The Spirit Behind the Voice: Deva Premal and Miten
He later went on to establish a successful career for himself in the 70’s as a singer/songwriter, touring with such bands as Fleetwood Mac, Lou Reed and Ry Cooder This period of his life was exciting, but left him unfulfilled: “I had a couple of album deals, and moved into writing music for other people, then radio and TV work, then eventually found myself in my 30’s asking questions – I was looking for something more substantial in my life than the usual diet of sex, drugs and rock and roll.”
Miten left everything he had known before, even selling his guitars, and after discovering Osho when a friend gave him a book on Zen, dropped out of his career and into a life as a member of a meditation community. Here he found a new approach to music: “It was an amazing revelation. I wasn’t prepared for the healing power of the music that was happening around Osho.
‘This turned my head to what real sacred music was – even though it was western in style, it still had the most uplifting and spiritual nature, especially the ‘Music Groups’ and the Sufi dances. I was hooked on Sufi dance and never missed an opportunity to participate. All this music, along with a life of communal integration, deeper relating, and Osho’s discourses and meditations, healed me from whatever wounds I’d been carrying around music, and life in general.”
The Journey Begins
By 1990, when he and Deva met, he was leading the music for thousands of people attending the evening meditations at the ashram in India, and eventually invited Deva to join. Later they began offering voice workshops and concerts in Europe. Deva recalls, “At this point, I played a supporting role, singing second voice, playing keyboards, and co-leading the workshops. I was very shy to sing alone, but encouraged by Miten, I became more confident and eventually discovered my voice.
“One day I heard the Gayatri Mantra being sung by a friend in England. It was a different version to the one I had grown up with, and knowing the text so well, I was touched and excited by what I heard. I felt re-connected. This time I could feel the power of the mantra as never before, the strong effect it had on me, and the sacredness of it.
“We began featuring it in our concerts. At last I had found my song! I had found something that felt like ‘mine.’ I felt at home with it, and I watched as it touched people night after night. I began searching out more mantras and before I knew it, I soon had enough for my first album! We recorded it in my mother’s flat–the same one I was born in, where the Gayatri Mantra had been sung to me all those years before. Our plan was to make an album for people who attended our workshops. We gave it the title, The Essence. How it was received was beyond our wildest dreams. We were soon receiving floods of orders, and had to continually replenish stock!”
