Paul Avgerinos: Music, Life and Devotion
(Global Heart | Esther Haasnoot) Move, dance, do yoga, exercise, work, sing, be joyful…all In “DEVOTION”, featuring Paul Avgerinos, Jai Uttal, Krishna Das, Donna De Lory and Wah! Avgerinos and his talented and devoted band of musicians will make you want to dance!
“Who said that spirituality needs to be heavy and serious? The songs on DEVOTION will help you to dance through your life in joyful surrender, and that is the essence of true spirituality.”
– Deepak Chopra
Celebrate the spirit of love and devotion
Spiritual, rhythmic and with a whole lot of fun. In conversation with Paul Avgerinos about his new album “DEVOTION”.
Global Heart: Your new album called “Devotion”, what does this mean for you?
Paul Avgerinos: Devotion is all about the spiritual practice of offering our every thought, feeling and action to our God/Goddess or to however you conceptualize your higher power. Every little part of our lives becomes sacred and beautiful when we see it all as an offering to the divine. Winning a Grammy or washing the dishes, it ALL is sacred and wonderful when we offer everything in pure Devotion.
Global Heart: The music is upbeat, celebratory, joyful and life-affirming. This album Devotion contains ancient teachings and mantras and makes it accessible for an entirely new audience. What was the intention behind this album?
Paul Avgerinos: You summed it up perfectly! The concept was to present the ancient wisdom and mantras in a fun, upbeat and accessible way, so that people who don’t normally listen to mantra music will feel comfortable and at home in Devotion. And for those who already love mantra music, we are offering a refreshing alternative to the usual way that mantras are presented.
Global Heart: The lyrics for most of the songs/chants/mantras are in Sanskrit, a language that dates back at least 3,500 years. You practiced yoga, meditation, chanting and devotional singing all of your life. When did you get the idea to make Mantra music? And do you feel it is important to blend Mantra and electronic music?
Paul Avgerinos: This process began for me back in 2005 and 2006, with my Phos Hilaron and Gnosis albums that blend ancient Christian chant in English and Greek with modern electronic beats and sounds. Then in 2008 I did my first Sanskrit mantra album, Gratitude Joy, featuring the Hari Om, Shiva Om mantra.
In 2014, I made my first effort towards the Devotion style guide with BHAKTI, which was nominated for a Grammy award. In 2016, I explored this style further with AMMA: Devotional Songs to the Divine Mother, offered at the blessed lotus feet of my beloved Sat Guru, Amma, the hugging saint. www.Amma.org There is also a wonderful miraculous story about the birth of my 4 year old daughter Juliana Joy thanks to Amma’s Blessings here as well: AMMA: Devotional Songs to the Divine Mother
I do feel it’s important to blend the ancient mantras with the modern electronic sounds to reach the current contemporary audience as effectively as is possible. As an artist, it is fun and exciting to merge the timeless with more popular styles, which have an immediate visceral appeal.
Global Heart: Devotion is very exceptional in many ways. The strong rhythms and the use of modern instrumentation give the music more of a pop feeling than a new age one. How would you describe your music?
Paul Avgerinos: The style guide for Devotion actually began with my wife Jen. She is a yoga teacher and loves working out as well. She was searching for high-energy fun music for her workouts that also had a strong and clear sacred devotional essence. She found very few songs that had all of these attributes and suggested that I create an entire album with this style guide in mind. Thus, Devotion was born.
Global Heart: This music makes new-age meditations fun and energy driven. Do you feel this as your mission?
Paul Avgerinos: Yes, this is an important dharmic life-purpose for me: to make meditation, yoga, chanting mantras, etc. more fun and enjoyable so that they will appeal to a much, much wider audience.
Global Heart: Are you all planning for tours or shows?
Paul Avgerinos: I would love to do more tours and shows in the future if the right opportunities present themselves.
Global Heart: If one wants to purchase your music where should they go? Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Paul Avgerinos: DEVOTION is available wherever you like to go for music:
Amazon Spotify iTunes CD Baby Google Play etc…
Global Heart: Thank you so much for your time and all the best in your future aspirations. It is a pleasure speaking with you.
Paul Avgerinos: It’s been very much my pleasure! Thanks so much for all you do to spread and share high vibration thinking and love. Together, we are changing the world for the better, step by small step.
About Paul Avgerinos:
World acclaimed Grammy®Award Winning Artist, Composer, Producer, and Engineer Paul Avgerinos pursues his life’s work to spread peace, love, joy, healing, tolerance, contentment and bliss through gentle and kind music and presence.
A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University Paul has furthered his childhood passion for electronic music and built Studio Unicorn, a comprehensive digital/ analog recording studio. Twenty-Four solo CDs in the New Age genre followed, including GRACE which won the 2015 GRAMMY for Best New Age Album. His album BHAKTI earned a 2014 GRAMMY® Nomination. Paul lives and works in Redding, CT, where the deer pass by his Studio Unicorn windows and the hawks and eagles give inspiration from above.
For more information: Round Sky Music
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