In the 17 years since its auspicious start, plenty has happened to Spacehog—some of it not so great. And still, the group’s new release, As It Is On Earth (Hog Space), carries on almost as if there were no gaping 12 years of dead air since the 2001 release of the band’s last album, The Hogyssey. As It Is On Earth displays none of the derivative Bowie/T.Rex laziness of its predecessor, while harnessing manageable doses of the antsy experimental energy that fueled Resident Alien’s expansive 1998 follow-up, The Chinese Album. Spacehog frontman Royston Langdon will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on the band.
Royston Langdon: Living in New York City, I have found it difficult at times to separate myself from the frenetic energy of this place. I had practiced forms of meditation with varying degrees of success. However, in early October of last year, I met Bob Roth, the executive director of the David Lynch Foundation and began to study transcendental meditation under his tutelage. I haven’t looked back since. Bob described exactly how although meditation of the Zen Buddhist practice is all well and good in the mountain monasteries of the Himalayas and other such serene places, it is much more difficult to “dive within” in the modern world that many of us find ourselves required to dwell. He described to me how like the surface of the ocean, meditation has waves and turbulence along with the world around us, but that by “diving deeper,” we reach a place where equanimity pervades much more freely. After an initial ceremony of thanks to those who have gone before us in TM and a week of simply practicing with Bob, I was given my mantra and was off to the races. Twenty minutes, once in the morning and then again late afternoon helps me to reduce the distractions of stress and strain that the demands of life often have on me. It enables me to feel much more connected to myself and therefore improves all areas of my life. I believe that by spreading the message of this simple practice, hopefully it will become more prevent throughout the planet, augmenting all our consciousness’s universally thus improving the quality of life for all mankind. I have committed 10 percent of all our profits from our new Pledge Music campaign to the David Lynch Foundation. Try it; you might like it.
Video after the jump.
