Topal

Darryl Monroe...instrumentation, FX, atmosphere, Vox, neurosis, psych meds... Maria Mia DziublaVox, heart palpitations, wonderful , warm dreams...Topal was a concept that came to me one night when I was playing my drums, sans clothes, on Clark Dry Lake Bed in the Anza Borrego desert in California .....I had to 4 wheel my way there {Although a 2 wheel drive vehicle can do it} It is a good 7 or so miles from the nearest dwelling, situated at the base of Coyote Canyon...a place where long ago the first Spanish pioneers invaded the Indian country on there way to what is now Los Angeles . They passed right through where I was at. When I got there on a late August evening , there were thunderheads in the distance, with beautiful displays of lightning....it was, however, completely quiet...no animal sounds, no thunder sounds, nothing except a gently breeze.....I set up my drums, disrobed and played under the stars...I was always very interested in trance music as well as hypnotic music and ethereal sound. I more then value the power of meditation {although I don't do it enough} and I love mantras , whether they be words , chanting or just a steady drone..drums can work great as well..I paused that evening while I was drumming , expecting someone somewhere to scream at me "shut the fuck up" but nothing...I sat there in the silence that I had just so rudely invaded..... Then I heard a very high altitude fighter plane flying overhead...the gentle low frequency sound reverberating off the ground and nearby hills , changing pitch as the sound came and went.....I saw the plane way up there, just a blinking spot, well ahead of the sound that was reporting..luckily I recorded everything and got the jet....I was on at the time a medication called Topelmax for the medical condition I have , it is a mood stabilizer as well as a treatment for severe facial pain , which I am blessed with....at least then, that particular drug made me feel very much next to God, a true, spiritual Philip K Dick type of drug....I loved the word, "Topelmax" but I thought the word Topal was far more mystical .....Topal...sacred , organic receiving and transmission....when I am in the desert I can often sense the mysterious , long disappeared , Indian runners who once inhabited the Mojave desert {Anza Borrego being arguably a part of, the same people lived there regardless} They would get from one place to another by running , for miles and miles underneath a canopy of billions of stars....the desert at the time was a bit different, at the tail end of the last Ice Age , so there was a lot more water and a lot more life...the lake bed I was sitting was full of water..... those people who , at least as far as I know, are still very mysterious and not a whole lot is known about them.....but living in such a beautiful place, off the land, with so few people and really being a part of nature and the animal kingdom must of been the most spiritual existence possible.......I hear there echoes...Topal....... Back to earth, back to sitting here typing and listening to the late great James Brown....I also wanted a vehicle for a very dear friend of mine, someone I love very much..she is one of the most intense and firee people I know, her spirit is relentless...it is beyond a pleasure knowing her and working with her..she will appear in future recordings..... "