✽ DHARA / JAYA ✽
“Tranquil soundscape that is sure to elevate the headspace around you.” ~Aquarium Drunkard
“Warm and feathery tones that resonate with the same open sense of yearning as any Tim Buckley song where the sun could claim a songwriter’s credit.” ~Longform Editions
“Relaxing journey that honors traditional sitar pieces while blending Western musical feel.” ~Santa Barbara Independent
“Emotional and psychedelic atmosphere.” ~Indie Valley Music
“Utterly captivating.” ~Tome The Weather Machine
After a long-time infatuation with Indian music, Santa Barbara-raised songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maxton Hunter releases his debut sitar singles “Dhara” (meaning Earth; constant flow; sustaining and preserving) and “Jaya” (meaning victorious). Both pieces were inspired by Raga Alhaiya Bilawal, one of the late morning ragas he most resonated with. In the West, a raga is difficult to explain because it is neither a scale nor a mode, but it is based on both. It’s a cluster of notes where you give life to each of the notes, or more literally “to color an emotion.”
At the top of 2021, Hunter joined the Los Angeles International Music & Arts Academy where he met his guru Rajib Karmakar. The sitar maestro has performed and collaborated with legends such as Herb Alpert, Beck, Chris Martin, Sandeep Das, and has also been featured in films for Disney, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. Through the LAIMA Academy, Hunter connected with the Festival of Tabla organizers where he assisted as a stagehand last summer.
✽ EAGLE ROCK SESSIONS ✽
PRODUCER & RECORDING ENGINEER•RYAN POLLIE
“Dhara” and “Jaya” were produced and engineered by experimental artist Ryan Pollie, founder of the Academy of Light, an Los Angeles-based ambient ensemble they both perform in. After the Eagle Rock sessions with Pollie, the recordings were mixed and mastered in Dolby Atmos by Noah Bruskin, the house engineer for Alan Parsons’ ParSonics Studio in Goleta, California.
Front cover was designed by graphic artist and singer-songwriter Cecilia James. Music video was created by director, cinematographer and long-time collaborator Roberto Johnson. Shot entirely on 8mm, filming locations included the Ellwood Bluffs in Goleta, San Marcos Foothills Preserve in Santa Barbara, and Self-Realization Fellowship’s Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades.
“Recording these pieces was an absolute delight.”
“I believe we chatted, reconnected for a bit. Then did some breathing, and captured these songs many times in repetition with no break for conversation. It was pretty intuitive and seemed to be exactly what I needed that day!”
~Ryan Pollie
✽ MUSIC VIDEO BTS ✽
DIRECTOR & CINEMATOGRAPHER•ROBERTO JOHNSON
ASSISTANT DP•ELLIE BURLESON
“Creating the visual world for these songs was a deeply rewarding journey.”
“Our aim was to capture something that would amplify the feelings present in the music - stillness, tranquility, joy, elation. The locations we chose were scenically compatible but also personally meaningful, making this a special project from start to finish.”
~Roberto Johnson
