Photo Courtesy of Kalya Scintilla

Kalya Scintilla has been pushing the sonic boundaries of bass music for years. Known for creating harmonious beats fused with ancient tribal sounds and influences, he creates an intentional auditory and thematic tale incorporating myth and awareness. His sets have engaged, empowered and enthralled listeners across the globe. Recently pairing with the dynamic Eve Olution, the duo has created a rich theatrical and musical journey that leads everyone through a unique flow and transmission.

We had the opportunity to chat with Kalya Scintilla and Eve Olution who are performing together at Lucidity and talked about everything from bass tuning to their creative influences and creative processes.

How did you guys first decide to team up and perform together?

We teamed up together in 2012 and began performing in Australia in Oct. of that year. Dec. 2012 we sat to write the story for Open Ancient Eyes, a story of the human awakening that follows the plot layout of the Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell. We’ve been creating and performing together ever since.

When working with Eve how much of the performance is planned out and choreographed and how much of it is done in flow?

All of the performance is planned out. Eve is a storyteller and uses the medium of theatre to take us on a journey that matches the music. The music gives her the world and she creates the character. A method she uses is: to adhere to the story she is telling. Moments are in flow but it is all threaded together through story which makes it more theatre based vs. dance choreography based. We have set song for Eve’s magic but the set structure built around those moments are always different making it more intuitive, ‘in the moment’ and fun. You get a unique transmission at every performance and we are always changing or adding various characters/songs to keep our fans always guessing what we will do next.

How do you influence each other artistically?

We are in constant creation mode. We are on the road constantly and are always dreaming into our current and future creations. Gaining ideas from the countries we travel to, insights from nature, and what we are watching on the global stage with our own eyes as we hop from continent to continent. This is one thing we do well together, we are always evolving our art and always refining our intention day in and day out. All of this influences the art we do live and the art we create in the studio.

Are there any plans to add other performing arts to the show?

The combination of live performance and music is where we are constantly exploring in terms of how we take our audiences on an immersion journey. Luckily because we are focused not on dance but Theatre this allows us to play in multiple genres of the performing arts. It’s our intention to begin giving a brighter spotlight to theatre based art (storytelling thru all mediums) and bring more performance & vocal artists to the stage to co-weave this intention with us. Lucidity will be the first full theatre production which follows the mythological story of Open Ancient Eyes (the latest album). Before this moment our live sets have been a one woman show that Eve has been curating with multiple characters and archetypes with small debut performances of guest artists from time to time, but this show is a full cast of players to weave the mythos together. We are super excited to be debuting this show at Lucidity and feel it will be something very special to present to our tribal family.

Photo Credit: Travis Tigner Photography at Earth Heart

How does tuning your music to the body’s natural resonance and chanting create a therapeutic experience for your listeners?

I’ve been diving deep into the science behind what exactly is healing behind frequency. I’m really excited with my recent use of Harmonic tuning vs. Equal temperament which is the current western standard. Harmonic tuning is literally working with sound waves that are in harmonic resonance that bring crystalline patterns to the body, giving geometric structure to the water in the body of which is said to be 90% in the human body. This is taking the truth of healing and rooting it in a tangible way that everyone can feel whether they are aware of it or not. There is a lot of ‘new age’ sound healing that is actually scientifically wrong, or claims to be something it is not. Healing can happen simply through intention but having the delivery as acutely attuned as possible will assist in that intention going much deeper. It’s all about balance.

Where do you think the psy bass scene is headed?

That’s like asking where do you think humanity is headed. No one knows really, but we can hold visions and speculate. One thing I know for sure is that humans have always joined together in celebration and dance on the earth. It is deeply coded in our DNA. So I feel that while the music will always evolve and change, that deep pulsing tribal bass will always be present.

I also feel that land purchased to build sustainable eco village type communities that host festival events will be a more common reality in the near future. So many hold a vision and a template for creating this and it will be a graduation of sorts, a maturation of our scene.

How would you describe Lucidity? What do you enjoy about the festival?

Lucidity holds a special place in our hearts because of all the soul family and friends we have in southern California. This is where Eve and I met and Eve lived in this area for several years and has worked and created art with many artists in this area. This is a homecoming for us.