Karla Williams: And so the story goes… One day in the summer of 1999 our singer Lizza was sitting in Tompkins Square Park in NYC reading a book about aliens when she heard some drums off in the distance being played by someone who appeared to have a bright glow surrounding him. At first she tried to ignore him, but finally gave in to the pulling sensation, closed her book and walked over to a man who introduced himself as a spiritual healer. She started talking to this man about her thoughts and beliefs and then he interrupted her and said, “You should look into Mahavatar.” She wasn’t sure what this man was talking about, but this name Mahavatar haunted her memory. Coincidently at that time we were trying to come up with a new name for the band, so she was very excited when she introduced the name Mahavatar to us later that night at band rehearsal. When I first heard it, I felt it was perfect... I love it!! It took some time for the others to get used to it and for people to pronounce it properly, but we knew eventually everyone would know the name. Mahavatar has its roots in India and is a word taken from Hindu. It means divine incarnation and represents physical as well as spiritual immortality... deathlessness. The meaning and symbolism of Mahavatar coincides with our beliefs; and through the music we create, Mahavatar is reborn again and again.

KW: A few weeks before entering the studio we spent approximately 30-35 hours rehearsing with 2 of the 3 guest musicians (we never rehearsed with the keybaordist... he just came into the studio and recorded his parts in a few hours). Even though we had some rough rehearsals, we all went into the studio confident. There was a lot of experimentation going on… which was cool. 7 of the 10 tracks featured on “From the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Soil” are songs from our previous demos and the other 3 (Cult, Psychos, By the Numbers) are new songs Lizza and I wrote before entering the studio. The initial recording sessions were spread out over 5 months, but we were not in the studio for that whole time. So most of the songs on “From the Sun, the Rain, the Wind the Soil” were recorded and mixed within 2 weeks over a year ago. Two additional songs BH and The Prophecy were old songs as well, which we recorded earlier this year with the addition of new member Shahar Mintz… he did the guitar solo and melody lines on The Prophecy. Lizza and I are very proud of what we were able to accomplish given the lack of preparation and time. All 10 songs were recorded and mixed at Purple Light Studios in Brooklyn, NY with the technical assistance of engineer/producer Michael Barile (Candiria, Vasaria, 40 Below Summer, E-Town Concrete)… without his help we would have had a hard time completing this album, so he was a big help to us and were grateful for the experience and knowledge obtained in the end.

KW: Well, personally some of the artists that have inspired me as a musician over the years are: Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Journey, Kitaro, Arcturus, Philip Glass, Boston, Emperor, Beethoven, In The Woods…, Amorphis, Mozart, Cynic, At the Gates, Anathema (old), My Dying Bride (old), Primordial, Ulver, Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, Borknagar, J. S. Bach, Opeth, Last Crack, Los Incas, Wagner, Jeff Buckley, Mary J. Blige, Paco de Lucia, Mahler, Randy Rhodes, Slash, Ritchie Blackmore, Paganini, Michael Shencker, Steve Morse, Zack Wylde, Rachmaninov, Sigh, Dimmu Borgir, Chopin, Ottmar Leibert, Marty Friedman, Barber, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Crimson Glory, Helmut, Fear Factory, Queen, Savatage, Dream Theater, Rush, Tool, ABBA, Grieg, Giorgio Moroder… and the list goes on and on. I am influenced by anything that moves me really, but my influences inspire me to create not copy. Basically, everyone in the band loves different kinds of music… we’re all open like that. Of course life influences how we create as well, so that’s why you’ll always experience peeks and valleys in our sound… as it is within the flow of nature.

KW: Well, personally I wouldn’t and never have, but maybe you can? I could never understand why people want to label music or stamp one sound to one particular band. I think music appreciation and/or understanding goes beyond genre/style/form, but I’m sure you and your readers would like some more insight into Mahavatar’s creative approach… basically; we create music that is pleasing to us. We don’t try to confuse people; we are just very open-minded with our listening tastes and creative energies, so we don’t filter much. We don’t try to sound one way or the other; we just do what comes naturally to us. For us, music is about freedom… not labels or genre descriptions. Individually, we all possess strong belief/ideal systems and personal experiences, but we are not the type of folks who would to try to convert others to our way of being. So we let our listeners and the critics worry about classification. All I can say, is… if you have an inquisitive soul, with a desire for change, an appetite for chaos with touches of light and darkness, then maybe you can appreciate the music of Mahavatar… and it always helps to have an open mind ;)

KW: Songs, melody, passion, aggression, power, groove, soul, intensity, dynamics, variety, openness, tribal, raw, heavy, freedom, dissonance, ethnic flavor, the darkness and the light all at the same time… a trip into the bliss… Mind Hypnotic!!

KW:Thus far, Lizza and I write most of the music and lyrics. I think Lizza and I have a chemistry together that just is… we don’t understand it, but we recognize it’s worth and know that we do feed off each other’s differences and come up with some powerful music that we both enjoy. Hopefully with the addition of Shahar Mintz (guitar), Eran Asias (drums), and Szymon Maria Rapacz (bass) we can all create even more powerfully soothing melodies for the next album and share it with the rest of the world… that’s our collective goal.

KW: No plans, but we hope and dream of this day ;). As I understand it, it’s almost impossible to get into this fest unless you pay, pay, pay, or sell tons of records… Mahavatar are a new band coming onto the scene to the world even though we’ve been around for many years now. Our new album “From the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Soil” is coming out on Escapi Music August 15th, so hopefully that will get us some more attention and open up some more opportunities for tours and festivals in the near future… we’re working toward that. But yeah, I totally agree… we would blow the Ozzfest crowds away… Sharon are you listening?

KW: For sure… our label Escapi Music will be putting together a compilation DVD of featuring all their artist and Lizza will be the VJ… I think that will come out in Oct/Nov. Also, we are gathering material for an official Mahavatar DVD release at a later date.

KW: Well, life is life you… business or personal... it’s hard and there will always be the struggle. So you have to take the good with the bad. Even though it’s been a long journey for Mahavatar, I know we still have a lot more work to do, and we have never let the “music industry” deter our forward movement. I believe in hard work and I’m not too concerned with who the music industry is trying to control, because they can’t stop Mahavatar, for it is an energy that needs nothing but itself to survive. So, now it is just a matter of time for us. With the help and support of our new label Escapi Music, we will gain even more exposure, which will breed more understanding, and the music industry will just have to accept the changing of the times… because it’s coming. Mahavatar have always walked their own path… we are musicians channeling love and happiness… somehow, someway the truth always come out. And we believe the people want some truth now… and that’s where we’re coming from.

KW: Well, I won’t argue with you... I can only say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are so ready to bring our sounds to the masses… and with the feedback we’ve been receiving as of late, we now know that the world is ready to receive what we have to give and vise versa. Mahavatar want to touch the hearts and minds of everyone… we’re not trying to recreate music although we know our sound isn’t like any other band… we just want to be free and others to share in this wonderful state of being. So we encourage everyone to come see us live… join the ceremony and feel for yourself what me mean. Tony, I’d like to thank you personally for opening your mind to our message and for the great review and questions here. I look forward to meeting you after Mahavatar come to California and blow you mind live!!... look out for us >;-)