For more information: www.devapremalmiten.com Media Contact: Lisa Trank, Principal One Purpose PR & Communications (303) 579-4522, e-mail to: ltrank@onepurposepr.com Music in the Key of Love Mantra Singers Music Helps War Vets and Fire Fighters Deva Premal & Miten Launch US Tour and New Album, Password July 10, 2011 (Boulder, CO) Yoga and meditation are increasingly becoming tools of the Veterans Administration, which is adopting body/mind approaches for soldiers struggling with the heavy toll of serving in battle. One Iraqi War veteran relates that the music of renowned mantra singers Deva Premal & Miten, along with other stressreducing tools, helped him rebuild from the traumas of war: I am an Iraqi Freedom Veteran. It was really rough for me to come back and try to create a socalled normal life for myself. Now I practice meditation every day. I am doing so much better today as a result of Deva and Miten s CDs. Their music has been a miracle in my life. It is soothing, calming, healing, beautiful a miracle. The Integrative Rest Institute (IRI), founded in 2006, teaches meditation and yoga through the Veterans Administration to aid veterans with post-battle stress. The institute s protocols (called irest for short) were developed through studies at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on the efficacy of yoga meditation for soldiers experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The irest programs are now operating at VA facilities in Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, and DC. While Deva Premal & Miten have received accolades from such luminaries as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Cher, Anthony Robbins, and Eckhart Tolle, the real impact of their music is reflected in the powerful testimonials from people of all walks of life, who are seeking a musical respite from their daily stresses, as well as those looking to learn about meditation. Yoga and chant are proving beneficial for those on the domestic front lines too. Hal Martin, a retired fire fighter from Miami/Dade County, shares how meditation and the music of Deva Premal & Miten changed his life. When I look back on my life as a fire fighter, the practice of meditation had a major impact. Hal, who reached the rank of Captain, shares, the more 1
successful officers I have come across are the ones that are calm, cool and collected. Meditation has brought me to that space. On calls, in the back of my mind I m humming mantras. In 2006, while visiting his sister, Hal came across the music of Deva Premal & Miten and was blown away. The impact of Deva and Miten s work resonates deeply with Hal, At the last Miami concert, everyone was chanting in unison like a well-tuned chorus and it created such a sense of unity 750 people coming together in Miami it just brought me to tears. Deva Premal & Miten, began their journey in love and music twenty-one years ago when they met at an ashram in India in 1990. Their music and love has evolved into worldwide recording sales of over one million units and they consistently fill concerts halls around the globe. Their Fall 2011 US tour will visit 24 cities, from Seattle to Miami. As Miten expresses it, Mantras are a password into a vaster world, keeping the mind always growing. This sense of growth is borne out by their new album, Password (Sounds True/White Swan Records), which represents a new direction for the chant masters. A group of talented jazz musicians from Copenhagen give Password a lyrical, spacious atmosphere, and the whole album bears its own internal rhythmic propulsion. While the arrangements may have a more pop feel to them, one thing that hasn t changed is Deva s signature rich vocals and the devotion underlying them. The new album stretches gently away from the classical chant format and provides a more accessible path to the inner technology of compassion, awareness and love. Appearing with Deva & Miten both in concert and on recordings is Nepalese bansuri flute maestro, Manose. Born in Kathmandu, Manose has brought the sound of the bansuri to many musical genres and merges the purity of classical Indian music with his remarkable improvisational skills. Accolades for Deva Premal & Miten: Eckhart Tolle, best-selling author:...their music is pure magic... Anthony Robbins, motivational guru:...powerful and passionate music... His Holiness the Dalai Lama:..Beautiful, beautiful music... Cher:... The Essence is my favorite album for yoga... 2
Deva Premal & Miten and Manose Biographies Deva Premal: "It just comes naturally, as if I'd heard it all before, in another life." German-born Deva Premal is a classically trained musician who grew up with Eastern spirituality, singing mantras with her parents as bedtime songs. In contrast to the rock 'n' roll lifestyle of Miten, Deva Premal was raised in an atmosphere of mantra and spiritual discipline. Born in Nürnberg, Germany in 1970 of a mystic/artist father and a musically talented mother, she was taught violin, piano and received voice training. By the time she was five years old, she was already chanting the Gayatri Mantra daily, and since that time she continues to integrate meditation into her life. A lifetime vegetarian, Deva has studied Shiatsu, Reflexology, CranioSacral Therapy and Massage, but music remains her first love. 3
Miten: My eyes were opened to new possibilities which I continue to explore to this day." Miten grew up in the 1960's. "At that time, England was alive with rock 'n' roll music and the sound of The Beatles, shares Miten. Everywhere you went it was on the street. It was a time of innocence, a time when you could sense the possibility that life has no boundaries." He later went on to establish a successful career for himself in the 70's and 80's as a singer/songwriter, touring with such bands as Fleetwood Mac, Lou Reed and Ry Cooder. During this time he released two wellreceived albums, one produced by The Kinks, another by noted Los Angeles producer Bones Howe for Ariola Records. Ultimately he found the rock 'n' roll life-style unfulfilling and empty, and he began an inner search which led him into the world of meditation. Miten proceeded to live his explorations, spending most of his time in India at the ashram, where he met Deva and eventually found a way to express his gratitude, not surprisingly, through music. 4
