This post is dedicated to a rare, unusual and delightful individual who passed from this world two days ago. He was a transcendental madman, a fireball and visionary. He was found in his tiny room coined the “cave” early in the morning after a leaky gas canister took his life.

PLEASE READ ON…

Far off in an exotic, mysterious and spiritually charged ancient village called Vrindavan (land of Krishna) two hours from New Delhi, India lived a wonderful monk and musical genius by the name of Aindra. For 25 years he dedicated practically every waking hour conceiving and singing beautiful melodies dedicated to the Divine on his harmonium, a bellowed organ-like keyboard instrument. He was famous around the world for his kirtans, an ancient spiritual practice of devotional singing accompanied by musical instruments. In Vrindavan, trying to fulfill the deepest desire of his spiritual teacher Srila Prabhupada, he successfully established the 24-hour temple kirtan, non-stop singing of the maha mantra in dedication to the divine couple Radha Krishna. Maha means the greatest. Mantra means to deliver the mind from suffering.
He inspired bhakti (yoga of devotion) yogis and thousands of others from all over the globe to follow in his musical footsteps and perform congregational kirtan in their own town or city, temple, yoga center, festival…
You could say he is the founding father KRC, Kirtan Resurgence Collision.
If you practice yoga you might have experienced some time in a kirtan. It’s a powerful movement coming your way no doubt with Aindra leading through the hearts of those who believe in his vision of giving everyone a chance to experience a magical world beyond this earthly one. Chant, dance and be happy!

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What does MADONNA, NILE RODGERS and Tom Silverman from TOMMY BOY Entertainment have in common? Other than being uber-successful in the music industry during the 80′s-90′s and beyond, they were all present at the New Music Seminar in NYC which was held at Webster Hall for two days this week. MADGE showed up on a vintage film that Nile so affectionately shared with the audience while he told his story of how he met her in the 80′s club scene and how they ultimately worked together.

We were really impressed with Nile’s vibe and natural style. He appeared unaffected by his major musical icon status. His signature is scrawled across an amazing array of music from Madonna, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Diana Ross, Duran Duran to name just a wee few. He was voted “Top Producer in the World” in Billboard Magazine.

Tom Silverman, the founder of Tommy Boy Records, now known as TOMMY BOY ENTERTAINMENT is the co-creator of the NMS. He and a bunch of panelists including SPRINGSTEEN’S Little Steven sat on the stage, living room style deliberating on how to become a pop star in this time of almost impossible DIY promotion.

For two days we listened intently, networked and participated in the mentoring sessions directed within small groups for a mono-on-mono feel. In between we took a few long breaks to dine at this amazing raw food restaurant, QUINTESSENCE in the East Village.

You can get the full skinny on the NEW MUSIC SEMINAR NYC @ http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/07/22/how-do-you-make-a-pop-star-a-new-music-seminar-panel-tries-to-figure-it-out/

~ India

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We are tickled pink and pleased to announce that Astronauts of Antiquity are featured on femmusic.com listed as one of “5 Artists Who Are Attracting Our Attention This Month”. Check us out @ http://femmusic.com/home.htm

Other note worthy A.O.A. news:

We have seriously upgraded our shop page to give you an even better breezy, happy purchasing experience.

Thanks for your support…Stay tuned, stay cool, stay inspired!

~ India

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Recently we heard Erykah Badu perform at the Roseland Ballroom here in NYC. It is a beautiful, eclectic venue architecturally! The room was packed with collective enthusiasm as B, myself and our lovely friends, Mario and Laurie stood crunched in the back on our tippy toes to catch a glance of the star and her band over the multitude of heads.

Erykah is and always will be the consummate artist ignoring the herd’s version of what is suppose to be commercial in popular music. She reaches for the outer limits with grace, irreverence and honesty. You really do believe her when she sings, “ don’t want nobody sitting next to me”. Luv the moody blues hookability!

