accessible, there is something for everyone on this new effort. While Matt isn’t afraid to fill your headphones with industrial synths, the next track can be a beautiful acoustic lullaby. The production is out of this world. This doesnt sound like your run of the mill indie release. It’s full and lush, and at no point does lack of production take you “out” of the experience.

Lets get on to some of my personal favorites.

The first is Eden feat. Crista Garcia & Lucia Garcia. Former band mate Lucia (Word of Mouth/ Electric Grandma) and her mother, Crista lend vocals to this track and the results are both positive and haunting. You’ll find that Matt has quite the knack for weaving darkness and light seamlessly in his songs. Once again, there really is something for everyone in this album.
The next highlight of the album is the amazing O.E.A.O.E.I.I.O.A. (Stand By Me). Ever wondered what the classic “Stand By Me” sounds like in a minor key with inspired vowel chanting in the background? I never wondered either, but the result is brilliant. Matt once again blends such a myriad of influences that the end product comes out to be something truly unique.

Lastly, I have to mention the title track: Songs of Light. For me, this was the big highlight of the album. I was instantly blown away by the constantly moving piano accompaniment the starts the song. The song continues to build, adding guitars and drums, as well as great vocal harmonies. Then a fantastic distorted guitar solo ala’ Muse. Really, it doesn’t get much better than this. This is epic music, on an epic scale.

In closing, I think that’s the best way to describe this album. It’s epic. Every song on “Songs of Light” comes across as huge, and the immediacy and desperation that the sounds lend to the ear, make it one big build up. You can download the album at: https://clandestiny.bandcamp.com/album/songs-of-light.

2013

Grandma’s dance party
Lucia Garcia and Matt Duplessie go electronic

Source: https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/grandmas-dance-party/Content?oid=2240487

She’s not nearly old enough to be anyone’s grandmother, but Lucia Garcia — who calls herself Electric Grandma — certainly crackles with electric energy.

Still, she laughs, “I’m very like a grandmother. I have traits that you would think a grandmother would have. I have a very old soul.”

One of the keyboard players in the eight-member Savannah band Word of Mouth, Garcia is releasing her first full-length solo album this week.

Electric Grandma was written, played and recorded by Garcia and her fiancé, Word of Mouth’s Matt Duplessie. While Word of Mouth’s music is an amalgam of styles, including hip hop, electronica and straight-ahead rock, this is synthesizer-driven dance music, soundscapes created from a nuanced balance of software-crafted beats, an arsenal of keyboards, guitars and other instruments, and Garcia’s airy soprano vocals.

“I really wanted to make it dance-y, because I feel that dance is one of the strongest forms of prayer that we can give,” is how Garcia explains it. “We just get straight connected to the source when we’re dancing. Even if we don’t realize it, these movements we’re doing are ancient — people have been dancing for millions of years.

“When you’re dancing, it’s almost like your thoughts don’t get in the way any more. You take yourself out of it. You’re just fully immersed in the feeling of the dance. And I think when you take your mind out of it, that’s what really brings you closer to God.”

Planes of consciousness are most assuredly scaled on tracks like “Brink of Reality,” “Be the Light,” “Immortal” and “Let it Go.” The music is hypnotic, the lyrics hint at a life beyond this one.

The impetus to commit the project to (digital) tape came from Duplessie, who studied sound design at SCAD.

He’s also a prolific musician.

“Whatever your core instrument, whether it’s a piano or a guitar, that and a tape recorder are your two biggest tools,” he explains. “When you get an idea, it’s so fleeting that if you don’t capture it in that moment, it could be gone forever. And you could never get the timing or the cadence again, whatever it is about it that makes it unique.

“That’s something I’ve always made a habit of. Record my ideas. So I have created a kind of catalog of little ideas and motifs that have stuck with me, and I’ll say ‘I’m going to use this one day.'”http://www.youtube.com/embed/eUKsfW7OYKI

Duplessie reached deep into his grab-bag of musical ideas to craft the soundscapes for the Electric Grandma album.

