Interview: Andy Fenwick
Photo: Todd Weaver
Not only a musician, but a guider of meditations (among other things), Starseed Diva Dompé has created an album of therapeutic sounds transmitted from Yialmel. In our interview Diva tells us about some of the earliest childhood metaphysical experiences and how the metaphysical informs the current work presented on the new album. There is also a practical look at how the music is created, a detour into Yialmelic fashions, Diva’s family, and being a parent. But the true key to unlocking the mystery lies in Diva’s own words. Read on.
| Is meditation the first or only vehicle with which you’ve investigated the visions that began in your childhood? Were these visions always welcomed? |
| The ways I have experienced metaphysical phenomenon has shifted a lot over time. As an adolescent the two main mechanisms I remember are sleep paralysis and daydreaming/creativity. The sleep paralysis was not welcome mostly, as it was usually quite terrifying with visions of what I perceived to be demonic or malicious beings. My own creative process and meditative States of being were more balanced than that and mostly welcome but also came with their own challenges at times. A lot of these experiences made me question my own mental health and feel a lot of alienation and those conflicts were deeply embedded to where I am still working to overcome them. Songwriting was what I used mostly during this time to process these experiences. Later on as I learned about more magic/esoteric/occult/spiritual practices I also began to explore my metaphysical experiences through astral travel, energy work, ritual, breathwork, meditation, etc. as well as continuing with using creativity. Making the meditations was a kind of combination of these processes, using art and spiritual techniques. That combination is what I really aspire to right now. I also do one on one as well as group healing sessions incorporating Yialmelic energy healing, guided meditation, sound healing, and flower brushing. I strive toward seamless integration of my art and healing practices. To free my healing practice from the structure of marketed healing culture and to ground my art in interdimensional space and just to be authentically expressing myself outside of developed structures of what art and healing and spirituality are. |
| What equipment did you use to make the music on Zjumk and now the new release? Anything unusual and out of the ordinary for “Leaving?” |
| Hah probably not unusual, mostly ableton. Possibly a cassette 8 track and a wasp synthesizer and maybe some other cheap keyboards I had around at the time. I’m compiling these releases from material I have been making for my guided meditations for years so some of the tracks are quite old while some are made recently. |
| Are there plans for/have there been live performances of the Yialmelic Frequencies music? |
| I’ve only done one live performance of Yialmelic Frequencies at this point but would like to do more. We will be having a release celebration coming up where I will play live. I would really like to be performing at very intentional holistic events in which the entire experience is considered. I’m going to start developing these events around my Yialmelic Frequencies performances, including very comfortable clean seating/lounge furniture in soft gentle colors, flowers and plants, herbal tincture bar, and experiential healing elements. |
| Is there a specific fashion sense that compliments the Yialmelic guided meditations & music? |
| Any self adornment that materializes the Potential Earth Vision of liberation and love. Clothes made with consent and respect for the makers and the earth which produces the materials. Clothes infused with magical properties. Wearable holistic tech. |
I strive toward seamless integration of my art and healing practices.
| I know some artists who are also parents can (or say they can) separate home & work. But then I also know some who say they feel as if they now have a permanent creative partner, of sorts, in their kid — as if another human being has begun participating in their creative process, however non-verbally or unintentionally. How is it for you? |
| Being a parent has definitely brought a lot of growth into my life, though staying creative has been challenging. I’m still able to create but it has slowed down a lot. It has informed some of the process in ways though. Like I’ve recently finished an album for my other music project Diva which is more like weird pop music. I was having trouble approaching songwriting as I have in the past (when I would follow moments of inspiration to their completion to create a song), so I decided to just start two tracks and then keep making them longer until each was a side of an album. Through that process, different songs emerged from whatever was happening previously. I like how that came out and I would t have approached t that way without the restrictions of parenthood. |
| You’ve also recorded more song-structure-oriented material. Where are you, now, with that work? |
| I’m still working on that kind of material just much more slowly, as I mentioned above, I’ve recently finished an album for that project (Diva), though it was almost done a couple years ago. This album is called Potential Earth Vision, but not sure when it will be released. It still has a lot of elements that are present in the Yialmelic Frequencies material too but with more of a pop structure and vocals. |
| Talk about your role in Poptone, a band with Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, playing music they made as founding members Bauhaus, Love & Rockets, and Tones on Tail. How did that band form? |
| Kevin Haskins is my dad, and he and Danny had been talking about the idea on and off for a few years (mostly to revisit the tones on tail material since they were together for such a short time and didn’t play many shows) but it never felt like the right time. Then one night danny fell asleep listening to music on YouTube his headphones to be awoken at 4am by Motorheads Ace of Spades. He had a revelation in this moment that he needed to be playing live again and felt like it was maybe the ghost of Lemmy encouraging him. So he and my dad started rehearsing and I came in a few times to audition and it was a good fit. It’s been really fun! We are on tour right now up the west coast. |
| You recorded a Bandcamp-only digital release benefiting Bandcamp’s August 4th 2017 TransGender Law Center initiative. How did that happen for you? |
| My husband Matthew, who runs Leaving Records really wanted to do a special release to support bandcamps donations to the Transgender Law Center that day and of course I wanted to support that as well so i provided that track for the release. we also donated our royalty percentage from that release to Transgender Law Center. |
| Adam Ferris made a video for Oozeland off Zjumk — were you involved beyond the music? How did it come about? Any new video plans? |
| Yes, I enjoy Adams work and collaborated with him before on an interactive website for my last Diva release, Divinity In Thee. That website was a divination tool which randomly generated one of 12 interactive pages (one for each song). The video for Zjumk was somewhat collaborative as well. Adam also generated the album (for Zjumk and Yililok and future releases) artwork from the same content as the video. For Yililok, Jules Guerin is making a beautiful animated video for a short edit of Clay. I am also working with artist Nicole Ginelli on some short animations and animated sticker packs. One of the main roles I try to honor in my life is acting as a channel of Yialmelic information to earth so it means a lot to me when I can work with visual artists to convey that information in a visual form. |
