Iasos is a Music Creator, specializing in celestial, heavenly, inter-dimensional music. He is also one of the original founders of “New Age” music. Since 1968 Iasos has remained focused and dedicated to his original intention – composing and recording his music, giving seminars, and doing multi-media concerts around the world. His music has been used by NASA, Lazaris, Encyclopedia Britannica, Laserium, and Hewlett Packard, as well as by numerous hospitals, health clinics, therapists, mental health clinics, and surgeons throughout the world.

In 1975 Iasos, published his first work Inter-Dimensional Music which during the years became an absolute classic of a new age and ambient music. This is probably the first “new age” album ever released. In addition, a year after in 1976 Steven Halpern, with his well-known masterpiece Spectrum-Suite cemented the existence of style. Being unique, the music lays at the crossroads of ambient, new age, psychedelic, prog, and space music.

“I’m influenced by what I hear in my mind.”

Where and when did you grow up?

I was born in Greece in a Greek family. When I was 4, my family moved to the US. I was raised in up-state New York, in a small town called Malone – near the Canadian border. And I went to Cornell University (middle of New York State), where I graduated in Anthropology – in June 1968 – with a scholarship, which I passed up, in order to work on music instead. I then promptly moved to California to begin working on my music.

Was music a big part of your family life?

No, not especially. But my father arranged for me to begin taking piano lessons since I was 8 years old. And I took flute lessons in the school band.

You were very little when your family moved from Greece to the USA.

Yes. 4 years old.

Do you have any recollection of changing the environment?

Yes, quite a few.

One of them is when I was on the ocean liner going to America. There was a large ballroom, with an orchestra playing live music, and all the tall adults dancing to it. I watched the conductor conducting the orchestra, and I thought to myself: “I can do what he is doing.”.

So, off to the side, I also began conducting the orchestra. When the song was finished, I suddenly realized that I had attracted a large group of adults, who had stopped dancing – just to watch this cute little boy conducting the orchestra. I immediately got very shy and ran away!

Would you say you’re influenced to a certain degree by traditional Greek music?

No. Not even a little bit. Nada. Nothing. I’m influenced by what I hear in my mind.

Just out of curiosity, what were the names of the 60s bands you were part of. Did you record anything together?

In the 60s, the only band I was a part of, was my band at Cornell University – the Nova Shadow Quartet. (In those days, Cornell had rock bands and smooth bands. And we were the best smooth band on campus.)

I have one recording of that band, but it is just jazzy stuff and ballads and bossa nova songs. All very conventional. And all played in a sloppy unprofessional manner. Nothing I would want to share publicly.

In 1975, along with your colleague Steven Halpern, pioneered and began what is now known as “New Age music” – with both Iasos and Steven each releasing their first album at that time.

Yes. And my electric flute playing was also on the album that Steven then released.

“Music can take you into other realms.”

Celestial Soul Portrait of Iasos by Erial Ali

Would you like to tell us how you first get interested in the sounds and atmosphere?

I had some experiences when I suddenly realized that music can take you into other realms. That was a profound game-changer for me.

And later, I began spontaneously hearing “paradise music” in my mind, that was nothing at all like earth music. I thought to myself: “Gee, if I could create music like this, I don’t think everybody would like it. But I bet many people would like it.”

But I then had NO IDEA how to create this music. It was not just unusual music. It was also unusual sounds, instead of conventional music instruments. And this was WAY before synthesizers and electronic music.

Then a deep VOICE in my mind said “YOU CAN DO THIS!” So I trusted that voice, and began working on it.

Did any bands or should I say counterculture of the 60s had any impact on you? Were you a fan of any artists from the late ‘psychedelic 60s’?

Well, outside of “counterculture 60s music”, I was influenced a little bit by:

Martin Denny
Claude Debussy
Maurice Ravel
Ottorino Respighi

And from “counterculture 60s music”, I was influenced a little bit by:
Jimi Hendrix.

His emotions were usually way too “harsh” for me. But still, I was so impressed by:
his elegance with melodies
his special effects
the INTENSITY of his emotions
I consider him the ONLY musical genius of that genre.

