Please note that the views expressed below are solely that of the author (John Stringer), which may or may not be held by other members of the band!
LOL.. Like the title? I put that down b/c occasionally, people ask State of Man if the band is a Christian band or if the music is religious. Though for me, Music can be likened to a religion, we usually explain that the music is not Christian or religious (given we all have various beliefs, we probably couldn’t claim a single religion for the music if we wanted to). And if in the mood, we might further explain that the music is meant to be UNIVERSAL – something the majority of Artists intend. What I rarely reveal is that my personal intentions with music are to explore its Spiritual significance!
To further expand on that, I want to share the editorial version of my answer to the question “What is the spiritual significance of music?” I gives a little peek into how I, and others like me, view music.
“I believe the spiritual significance of music is similar to the
spiritual significance of language. Music as a tool that causes
spiritual effects that are dependent on the listener and the performer.
The listener’s receptiveness can influence how the music is
experienced. The performer’s intentions can influence how the music is
communicated. Even the conscious and subconscious intentions behind the
music can determine ‘what’ is created. From what I have read and
experienced, the brain absorbs vibrations of sound, and the effect
those vibrations have on the brain can create chemical responses,
emotional reactions, and trigger associations. Music affects us because
we allow it into our conscious and subconscious. The resulting thoughts
triggered determine our feelings and sometimes lead to actions that
bring certain results in our life. I believe the musical experience is
always spiritual because of the connection of our conscious and
subconscious with our spirit. Of course, determining whether a musical experience is spiritually positive or negative is like assessing whether the music itself is beautiful or not. Music appreciation is always a matter of
individual perception.Music can also serve as a method of meditation, and a vehicle to bring
people closer to a spiritual experience. This has to do with the way
the brain works in terms of how sound waves and harmonics affect our
brain and our being. Science has observed how certain sounds trigger
specific brain waves, and how to use these sounds to trigger desired
brain waves. I listen daily to recordings based on this very science
that have been engineered to specifically trigger alpha, beta, delta,
and theta waves in the brain [More information can be found on
www.centerpointe.com]. The recordings produce various states of
meditation and encourage “whole brain thinking” among many other
things. I have added these recordings to my daily meditation practice.
I can also “feel” the affects and have seen the results that the
science supports, including heightened awareness, intellectual clarity,
and stress relief. These results and experiences are what I call
spiritual. Likewise, the sounds in music can have the same effect.
Creating music with State Of Man has always been about how the music
makes us feel, and our hope is that this does the same for our
listeners. As a music composer, creator, and songwriter, my intention
behind creating music is to participate in co-creating something I and others ENJOY. For me, Music is a form of spiritual expression to empower, encourage, enlighten, entertain and a means to create spiritual enjoyment for everyone.”
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