I am wondering though in the beginning of the show why Erykah took so long to come out on stage as the band kept playing the same riff over and over like a needle stuck in vinyl. If it was meant to build a healthy tension / desire to see the goddess of soul it didn’t work, at least for me. It was annoying but admittedly quickly forgotten as the diva slipped in front of her mic and sang her first buttery note.  From there and into the evening we took an audiolicious tour of Erykahville. Oh yea, her band is hot. Only the best.

I’ve heard she is coming out with an album of jazz standards soon.  Really looking forward to that!

~  India

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We have recently been focusing on the art of writing a well-crafted song that is simple, memorable yet has emotional and spiritual depth. It is definitely an art form, as it is a challenge to condense a personal reflection/ observation, emotional state and an underlying theme of transformation into 3 and half minutes. We’re up for the challenge. Sometimes it feels as if the Muse is favoring you – that’s how it seems to be unfolding for us now. The song ideas are pouring out with a clarity and fluidity that is touched by the forces of inspiration. We’re just a humble conduit, and it feels real good. We’ve got about 14 songs written. 3 songs’ basic rhythm tracks have been laid down by our live band, and we’re working on fine tuning the arrangements and production with Taylor Ryan, our keyboardist and producer from the last record, “Rocket Science for Dummies”. “You Can Never Fail” has a almost “Rocky Raccoon” minimalist vibe with a haunting sing-a-long catch phrase that reminds us not to be so hard on ourselves in the process of life’s ongoing lessons. It’s written about someone we know who has long cultivated the self- sabotage habit (haven’t we all to some degree?). We are extremely excited about a song we’re currently working with producer Ivan Simatovic (“Soup du Jour” from the last record), entitled “Woman of Substance”. It’s got all the elements we love – the Peter Gabriel/Sting depth and texture, Sade and Erykah Badu soulfulness, Zero 7 / Bjork chill-out pop oddness and Thievery Corporation groove based eclectic-ness. Stay tuned boys & girls, you won’t be disappointed…….
~B

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Welcome to our new AOA Lounge – the latest updated website 4 Astronauts of Antiquity 2010. We simplified things, removed some of the flash elements to

make it more search engine friendly, added more of an interactive use-ability, redesigned a killer logo and look, keeping it stylish and electro-loungey for your listening and viewing pleasure. We also added a dedicated web page for our last release – www.rocketsciencefordummies.com.
We are indebted to the wonderful graphic artfulness of one Jesse Chase from Vitamin J Designs.  He has been a real pleasure to work with through all the back & forth discussions and varied changes that this site has undergone in the last few months. He also brought on board Bob Lugowe from Relapse Records to assist us in marketing across the great digital divide. Bob has been awesome, making cutting edge informed recommendations to assist us in independently promoting our music.

Check us out on Jango.com, (voted in the top 5 of new music sites), and on Amie St., one of the top independent music download sites on the web.

Take a browse through the site, relax in the AOA lounge and let us know what you think — >

And while you’re at it sign up for our mailing list and newsletter and get a free AoA mp3!
~B

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I was away for a month – Feb. 1st – March 1st. The intention of the trip was to dive into the profound and ancient spiritual culture of Vedic India. It was also go gain inspiration for the writing of our new record, which we had just begun before I left. Along the way I knew there would be many visible & hidden blessings for both my son & I. India (my beautiful AOA partner ), opted to stay back home this time to keep the music biz going. (We had gone there together a few years back) I was in communication with her daily – she got the play by play.

After a 14 + hr. flight we arrived in Delhi. We had a driver waiting for us who I had arranged through some friends. He was good natured and spoke English fairly well. Our accommodations were pleasant enough, comfortable and clean. We were to begin a 10+ day puja (spiritual offering) with many brahman priests the next morning. The purpose of the ancient ceremony was specifically designed to counteract malefic planetary influences and blockages. In essence it was to pacify the powers that be and usher in auspiciousness.

Our head priest Panditji was a lively and pakka (first class/fine) Siva bhakta. He also is a highly learned and respected Ayurvedic (jyotish) astrologer. He had prepared powerful lockets made of 3 precious astrological gems (according to our planetary positions) for each of us to wear. We would receive these on the last day of the puja after the final fire sacrifice.