Who were your major influences?

I have only 1 “major influence”. And that has NOTHING to do with “earth music”. That 1 “major influence” is the music I was hearing in my mind.

Meeting Vista…

Here’s the deal, for a few years I was hearing paradise music in my mind, and I was hearing it telepathically. I didn’t know where it was coming from. It sounded heavenly, sounded wonderful, and it melted my heart. I knew it would be spiritually uplifting for a lot of people if I could externalize it and manifest it so other people could hear it.

Then at a certain point, I had a spiritual teacher who told me about automatic writing. So you would have a paper in front of you and close your eyes. You simply started writing whatever is in your mind, and before you know it, you have a message from some spiritual being. Whenever I would do that, I wouldn’t see these beings, but I would sense the unique personality of each one of them.

Well, one day the teacher said to me, you will now write with “Vista”.” So I started writing with Vista, and at a certain point I sensed his personality, and as soon as that happened, *BLAM*, there was instant memory recognition! I got a whole download in an instant. And what the download was, was that Vista and I had made an agreement to work together before I was born. The agreement was: I’m going to incarnate on planet earth, I’m going to get competent with music and music gear, he’s going to transmit music ideas to me and I’m going to do my best to receive them, manifest them, and get them out there publicly.

And the point of the whole thing was not fame and fortune, the point of the whole thing is that our planet is now going through a tremendous vibrational upshift. It’s quite historic even by galactic standards. There are very few cases in galactic history where a planet goes through so fast a spiritual evolution in such a short period of time as what is happening right now on planet earth. So, the whole point of all this music was to facilitate and help people go through the vibrational upshift by helping them raise their vibrations, so they could continue with the planet and they don’t have to die and end up on some planet with lower vibrations. So they could stay with the planet as it’s going up in frequency, because it is definitely going up. Either you vibrate with it, or you go somewhere else. So the whole point of it, was to facilitate the process – to help people raise their vibrations. So that’s the spiritual motivation and intention behind the music.

When I recognized this being Vista, it instantly released a tremendous amount of love from me to him. It felt like a waterfall of love. And I loved him the way a younger brother would love an older brother, just totally look up to him. He’s a magnificent being; he’s a very high up being in terms of the music of the spheres. He’s like a river of cosmic music. He’s just a tremendous being, and so, I just love the guy! And by working with him, his influences are rubbing off on me.

They don’t call him Vista for nothing, because a lot of it was visual inspiration. I don’t know if you’re familiar with my DVD “Realms of Light”? If you get that, you’ll see the visual aspect of him, because from Vista’s point of you, this is how it works – music doesn’t have any built in obligations or roles, but it is capable of producing divine emotions, meaning high frequency pure emotions. Visuals are capable of inducing divine thought forms. When music and visuals are working together synchronistically and synergistically, their combined influence can ignite a state of higher consciousness. It can pop a person into a state of higher awareness. So the whole point of Vista is not just music. It’s music and visuals working together as a team. There is no message; it’s just concentrated beauty patterns. Well what for? Because beauty has the effect of raising wellbeing. It’s emotionally uplifting, mentally stimulating, spiritually inspiring, and healing on the body. Beauty is healing because love is the cause, beauty is the effect. Beauty is the cause, and healing is the effect. Beauty is healing because it’s caused by love. Haha! Love is healing. When you’re afraid you get uptight; when you feel love it opens up your energy systems. That’s the spiritual intent behind my music and visuals.

What’s the story behind your Inter-Dimensional Music Through Iasos? Where did you record it?

At home, in my simply little home studio.

What kind of equipment did you use?

A quarter-track 7.5ips stereo tape recorder.
And a quarter-track 7.5ips 4-channel tape recorder.
Flute with phase-shifter + echo-plex + volume-edal
Slide guitar with wawa pedal + sustainer + echo-plex + volume-pedal.

And whatever other equipment I could temporarily get my hands on.

<a href="http://factofbeing.bandcamp.com/album/inter-dimensional-music">Inter-Dimensional Music by Iasos</a>

Did you produce your album?

