Stories Behind the Album Mama Yogini

Credits

Producer: Yangjin Lamu

Composer: Yangjin Lamu

Arrangement: Josh McGilbery

Mix Engineer: Shen Lijia

Album cover designer: Li Heng

Q1: Why did you decide to release the album this year? What is the message you want to send?

This album shouldn’t be the icing on the cake. I hope it is more like charcoal in the snowy weather, offering timely consolation to people in need. This is the source of my passion and motivation for making music. In fact, the album was created five years ago but wasn’t released until this year, and I think there can’t be a more opportune time for it.

The raging COVID-19 pandemic, never-ending conflicts and excessive materialism have taken a heavy toll on the global environment. Mama Yogini, released at a moment like this, is a wake-up call,  an appeal for slow living and less greed, so that people may turn inward, find their inner peace and warmth, and reconnect with the innnermost primordial feminine energy.

We will not be able to take care of the Earth if we can’t take care of our hearts and lives. When we are calm, we are able to steer clear of the vortex of fear and confusion, regardless what’s happening outside – good things or bad.

When the heart is purified, the world is purified.

Q2：How is the album different from your previous ones?

The arrangement of the songs in this album is done in collaboration with American-born Iranian musician Josh McGilbery. The style is completely different from my other albums. We combined contemporary electronic music, hip hop and rap music to give it a modern and youthful vibe.

In a hectic world where we are vibrating at a higher frequency, such upbeat and dynamic arrangement can ease modern listeners into the energy of the music and hopefully get young people interested in spiritual music.

Q3: How was the album created?

Mama Yogini was recorded at home in Taiwan back in 2017.

After years of teaching tours and retreats, my husband Mark and I took our daughter to Taiwan and settled down. With a place we can call home, the urge of creating spiritual music to help people just got stronger. So I invited my long-term music partner Josh McGilbery from the US to Taiwan. Josh started to play the piano and drums at the age of four. He is a talented artist with an exceptional gift for composition. When he got here, we immediately got into it and created music at my no-frills home studio.

In order to avoid the daytime traffic and construction noises, I recorded only at night. I recorded at least one song every night after 11:00pm and Josh would do the arrangement in daytime.

In the early years when I just started out creating spiritual music, I would have to spend days in retreat, regain my inner calm before music flowed out of me. But as I get deeper and more stablized into my meditation practice, I can create music anywhere, anytime, regardless of my surroundings. In the few years when I was living in the US, no matter how many guests I had in the house, I could just put on my headphones and immediately shift into a peaceful state of mind. Nothing could bother me. I could even create and record music with other musicians while doing housework.

When Mama Yogini was made in 2017, I could sometimes record five or six songs in a day. New music just kept flowing from my heart, with little thinking involved.

Q4: This album is special in that there are a few love songs. What is the message you want to send to listeners?

Some of those are folk songs from my hometown Huarui Tibetan area. I adapted the lyrics and composed new melodies for these songs. I hope these traditional love songs could offer to young people a fresh perspective on romantic relationship. Traditional Tibetan love songs are not about sentimental love stories or personal feelings, but more about their faith, their wishes and selfless thoughts for their loved ones.

Mama Yogini

Symbolizes the purest water droplet in everyone’s mind.

As more and more droplets blend into one another,

Our minds will be purified,

And the entire Earth will be taken care of and uplifted.

It is my wish that all who listen to this album

Embark on a journey to their hearts!