Peaceful Revolution

Using yoga, shamanism and spirituality, The Natural Breakdown seeks change through sound and word.

By: Megan Sullivan

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THE NATURAL BREAKDOWN


   Regional band The Natural Breakdown’s primary message is, we create our own realities based on our beliefs about the world. Its four members hope to raise consciousness through sound and word and offer a hopeful outlook and a call for change.
   "The whole reason why we (started) this band, the main message we are trying to convey is that consciousness creates reality," says keyboardist and vocalist Eric WaldMan. "A lot of times people go around in the world and see the effects of what consciousness creates and work on the effects.
   "Working on the outside problems of the world is not even helpful until you deal with the inner workings of it, the inner cause," he continues. "It’s amazing. It works really subtly sometimes, but the world corresponds to your beliefs about it."
   The concept is based on ideas found in the New Age movement. Mr. WaldMan has also undergone training through The Field Center, an educational forum that offers a curriculum for expanding awareness, conscious creating and shifting into more aligned identity.
   The remaining three members of the band strive to convey the same message, but approach it from different forms of spirituality. Guitarist Dan Farella studies with a Peruvian shaman and is very involved with yoga. Drummer Vinnie Smith studies tabla drum with a guru from India, who is also a spiritual guru. Bassist Gene Lantigua, who moved from the coast of Northern California to join the band last year, practices energy healing, art therapy and meditation.
   "The best part about what we’re doing, every place you look, it’s also the same stuff, you just have to decode it," Mr. WaldMan says. "Christianity, Jewish mystics… everyone’s talking about the same thing.
   "There really is a movement happening where people are waking up to this idea, where they are the cause of everything in their lives," he adds. "The energy put out creates your circumstances. You can change your circumstances, who you want to be and what you accept to be real."
   Formed in 2003, The Natural Breakdown will have a CD release show at Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick Sept. 8. The first full length CD, Inside the One, is filled with stories and lyrics that uphold the band’s message, but Mr. WaldMan stresses that the members aren’t forcing their beliefs upon anyone. "We’re not trying to change anybody at all," he says. "We just want to give people the opportunity and expose them to things they might not otherwise be exposed to and give them the option."
   The tracks feature a blend of rhythms and melodies ranging from Indian classical music, Latin jazz, gospel, bluegrass and folk to fusion, psychedelic, straight up rock and get down funk. The lyrics also tie in themes of love, peace, wisdom and tranquility.
   Instead of renting a studio to record Inside the One, the four musicians built one within their home located on a 12-acre tree farm outside of Princeton. "We have no neighbors," Mr. WaldMan says. "We can practice all night until three or four in the morning."
   Although it probably cost the same amount to buy a computer, software, compressors, equalizers and other gear as it would have to rent time at a fully equipped studio, Mr. WaldMan says they’ll be able to use everything again when it comes time to record their next album. "It was a really nice opportunity to totally stretch out and do things you normally wouldn’t do," he says. That includes recording unusual tracks like finger snaps, mouth claps, banging trashcans and other sounds they wouldn’t have otherwise recorded.
   The Natural Breakdown began recording in January and handed the project over six months later to Mike Partridge, the live sound engineer of New Jersey’s Railroad Earth, for mixing. With so many different sounds converging on each song, it’s hard to fathom how the band was able to pull it off successfully. According to Mr. WaldMan, one song has 43 different tracks on it. He gives the credit to Mr. Partridge’s mixing skills: "He’s a freakin’ genius." Afterward, the tracks were passed to Johnny Grubb, bass player for Railroad Earth, for the final mastering.
   When the band plays live, it obviously doesn’t have the capability of meshing 43 different tracks. "During the live shows, we’re going for a different thing," Mr. WaldMan says. "It’s more about putting out energy and getting people super fired up." He compares it to yoga — just like the practice moves energy in the body, they aim to do the same thing through music. "What we like to do with our jams, we like to raise energy inside the body and aim to open people’s energy channels in their body the same way acupuncture does."
   While the group has mainly been focusing its attention on the debut CD and performing, the members try to participate in social projects like river cleanups and peace marches when possible. Mr. WaldMan says they also hosted weekly community meditations at their house for a while.
   In addition to playing the tri-state area, The Natural Breakdown has jammed in Burlington, Vt., Washington, D.C. and Raleigh, N.C., among other places. The group’s latest endeavor, "Natty B Goes Green," involves raising money to buy a diesel bus for touring.
   Wherever they go, the message remains the same. "Whatever you want to do in the world, you can," Mr. WaldMan says. "It’s just a matter of doing it inwardly first. You can be that person. It’s easy."
The Natural Breakdown’s CD release show for Inside the One will be held at Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, Sept. 8, 8 p.m., $20 (includes CD), all ages; www.naturalbreakdown.com