I am the only one that every produced any of my music. I would never ever have anyone else produce my music. Why? Because if I did, then the music would carry their vibrations, instead of my vibrations.

How many hours did you spend in the studio?

I don’t know. I never counted the hours. But I was passionately involved.

Is there a certain concept when it comes to your album making?

No, not for an album. But there is usually a concept for each piece of music – unique to that piece. For example, on Siren Shallows on my Inter-Dimensional Music album, I was trying to convey the elegant beauty of underwater sea life.

“Heavenly, celestial, other-worldly, inter-dimensional.”

How would you describe your sound?

Heavenly, celestial, other-worldly, inter-dimensional.

How do you usually approach music making?

I approach it with my MIND.
And I approach it with my HEART.
The HEART is the leader.
And the MIND helps to implement the intentions of the HEART.

And no matter how “vague” my original inspiration might be, I KNOW – with 100% ABSOLUTE conviction and certainty – that, as long as I keep FOCUSING my MIND on my intentions, eventually, all the details materialize and eventually become actual SOUND. Always. Always. ALWAYS.

Fact Of Being did a wonderful work reissuing three of your albums. What would be your definition of “New Age”?

Much discussion and questioning arises about what new age music means, thought the term is used regularly and even religiously by a large number of organizations around the world. I’ve been asked to share my understanding about this.

My understanding of music is inseparable from my understanding of reality, metaphysics and the cosmos. Therefore, in order to meaningfully discuss music, I must first share my understanding of the current planetary changes, and within this frame of reference, new age music.

<a href="http://factofbeing.bandcamp.com/album/angelic-music">Angelic Music by Iasos</a>

As many readers well know, our planet is now in the midst of a vibrational up-shift. Everything in the universe is growth and evolution: a rock evolving into a diamond, a human evolving into an Ascended Master, a sun evolving into a great Central Sun for a whole galaxy. So everything in our galaxy is now in the process of accelerating its vibrations – in consciousness as well as in matter – to a higher step, in the infinite ladder towards endless approximations of the infinite perfection. Although the other planets in this system are ready for this up-shift, earth happens not to be. Unfortunately, at this time, many souls on earth have vibrations that are not yet rapid enough to be compatible with the vibration our planet will be entering. Those souls that are not ready for the higher vibrations will lovingly find themselves on some other planet more appropriate for the type of vibrations they choose to manifest. But that will certainly not be earth. Only those souls ready in consciousness and spiritual maturity will qualify to reside on earth as it becomes a spiritual class-room on a more evolved level. Out of mercy and compassion for all those earth souls not ready to make the leap, currently a TREMENDOUS effort towards accelerated spiritual growth is happening with volunteers from all over the galaxy; it is hoped to “bloom” as many earth souls as possible, in the remaining short period of time. This is a wonderful opportunity for accelerated spiritual growth, and those that choose to miss the boat will be spending a rather vast amount of time reviewing similar lessons on other planetary school-rooms. (The single biggest qualification necessary to pass is love in your aura).

Our planet earth is quickly undergoing a cleansing process, along with the vibrational up-shift. When this cleansing process is complete, not even one electron of disharmony will exist on our planet!

As the planetary energies continue to accelerate, we will be noticing more energy flowing through us, more heightened sensitivity to subtler energies, more traits or abilities, such as telepathy, coming within our control.These are all natural expressions of the up-shift in matter and consciousness. One of the key effects of this etherialization process is that we are all becoming more sensitive to subtler energies.

If you view this increased sensitivity to subtler energies sociologically, you will notice many cultural symptoms that have blossomed within the last few years that were not common before, and could not have been present on a mass level at all without this heightened sensitivity to subtler energies. Such cultural patterns as crystal energy, homeopathic medicine, pyramid energy, health foods, dowsing, polarity therapy, Bach flower remedies, remote healing, shiatsu, acupressure, and ……… new age music.

