Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Moss.
Hi Tony, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
28 years ago a new friend walked into the coffee house I was running at the time in Long Beach, Ca. and asked if I wanted to participate in an ayahuasca ceremony. Like many people at the time, my response was, “Aya what?”.
Ultimately, an ignorantly, I decided to attend. That experience changed the trajectory of my life.
I had, at least subconsciously, given up on the idea of a career as a musician. But the world of “plant medicines” opened up a whole new field and possibly of music born from and created for psychedelic therapy and plant medicine, and other ceremonies now known as “medicine music”. And that’s now my main focus and passion.
You couldn’t have told me then that people would be contacting me from all over the world sharing how much my music has meant to them. From a friend sharing that they recently did a yoga class in Bali to my entire Birds In Paradise album, another sharing that their 3-day Joe Dispensa workshop opened with my song “Grateful”, to most recent, a friend in shop, in a remote mountain town in Alto Paraiso, Brazil, thanking the shop owner for playing, “Ye Yemanja”, because it reminded her of home, to which the shop owner replied, “You KNOW him?!”.
All of which has been the major motivation for my upcoming album, “Joy”. For me, it’s a “thank you” to all the folks who’ve motivated and supported my medicine music journey. After producing the album, “Birds In Paradise”, on the I AM LIFE MUSIC label I co-created, which features collaborations from multiple artists, a solo project was the next ambition. And I’m beyond pleased with the support and anticipation surrounding its release.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a wild road, full of early doubt, insecurity, and sacrifice. Like any other artist, wondering if you’re crazy for following your artistic passion and “calling” – always battling the little self-destructive and somewhat productive voice of reason, whispering, “Just let this go and get a real job”. I’m so grateful I only half listened to it.
I maintained enough other work to sustain myself while developing and refining the music. And maintaining that balance was able to eventually fully transition into a self-sustaining music career as a medicine music artist.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The knowledge and musicality gleaned from the last 28 years culminate in the new album, Joy. Which features contributions from some of our favorite artists, including Ksenia Luki and Fabiano Do Nascimento, and features eleven interconnected compositions that harmoniously blend the art and technology of music and sound as healing, transformative modalities in a uniquely modern, contemplative, lyrical, sound-ecstatic, journey.
My intent for all the music I create and produce is to bring together the science, spirituality, and indigenous understanding of music as a healing modality. With the Joy album, my intention is to harmoniously bring all the music genres that most influenced me into a “medicine space”. It’s a deep bow to them, synthesizing all my music loves, influences, and passion & knowledge for the science of sound healing, into a harmonic, psycho-therapeutic, soulful-ceremonial album.
An unexpected gift from the music success has been multiple guest appearances at conferences, and podcast singing, sometimes quite literally, the praises of ayahuasca, plant medicine work, and the role of music in psychedelic therapy and other healing modalities.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Doing what you love while making a positive difference in the lives of others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.iamlifeproject.org
- Instagram: @moss-tony
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAMLIFEproject
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1k9xtSxFDRv8GVfxC0dVIp?si=Fk7A8jyvTeydhB_R6bix0A
Image Credits
Elena Kulikova