A trained pianist, Garcia says she’d always been fascinated by synthesized sound programs, and so was inspired by the loops and layers she and Duplessie used to create Electric Grandma.

“Growing up in New Mexico,” she says. “there were so many outdoor raves and parties. My brother is really big in the rave community out there. Electronic music was part of my upbringing. It was a dream of mine to learn these programs, because they looked so alien to me, literally. It just looked so foreign.

“And then when I met Matt, he’d already been producing for a while. He really knew the programs. So he really helped me delve into it, and start learning the intricacies. It goes so deep, I’m barely scratching the surface of what these programs can do.”

The album, all told, was a voyage of experimentation. “It can be kind of overwhelming,” Garcia says of the electronic programming aspect. “But at the same time really empowering.”

Word of Mouth, while very much a going concern, is in something of a holding pattern (although the full band comes together for an appearance at the big Savannah Urban Arts Festival show April 27 on Congress Street).

“We really try to go with what’s flowing, instead of forcing anything,” Garcia says of her bandmates. “And really, right now what’s flowing is working on the side projects.”

Miggs the Artist (Word of Mouth’s MC) and singer/theremin player Melissa Hagerty are about to drop new music, too — the former with his first rap album, the latter with a band called OMINGNOM.

They’ll all be playing at the Electric Grandma album launch show, along with KidSyc@Brandywine.

“OMINGNOM is really awesome,” says Garcia, with typically electric enthusiasm. “It’s new rock with a psychedelic twist.

“Every time I listen to them, I just go out of this world.”

2008

Clandestiny – The Introspective Year Album Review from rockhardplace.com

“In trying to describe “Clandestiny” words that come to mind are “haunting”, “chilling”, “thought-provoking” and “intense”. I guess you would consider this acoustic. There are no drums on the entire album, but instead an amazing blend of keyboards, voices and vocals, sound effects and other elements. It’s almost like a soundtrack to a Horror film in some ways, tracks like “Beginning To See” will disturb you to the bone marrow with it’s computerized voice talking about death.

At other times, you can’t help but think of Pink Floyd, there are lots of those type of trippy elements in the music. I don’t want to promote the use of any mind-enhancing drugs, but let’s just say this CD would be perfect IF one chose to partake in such behavior.

Clandestiny is basically Matt Duplessie, he does everything on the CD, which makes the songs even more amazing. He has an amazing voice and an equally amazing talent for song construction. The gothic overtones of the music would fit well into the European Metal scene now with bands like Nightwish and that crowd. If you got Duplessie in a band God knows what sort of magic could be constructed.

If asked to put this music in a genre, I suppose Acoustic Alternative would fit, but it’s not a perfect description either. It’s really indescribable and an amazing piece of work. The production is also superb, when you listen to this with headphones you really pick up on a lot of different things. This is great chilling out music despite it’s intense nature, it really brings you to another place, both relaxing and even a little scary. – Torch”

The Introspective Year album review

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Introspective-Year-Clandestiny/product-reviews/B001O54OY8?reviewerType=all_reviews

“Matt Duplessie (aka Clandestiny) writes tuneful melodies. His guitar playing and production are superb, and he’s a good singer. I imagine his influences are diverse: Radiohead, Pink Floyd, NIN, the Cure… Although he explores some fascinating production ideas, his songwriting is the foundation. Listening to these songs, you can tell he knows the way around the guitar with interesting inversions and melodies percolating up everywhere. Most songs are built around the acoustic guitar and his voice. The mood is relatively dark, a little bit like the Swans. Duplessie also designed the CD artwork which is an excellent expression of the music therein. Overall, “The Intospective Year” is a very satisfying and cathartic release.”

– Dan Sweighert

Healing Sounds, Music & Voice Journeys for the Benefit of All
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