"Liquid Mind"

My first Interview for this blog is with the brilliant musician, Chuck Wild. I discovered his music this past year on Apple Itunes while searching for relaxing music to meditate to. He creates his music under the name, "Liquid Mind", which I find very appropriate. In my research, I have never found any music like Chuck's. It shimmers and is soft like summer air on your face. The music is so relaxing and slow, without a beat, that you can't help but calm down even in the midst of lots of stress. I listen to his music every night, before I go to bed and even all night long. Listening to "Liquid Mind" has become a nightly ritual for me.

Chuck has worked with some very famous musicians like Capitol Records' group "Missing Persons", Frank Zappa, Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, Jennifer Rush, and many others. I wrote to Chuck and he kindly agreed to let me copy from one of the articles on his website.

Heuristic: A personal history of the use and development of "ultra-slow" music.

“Composer Chuck Wild is a longtime advocate of using slow music in healing settings. The Liquid Mind series evolved as a vital part of the composer’s own successful healing from anxiety and panic disorder, brought on by long hours working in network television, as well as the grief of losing dozens of friends to HIV and cancer in a few short years in the 1980s. Wild resolved in 1988 to create his own brand of “zero beat” sedative music, enabling him to relax deeply during that stressful period, and he has been sharing this music with others in need of healing for 17 years.

Background: At the time of onset of my panic and anxiety symptoms in 1987, I had been working 20 hour days for three months, composing music for the ABC-TV series Max Headroom. The combination of the long hours and resulting sleep deprivation, along with the grief of losing literally dozens of friends and associates to HIV and cancer in a few short years in the late 1980's resulted in a nearly incessant case of panic and anxiety disorder. I often had more than ten panic attacks within one day, and was near exhaustion.

Many of the symptoms of classic panic disorder were present (nervousness, ringing in the ears, muscle tension, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, tingling in the extremities, feelings of losing mental control, exaggerated fear response), and in addition, I felt a heightened sensitivity to sound, light, motion, volume, and any aural activity. My response was to isolate, and I soon became agoraphobic, not leaving my house for nearly 3 weeks.

I was offered medication by my doctor, but after a brief usage (48 hours), decided to pursue nonpharmaceutical options, due to the potential collateral damage from polypharmacy. My search for alternatives led me to meditation and music. I had little luck finding prerecorded extremely slow, deeply relaxing music. I found only a few isolated pieces on some early ambient electronic albums, so a counselor suggested I compose music that would reflect the health and relaxation I wanted to feel.

I designed the Liquid Mind prescriptive sedative music to facilitate my own healing regimen with no reliance on pharmaceuticals. My self-imposed prescription was that the music should be slow in tempo, rich harmonically, more or less continuous, somewhat frequency restricted, atmospheric (did not attract too much attention to itself), and emotionally rich. Of all these elements, the most important was that the compositions be unrushed, at a very slow tempo, without discernible meter, or a meter that reflected only healthy breathing patterns.

Using sedative music (rather than medication), in conjunction with psychotherapy and meditation, I felt an increased sense of control, confidence, focus, and mobility, as I gathered the tools for a healthier and saner life. Episodes of anxiety, panic and overwhelm became less and less frequent. A growing sense of independence and working hard at my healing regimen helped to restore my sense of “having a life”, and assisted me in the re-socialization process. Ultra-slow music proved to be a consistent and reliable tool to engender higher quality sleep and a reduction of anxiety and tension symptoms.

Making my own prescriptive sedative music available to others:
After six years of using my own music (1988-1994), and seeing how it had helped me return to a productive life, I started a privately owned record label in 1994 solely for the purpose of distributing ultra-slow music. I managed Chuck Wild Records from 1994 to 2004, recording six albums. In 2004, as my company outgrew my own time availability, I agreed to allow Real Music, a respected independent record label (whose long-time mission has been to spread relaxing and healing music throughout the world) to become the Liquid Mind label, distributor, and licensor.”

Written by Chuck Wild and can be found in whole on the website: Liquid Mind, and Chuck's Personal Website.

In the following week, I will be interviewing Chuck and will post it very soon. He is a very kind person to let a complete stranger contact him out of the blue and generously let me interview him. I promised him I would keep it short! I will also review his many “Liquid Mind” CDs very soon as well.