Now to focus on music. Musical taste is nothing more than a matter of emotional preference. Different types of music generate different types of emotions. Music that is popular means there is a resonance between the type of emotions generated by the music and the type of emotions

that group of people like to feel. Each sociological strata of society, with its own group consciousness, also has music that is generated by those functioning in that type of consciousness, and is much appreciated by all those others also vibrating within that same group consciousness. This principle applies to this current planetary up-shift, for that sector of the population that is more responsive to these higher energies, these spiritual currents, and this intensified Light. From among those in this new age group consciousness, there are those in all fields of life that are working towards developing subtler versions of their own trade, whether that be healing, or painting, or science, or music. So then, new age music is a natural outgrowth of this consciousness.

One of the effects of the up-shift is that all energies are intensifying, negative and positive (the separation of the wheat from the chaff). With respect to any person, his silver cord is providing him every second with pure perfect primal Life Force, which then gets qualified by his thoughts and feelings as it passes through his lower bodies. (the mental, emotional, etheric, & physical bodies). Those that habitually qualify this perfect pure energy in a negative manner, will now tend to qualify even more energy in that same negative manner. Those that habitually qualify this energy harmoniously, will find themselves qualifying even more energy in that same harmonious manner. Obviously, is is very much to a person’s evolutionary advantage to qualify this pure energy they are always receiving, as harmoniously as possible. And yet, it’s mostly habit. A person is habitually negative or habitually positive. Being a habit-pattern response, it is difficult to change. And yet, if one does succeed in changing his habits from negative to more positive, then it becomes easy to maintain this more positive behavior, since it’s automatic, having become a habit.

And this brings us to one of the beautiful services of harmonious music. Since music so much affects the emotions, the repeated listening to harmonious music serves to reprogram one’s emotional habit patterns, towards greater harmony. It’s easy! It’s fun! It’s as simple as listening to harmonious music, frequently. That seemingly innocent process can move a mountain! And then, as the planetary energies intensify, such a fortunate soul will find himself riding the surf of increased freedom from increased harmony, rather than being burdened by the weight of increased self-imposed negativity. Think of it! Music can assist you to keep pure that perfect pure energy that you are receiving every second of your existence.

Music can affect us in subtler ways than a lecture, since it totally by-passes the intellectual censor and thoroughly saturates one’s being with its energies. So its effects can be profound. How profound, depends on the degree of openness or receptivity of the listener. There is a big difference between listening to the music and becoming the music. It is wise to exercise discrimination in what types of music one opens himself up to, since a significant part of current earth music can have such a mis-aligning effect. However, when one senses that the music one hears is totally positive or harmonious, then it is healthy to consciously open one’s auric field (you can actually feel your “fence” opening up) to receive all the beneficial radiations of such music.This should become as automatic a response as when the warm sun is shining, opening up to totally receive its wonderful energies. Due to current earth conditions, one should very consciously “close the fence” when sensing unbeneficial radiations (or move away from that music), and totally open wide the energy field when sensing beneficial musical radiations.

How is it that music can resonate with one’s energy field? One of the principles of Hermes is The Law of Correspondence: as above, so below. Resonance in musical instruments means, for example, that when 2 strings are tuned to the same note (same frequency), if one is plucked the other will also tend to start vibrating. The Law of Octaves also extends this same principle: When one string is tuned to 2 or 3 times the frequency of another, if one is vibrating the other will also tend to vibrate. In other words, through resonance with the Law of Octaves, a sound vibration can actually sympathetically vibrate the energies in one’s aura which are precise multiples of that sound, but many many octaves higher in frequency than the sound. Consequently, if the musical energies are harmoniously integrated, they will tend to have an aligning effect on the listener’s energy field. For that matter, any harmonious energy field does have an aligning effect on one’s energies. The perfect example is nature: going for a walk in nature is harmonizing to one’s being since nature is itself saturated with harmonious energy patterns. However, music has an especially potent effect on the emotional body. When a car engine gets a “tune up,” it runs better. When a person’s physical, emotional, mental and etheric bodies become more fully aligned, that person feels better, is more alive, has more fun, and is a more perfect vessel through which Divine Intelligence can flow. Music is one of the more powerful tools for such inter-body alignment.