Manose: "This very moment of existence and silence is my greatest musical influence. Born in Kathmandu, Manose began his musical journey with a rigorous training in classical Indian raga. Later he brought the sound of the bansuri to many musical genres, from jazz to Celtic to being a founding member of the most popular rock band in Kathmandu. Since meeting Deva Premal & Miten in San Francisco, during a recording session in 2002, Manose has performed extensively with them and is featured on many of their recordings, including their new CD release, Password. Manose has released four solo CDs and is ever-more popular as a contributing artist for work by everyone from Deva Premal & Miten, and Grammy-nominated Jai Uttal to bluegrass great, Peter Rowan. He has also collaborated with the Chicago Children's Choir, tabla maestro Swapan Chowdhury, John Densmore of the Doors, and The New Maihar Band, an ensemble created by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He is a founding member of the classical raga group Sukarma, and is a member of Nepal s most popular rock band, 1974AD. About the Practice of Chanting Sanskrit Mantras: The practice of chanting Sanskrit mantras has long been a part of the Yogic tradition in India and Tibetan Buddhism. In recent years, like Yoga, chanting has moved into the Western mainstream, where it has been embraced as a joyful path to ease the heart and quiet the mind. Deva points out: "When you sing mantras, you enter a state of peaceful, vibrant and replenishing silence. Basically, that's why all religions and traditions have made so much of chanting in their rituals." She also notes that chanting mantras can be healing on many levels: "The Sanskrit language is energy based - it is sound medicine. It has a harmonizing and balancing effect on the energy centers in the body, both physically, and metaphysically." 5
Deva Premal & Miten Discography: Mantras for Precarious Times (Deva Premal & Miten) (2009) DevaSonic Vol. 1: Buddha Beats (Deva Premal & Miten) (2009) DevaSonic Vol. 2: Yoga Beats (Deva Premal & Miten) (2009) Download Singles (Deva Premal & Miten) (2009) Deva Premal & Miten In Concert (Deva Premal & Miten) (2009) Into Silence: The Meditation Music of Deva Premal (Deva Premal) (2008)* Soul in Wonder (Miten with Deva Premal) (2007) Deva Premal Sings the Moola Mantra (Deva Premal) (2007) Dakshina (Deva Premal) (2005) More Than Music (Deva Premal & Miten) (2004) Songs for the Inner Lover (Miten with Deva Premal) (2003) Satsang (Deva Premal & Miten) (2002) Embrace (Deva Premal) (2002) Love Is Space (Deva Premal) (2000) Blown Away (Miten) (1999) Dance of Life (Miten) (1999) The Essence (Deva Premal) (1998) Trusting the Silence (Miten & Premal) (1997) Strength of A Rose (Miten with Deva Premal) (1996) Global Heart, Native Soul (Miten) (1996) All of Deva Premal & Miten s releases are under exclusive license for North America to White Swan Records. *Released by Sounds True in partnership with White Swan Records. 6
DEVA PREMAL & MITEN S NEW ALBUM, PASSWORD, IS GOOD FOR BODY, HEART AND MIND Mantra chanting proven to increase mental alertness and deep relaxation For those who chant mantras either formally during meditation, less formally during yoga, or even while going about their regular day they will tell you they don t need scientific research to confirm what they already know: Chanting has the power to relax, restore and re-boot the mind, body and spirit. For those who like substantiated research, however, the Kendra Yoga Research Foundation in Bangalore, India found that meditators showed a statistically significant reduction in heart rate during meditation chanting compared to those in control groups who tried other means to obtain the same results. The authors of the study interpret their data to indicate that a sign of increased mental alertness, even while being physiologically relaxed (as shown by the reduced heart rate) was achieved as a direct result of sustained meditation chanting. For those who listen to the music of Deva Premal, whose mantra recordings have sold over a million units across the globe, they know it is nearly impossible to hold onto stress when you hear her clear, rich voice. As a member of the top-selling chant group, Deva Premal & Miten, Deva has introduced millions of Westerners to the beauty and power of chanting Sanskrit mantras. As her partner Miten expresses it, Mantras are a password into a vaster world, keeping the mind always growing. Thus they have named their newest mantra album Password. The purely phonetic language of Sanskrit dates back to 3,500 BCE and is thought to be the origin of all Indo-European languages spoken today. The ancient sounds of Sanskrit are known to create a Neuro-linguistic effect 1 - even if the meaning of the mantra is unknown to the chanter. Chanting these sounds sends vibrational energies to the body and brain, like spreading positive curative chemicals. This is much like the relaxation effects of music therapy just listening to a soothing mantra has the ability to lower blood pressure, normalize heart rate and brain wave patterns, stabilize adrenalin levels and even reduce cholesterol levels. 2 It s no wonder that more doctors are advising people with high levels of stress to sit quietly and listen to music or mantras every day. In fact, new research conducted by scientists hailing from multiple concentrations are beginning to compile evidence that rather than simply being a transient mental or spiritual experience, meditation may have long-term implications for physical health, including lowering the stress response hormone, Cortisol, decreased inflammatory responses to stress and measurable changes in the amygdala the area of the brain that responds to threat, which naturally causes bodily stress. 7
Given the current state of the world and peoples increased stress levels from widespread turmoil, tragedy and struggle, we may all benefit from the healing effects of just 15 minutes of daily mantra chanting whether doing it ourselves or listening to a recording. The evidence is clear: we can lower stress levels and take advantage of multiple health benefits, simply by taking the time to stop, breathe and chant. Deva Premal & Miten s new album, Password, offers a simple pathway into meditative chanting. It incorporates ancient, timeless Sanskrit chants with rich, contemporary arrangements performed by some of the best jazz musicians from Copenhagen, Denmark a city well-known for its exceptional jazz performances. ### For more information: www.devapremalmiten.com Media Contact: Lisa Trank, Principal One Purpose PR & Communications (303) 579-4522, e-mail to: ltrank@onepurposepr.com 8