Mindful Meditations: An Interview with Trevor Hall

Trevor Hall's amorphous style, rooted in folk, world music and reggae traditions, has bloomed into a universal canopy beneath which a world torn apart can gather. His collage of sonic diversity pairs seamlessly with spiritually introspective and profoundly poetic lyricism.

Buddhist, Hindu and non-denominational philosophies have filled Hall’s songbooks and permeated the communal atmosphere of his performances. His remarkably diverse and ever-growing fanbase suggests a deeper spiritual yearning within Western society, while underscoring the healing power of music to introduce listeners to new ways of seeing the world. For Hall, inspiration flows from a seemingly inexhaustible well: the profound cosmic playfulness found in the paradoxes of everyday life.

Social activist and dear friend Nahko, of Medicine for the People, has teamed up with Trevor on a joint tour to spread their collective message of personal liberation and call for change throughout Europe. With nearly every stop on their first sold out European ‘campaign’, there was no better place to sit down with Hall and meditate on his mission than the tour’s jump-off point – the legendary Whelan’s in Dublin, Ireland.

Mike Finnegan: Welcome to Ireland, Trevor. Dublin is the first of many stops across Europe with Nahko. What can your European fans expect from this two-leg tour this spring and summer?

Trevor Hall: It's really special, you know. For us to be touring together is really special, since we’re such good friends and have written a lot of great songs together. We’re finally able to perform a lot of those songs together live, which we never really get a chance to do back home. So the fact that we’re able to be on stage together is like a gift for us, no matter where it is.

But it is really cool for me, as it’s my first time in Europe. I don’t even know what to expect. I think that’s kind of fun – there’s this whole element of spontaneity at these shows.

Mike Finnegan: It really is a perfect partnership. With your focus on spiritual consciousness and awakening, and Nahko’s call for social change, it only makes sense. How did you two first meet?

Trevor Hall: We met through a friend of ours called “Uncle Joe”, who we actually wrote a song about. He’s kind of like one of our uncles, I suppose, or one of our elders.

He sent me a YouTube video of Nahko playing out in the land somewhere in Oregon. And he’s like, ‘You’ve gotta check this guy out! I’ve had my eye on this dude for a while, and we’re gonna bring him to our festival’ – because he used to put on a festival every year. So eventually that’s where we met, at Uncle Joe’s festival a few years later. It must’ve been either 2011 or 2012. It was right before my album Chapter of the Forest.

Mike Finnegan: I noticed Chapter of the Forest has some Native American themes, the track ‘Obsidian’ in particular. Did Nahko influence that creative direction at all?

Trevor Hall: Nahko actually inspired the song ‘Obsidian’. That song came through pretty much straight after I saw him play live for the first time. I remember thinking, ‘Woah, there’s a spirit coming through this kid,’ and ‘Obsidian’ was really an ode to that spirit.

Mike Finnegan: Buddhist philosophy and the promotion of mindfulness really shine through in your music. What advice would you pass on to fans looking to heal themselves internally?

Trevor Hall: Oh, I don’t know, man! [Laughing] I’m still trying to heal myself internally.

I hope the music, in a way, helps spark their journey within. It’s hard, because a lot of the songs feel like they’re being sung to me. It’s as if they’re really healing me. So I would have to just say all of the cliché things: do what you love, listen to your heart – just try to be aware.

When we open ourselves up to that Great Spirit – or whatever you prefer to call it – when we put out the call with a sincere heart, it’s going to be answered in some way. We just have to be open to it. It’s just about being sincere, opening up and asking for the healing or asking for the guidance. It’s all about sincerity of heart.

Mike Finnegan: Do you find opening yourself up also attracts the Muse?

Trevor Hall: I think the Muse attracts me, really. Songwriting isn’t something where I can go, ‘OK, I’m gonna sit down and write a song.’ For me, that’s not how it goes.

I could be out just enjoying my day, and then [snaps fingers] it starts coming. It’s a feeling I get, and I know, ‘Right, I have to sit down.’ It’s the muse attracting me and pulling me in. It’s just staying aware and listening to those feelings when they come.

Mike Finnegan: The impermanence of life can be daunting and tormenting to the untrained soul. How do you think we can use the imminence of impermanence to live brighter, fuller lives?

Trevor Hall: When we think about impermanence, there’s a lightness that comes to the heart. I don’t want to say it’s a carefree thing, because I think that attitude can be kind of destructive, like, ‘Oh, I can just do whatever I want, fuck it.’ I don’t really think that’s healthy. But when there’s an understanding of impermanence and the cycle of things, I feel like there’s a playfulness that comes into the spirit. There’s a lightness that comes into your heart. Again, not ‘carefree’, but ‘free’. There’s a big difference between the two.

The shamans take in the darkness. They don’t turn away from it. Because it’s the dark that shows us the light. If we accept death – impermanence – if we accept that stage, we think that it will take us over, but I think it does the opposite. I think it gives us life… (laughs) That’s the irony of this whole cosmic joke.

Mike Finnegan: Many believe the American dream is being reshaped by our generation. Minimalism and mobility have replaced the traditional concept of the American dream, which has been deemed a form of ‘toxic stability’. Do you think this is a step in the right direction as far as counterbalancing capitalism’s spiritual shortcomings?

Trevor Hall: It’s important for the youth not to be fooled and to understand what’s really going on. Obviously, the people in power are not going to change. That’s apparent.

So it’s up to us to realise that we are sovereign beings. We are free. And despite what’s going on with people in power running our government, there’s a way we can live our day-to-day lives in a positive manner. Now, whether that’s cutting down on things or being more mobile, I don’t know. For me, it’s always about the internal change. Because when that happens, everything else follows naturally.

Mike Finnegan: You’ve mentioned ‘freedom’ a few times now. What is freedom to you?

Trevor Hall: True freedom is freedom of mind. Freedom from the things that drag us down. Freedom from attachments. Being a sovereign being.

You can be kidnapped, say. The captors can put your body in a cage, but they can’t take your mind; they can’t take your soul. Freedom, to me, is really freedom from suffering and from the things that hold us down inside.

Mike Finnegan: The music video for your single ‘What I Know’ recently dropped and has had quite a positive response. It could easily stand alone as a solid short film. Did you have much of a role in writing and directing the music video?

Trevor Hall: Yeah, I came up with the idea of the kids in the forest building this almost make-believe xylophone. And then the director added the story – there’s this leader who is not well liked. And you almost don’t know what’s going to happen throughout this video. For a second you’re like, ‘Are they gonna, like … kill this kid!?’ [Laughing] ‘Are they gonna take him out into the forest and just kill him!’

‘What I Know’, the song, is really about the childlike spirit and surrendering to the not-knowing. And when you surrender to that not-knowing, you’re free. In the video, you have that leader who represents that part of us that wants to be in control, no matter what. We want to know, know, know, know … It’s just tiring. You’re never going to know everything.

So them taking the leader to that xylophone is the music, the song. It’s the thing you can’t explain. But you’re in joy … it’s that joy that makes you free.