Because harmonious music can have such a potently harmonizing effect on the emotions, it can be seen as a form of preventative medicine within the field of holistic health. Aldous Huxley once said that a person’s outlook on Life is basically nothing more than a rationalization for they feel. If they feel bad, Life is not so wonderful. If they feel good, Life is wonderful.

As the planet continues to up-shift, the 3rd dimensional medicine of surgery and drugs will gradually recede and be replaced by the subtler 4th dimensional medicine, which will use advanced electronic devices for diagnosis (auric scanning) and for treatment (vibrotherapy). The techniques of vibrotherapy involve focusing a beam of beneficial electromagnetic energy on that part of the energy field that is currently unbalanced. Thanks to auric scanning, this usually occurs long before the disorder manifests in the physical octave. This beam of beneficial frequencies of electromagnetic energy is the focused aspect of vibrotherapy. The diffuse or general aspect involves placing the person in a bath of radiant light, which tunes-up the energy field in general, or treating the person with a bath of sound and light (music and colors).

New age music is already functioning in the general treatment of vibrotherapy. Since colors can have a similarly aligning effect, it should not be surprising to find multi-media shows becoming more and more common in the new age. New age video-tapes will be a logical extension of new age music, since the potential uplifting effect can be heightened so greatly by combining beautiful visuals with beautiful music. Ironically enough, though many new age musicians disagree on the meaning of the term new age music, they do nevertheless share similarities in intent and purpose: to create optimistic music that has an uplifting, tension-relieving, spiritually inspiring effect on the listener, music that facilitates the listener’s attunement to the celestial dimensions and higher states of consciousness. Even the names that various new age music groups use is indicative of this: “Transformative Music Institute”, “The Anti-Frantic Alternative”, “Celestial Octaves”, “Heavenly Music”, “Inter-Dimensional Music”, “Heaven on Earth”, “Celestial Sounds”, and “Heavensong”. It’s amusing and reassuring to know that, even though the new age musicians disagree as to the meaning of that term, nevertheless, they are strongly united in a common bond of purpose.

It’s no surprise that New age music is used more and more in churches of many denominations. Such music functions as a guided meditation. But since music communicates in energy-patterns rather than words, it is not a conceptual communication (left-brain), but a sensory-intuitive communication (right-brain). The energy patterns within the sound often trigger a sequence of pictures in the mind of the listeners. This “tripping in consciousness” is further facilitated by the introduction by Sony of the walkman cassette-players, which more than anything else are getting people to listen to music on headphones rather than speakers. And headphones can be such an immensely superior communication device for getting the original “musical vision” of the composer into the consciousness of the listener. In my case, my newer music is encoded in “3-D Stereo”, if (and only if) it is experienced through stereo headphones. In doing so, a 3-D picture or hologram is generated in the mind of the listener. A consciousness hologram is accurately transferred from the mind of the composer into the mind of the listener, via the headphones.

(Even with excellent speakers, this is not possible, since the sound of each speaker goes to both ears, thus blurring the hologram.)

Another subtle potential service of new age music is to introduce mankind to higher-octave emotions with which we are not yet that familiar. Through such familiarization we will facilitate our ability to naturally express such feelings, to vibrate such emotions, to FEEL such feelings. Each emotion vibrates at a particular rate in the emotional spectrum, the harmonious emotions vibrating at higher frequencies. The Law of Octaves applies within this emotional range, just as it applies to music or to the periodic table of chemistry. You can have the well-known emotion of “gladness”, and if you double that frequency to the next octave up, you have the emotion “happiness”. Take that one octave higher and you have “joy”. One octave higher, “bliss”. Then “ecstasy”. Then “rapture”…………… then…………. It keeps going!!! With no upper limit!!! Of course the English language has no words for these higher octaves of the common emotion “happiness”, because those emotional realms are so very seldom experienced by most of us. But now such higher-octave emotions are becoming more common and more accessible. The emotional frequency range that angels normally “cruise in” is many octaves higher than most humans can ever imagine, and yet these are merely harmonious emotions with which we are already familiar, simply taken many octaves higher. And new age music can serve us as a bridge, to introduce us to such higher-octave emotions, so that through exposure and familiarity we can more easily “tune-up” our heart to feel– not just love, but the love that permeates the universe; to feel not just happiness, but the joy that keeps the universe continuously expanding; not just compassion, but that oneness of spirit wherein all life is the sweet and infinitely precious life that is our own.