Each day we entered the puja room around 7:30 am, which was beautifully arranged according to Vastu Shastra – the Indian equivalent of Feng Shui. Originally we were to go to an old Siva temple daily, but I figured it would be easier for us to have it all set up in the guesthouse where we stayed. That way we could easily make the early morning program w/o driving crosstown in Delhi traffic.

Each day was like going back in time to primeval India. There were 5 – 7 Brahmans’ powerfully chanting mantras in unison, offering of articles of worship, such as flowers, incense, milk for bathing the deity forms of the Godhead, fruits, grains, sandalwood and kumkum powder/paste. Vishnu & I would follow their guidelines for 4 hours. It was intense. We also made sure that we had the picture representation of my fearless partner India (the voice of AOA) present at all times, with a cord tied from her picture to my wrist. Sometimes we would forget to bring her picture in and the Brahmans’ would exclaim “where is miss India? – she must be here!” Very cool.

During the daytime we had a few free hours to explore Delhi, before returning to our evening 6:30 p.m. arati – or offering celebration which capped the days’ spiritual activities. We shopped at Riki Ram’s where the Beatles bought their Indian musical instruments (I bought a traveling harmonium), received many Ayurvedic hot oil massages and Shiro Dara (hot oil poured on the third eye for deep stress release), visited many astounding temples, sampled the local cuisine, and most mind blowing of all – stumbled upon the ancient Naadi palm leaf readers.

Historically the Naadi Shastra was spoken by Lord Siva to his wife Parvati a few thousand years ago, and transcribed onto palm leaves by the sage Kaushilka Rishi. Each leaf contains a concise description of a soul’s present lifetime, their previous life and possibly future life depiction. It also contains their previous life transgressions which have lead to difficulties in the present, as well as “remedies” to counteract the effects of these previous life bad karmas. It is literally a blueprint of your destiny. An questions regarding this can be answered in a book entitled “The Hidden Oracles of India” by Andrew & Angela Donavon – 2 English filmmakers who had their minds blown by this experience a few years ago.

to be continued in Part #2…..

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It was a rainy, windy night in NYC. The bright reflections from the delis and car lights wavered across the dirty puddles as we rushed to the corner West Village club to attend a book signing party for hardcore legend John Joseph better know in the 80’s as Bloodclot, the front man for the Crow-Mags.

We have known John for a long time and are always impressed with his dedication to writing, whether a screenplay, novel or song.  Up at the crack of dawn he chants Hare Krishna for an hour or so then works out. After that he writes for hours every day.

His most recent contribution “Meat is for Pussies” is his battle cry against the intense propaganda from the meat industry and how it is extremely destructive to our earth’s eco system and to our own bodies. As you have probably guessed he is, like us an avid vegetarian and has been for years.

The party was really fun. John was humorous and warm towards all his guests which included luminaries, Moby, famous vegan athletes, models, well known vegan doctor / author and even a few bright faced Krishna devotees / yogis along with his many other friends and fans and of course his mother.

Yummy vegan cuisine and a “Meat is for Pussies” reading from the host made everyone in the room lick their fingers and laugh from their bellies.

Hey we even found the perfect parking space!

~  India / AoA

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The Naadi reading left us in awe of the map of destiny, and how every action of previous lives, especially those that caused pain to others, lead to difficulties/lessons that we must endure in the present life. “What goes around most def comes around”. We were also grateful for the compassion of these higher beings & bygone sages for aiding us in alleviating the malefic effects of our misdeeds, as well as guiding us to deeper spiritual insights and devotion. It also helped us gain clarity into the vision of our present life situation – what were were truly meant to do, in what time frame, as well as what negative tendencies & situations to avoid. A lot to swallow, believe me.