One of the time cycles that is now switching over is that the 2,000 year period of the 6th Ray spiritual energies has come to a close, and that the 2,000 year period of the 7th Ray is now coming to the fore-front. The spiritual Director for our planet during this new 2,000 year cycle is Saint Germain. One of the prime qualities of the purple-violet 7th Ray is that it is the Ceremonial Ray– the ray of Ceremonial Worship. As its influences becomes more and more felt, spiritual group ceremonies will take on ever greater significance, and become continuously more common. Such ceremonies will serve to unite mankind in a oneness of worship, and to further unite the human kingdom with the elemental nature kingdom and the angelic kingdom, all coming closer together, to worship in oneness the eternal source of all life – the fountainhead of all creation. New age music will play a central part in such ceremonies, as it conducts the emotional reverence of the whole group in a unified manner. And since every type of music attracts invisible beings whose vibrations are compatible with the energies of that music, as the new age proceeds to unfold, the increasingly heavenly music of the new age will attract yet more heavenly light beings, to join in such devotional activities and consequently all those participating will benefit from the sublime radiations that these light beings contribute to the group energies.

In my work with music, I am functioning as a step-down transformer to mentally receive and physically manifest such music. I’m functioning as an inter-dimensional pattern relay-station for concentrated beauty patterns. Music is capable of inducing Divine Emotions. Visuals (visionary paintings, videos, beautiful color effects) are capable of inducing Divine Thought Forms. Working together, as multi-media experiences or as new age videos, sound and light can create for us a vibrational gateway into the higher dimensions of consciousness, into the higher dimensions of light and love. There are many souls that will be dedicating their life’s efforts towards this purpose.

Lovingly & enthusiastically at your service,
Iasos
(A Perspective on New Age Music by Iasos)

Would you mind talking about the synthesizers you employ?

Classified information: TOP SECRET!

Would you like to comment on your playing technique? Give us some insights on developing your technique.

Sorry, but I have no idea how to answer this question.

Early in my career, I switched from being a SPECIALIST on electric flute, to being a GENERALIST for any musical instrument.

I am basically a flexible dilettante:
I practice each instrument, until I can get it to play what I want to record. And then once this is recorded, then I repeat this practice/record process for the next sound I wish to record.

<a href="http://factofbeing.bandcamp.com/album/realms-of-light">Realms of Light by Iasos</a>

Do you regard your music as psychedelic?

Everyone perceives reality through the FILTERS of their own BELIEFS.
Everyone perceives music through the FILTERS of their own BELIEFS.

Psychedelic people think of my music as “psychedelic”.
Spiritual people think of my music as “spiritual”.
Lovers of beautiful music think of my music as “beautiful music”.
Lovers of electronic music think of my music as “electronic music”.
Lovers of harmonious music think of my music as “harmonious music”.
Lovers of experimental music think of my music as “experimental music”.

Personally, I regard my music – as I already mentioned- as
heavenly, celestial, other-worldly, inter-dimensional.

What’s your definition of ‘psychedelic’?

Some things can not be easily defined with words.
How would you describe the color “purple” to someone that is blind?
How would you describe “music” to someone that is deaf?
How would you describe “psychedelic” to someone that has never taken strong psycho-actives?

What currently occupies your life?

Music-creation.
Spiritual-growth.
Having FUN

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

Sorry, no “favorite albums”.

But I can say that I like the music of Jonn Serrie and Kevin Kendle.

Thank you. Last word is yours.

Two “last words”:

#1.

The earth is now going through a temporary de-toxing period, where much of the causes of negativity, suffering, & poverty (for centuries!) are now being removed & eliminated. After this de-toxing phase is over, the earth will BLOSSOM into a wonderful, happy, and heavenly place to live.

#2.