We then proceeded to continue our puja in Haridwar & Hrishikesh in the Himalayas, where the famous Kumba Mela festival was in full swing. Kumbha Mela is the largest spiritual gathering in history – over 14 million people attend. Many great yogis come down from their Himalayan caves and forest dwellings once every 12 years for this astrologically auspiscious jubilee, many ofthem well over 100+ yrs old. We wanted to be there on Lord Siva’s appearance day, Siva Ratri, for he is the ishta deva (worshipable deity) of our head priest Panditji, and mercifully removes obstacles on ones path. It was a northbound 6 hour drive from Delhi. Takes forever to get past the insanity of expansive Delhi traffic – countless cars, multicolored open trucks blaring cinema songs, motorbikes, rikshas (both motorized 3 wheelers and bicycle), as well as roaming sacred cows. When we finally got out into the open country of the Himalayan foothills, it was so refreshing. Loved stopping at roadside stands for tea or local cuisine – the people were extremely joyous/gracious and the food delectably tasty.

We finally made it up the mountain where the Nila Kant temple is situated – the ancient diety of Sivaji famous for saving the demigods by drinking an ocean of poison. (google it) On the way there were throngs of pilgrims all clamoring to have a glimpse of the diety on this sacred occasion. I personally always tried to keep an internal mood of prayerful meditation throughout this trip and this was no exception. There was one roadside festival where hundreds of devotees were exuberantly & freely distributing prasad (vegetarian food offered to the diety) to all the passersby. What an ecstatic sight – wide-eyed enthusiasm to distribute mercy; “please take Sivaji’s prasad!’ they would lovingly exclaim. Nice. From the mountain top you could see the vast beauty of Himalayan agriculture. Circular farming, lush green grass and crop features with picturesque dwellings in their midst. Life as it was meant to be lived – simple & self-sufficient, depending only the gifts of the land and the grace of God.

We also got up the courage (for 3 straight days) to bathe in the sacred Ganges River daily at 5:30 a.m. Everyone in India knows that Mother Ganga flows from the toe of Lord Vishnu (Supreme Being, the maintainer of creation) into this material realm from the spiritual planets. Thus to bathe in it’s waters relieves the soul from layers of karmic residue. Whoa – cold man – yet extremely invigorating. Here is the scene: sublime bathing ghat, majestic river, hundreds of pilgrims stripping down to their underwear taking one step at a time descending into the frigid flowing current, laughing and celebrating their purifying austerities, couples going in holding hands as they both dunk into the waters – coming out shivering and happy. This is essence of Indian culture – recreational time spent for spiritual advancement, sacrificing comfort for the deeper fulfillment of the soul. I love it. We did a few puja’s/abhisheks on the banks of the Ganga, and the night of Siva-Ratri we performed pitri-puja, an offering to our ancestors to relieve them of their suffering incurred from their previous missteps – invoking blessings to essentially “send them on their way”. It was pretty emotional. The Kumba Mela sight itself was wild – a curried combination of an early Indiana Jones movie set, a Grateful Dead concert, an ancient Himalayan marketplace, a monastic retreat and a gathering of the tribes. Camps, tents, shrines, endless and ecstatic chanting into the wee hours, naked yogis, humble devotees, monks, mendicants, asetics & onlookers set against the raging current of the Ganges and the overwhelming beauty of the Himalayas. I wrote a song there – you’ll probably hear India sing it on the new record. The song starts ” driving up the Himalayas, throngs of pilgrims, Kumba Mela. Ganges river flowing like a freight train of purest steam in liquid form. Celibrating the rebirth, was I ever really born? And if there has been a curse, lift it off me now – I’m so damn cold…it’s time to recallibrate my soul” . Just a little taste my friends…..

stay tuned for part #3….

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We are having some magical moments in the recording studio! Time passes in a different fashion when you are in your creative head. I find it amazing that what started as a simple catchy phrase has turned into our first cut for our new
album.

I’ll track the lead vocals soon. For the next few days I study, like an actor my role and relationship with the lyrics and how to make them come alive through
the melody. I see it now…my arsenal…lots of Singer’s Saving Grace throat spray on hand, gallons of hot tea; dimmed lights for ambience and cell phones do a disappearing act. The invisible curtains open and I reach into the “no mind zone”. It’s time to f#%@(*$% sing! Hopefully by the blessings of Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of the arts and music I will find my mojo and let it all out. I guess that statement is my prayer too.

Thinking of all of you who listen to our music and support AoA …this one is for you!
~ India

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