MAIA BALAM QUETZAL ARTS
Traveliving is a travel book, a nomad lifestyle, a web-series and how some of us roll in the world.
I see music & traveling as great agents for socialization, healing, inspiration and decompression from daily stress & pain.
MUSIC is a techno-shamanic interactive medium that allows people to reconnect with themselves, others, nature, and the inexplicable, used for thousands or millions of years by humans to express, commune, heal and attain the primordial and raw state of bliss that is our birth right, but which has been striped away from us by society, institutions, coorporations and babylon.
TRAVELING is our ancestral birth right, we move from one continent to the other since the times before planes, cars or trains. We have been nomads for thousands or millions of years! We travel to explore the unknown, to feel alive, to decompress from monotony, to heal from trauma, to find better job opportunities, to find medicinal plants, to find community, to learn and exchange skills, to provide aid to communities who need help, we travel to find meaning to our lies and ignite our passions.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>in this MULTIMEDIA portal you will find videos that I produced, recorded and edited while traveling the world,
you will also be able to hear a few original tracks, DJ sets, mix tapes and recommendations.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
PITCH BLACK REWORK
song written in one day before the show at Akasha, Bali Indonesia.
AFRICALATINA 2018
A multimedia show that I produced in Bali Indonesia
BASSCOAST 2016
Music festival photo-video collage
ENVISION 2015
From TRAVELIVING SERIES:
The Dance of life.
MY MUSIC BIO & ROOTS
I have been a self taught multi instrumentalist for the last 20 years, singer-composer for
the last 5 years and DJ for 10 years, or even more if we consider mixing tapes as a teen.
Music has been my main ally, religion and inspiration since I was 12 years old,
when I began making mixtapes of all kinds of music, collecting albums and teaching
myself how to play the guitar, multiple kinds of flutes and composing songs & poetry.
I began playing the flute at age 13, and discovered that I could play any song that came
into my mind, from classical music to bossa nova or nintendo songs.
That skill got me stoked into playing the flute everyday for hours, until I had no more
songs that came into my mind to play, then I began composing and playing the acoustic
guitar and found my way into alternative rock and bossa nova, from there I moved on to
the Roland synthesizer to experiment with eletronic sounds, and then one day when
I was 18, I got my first set of vinyl turn tables, a few records and began experimenting
with styles that ranged from Psychedelic 60s Rock, to Reggae, Trance, Classical,
60s jazz, 70s Progressive, African music, Hip hop, Acid jazz, Trip hop, Dub, Bass,
Afro beat, World music, Afro house, Future bass and Latin house.
I began making mixtapes and compilations from a very young age:
making sets for every mood, emotion, country, time of the day and season
alone in my room, where I would travel through sound to exotic destinations
in far away lands, time travelling, collecting the best pieces of music from the past.
later on I began jamming up with friends endless sessions of live music
in old studios and home parties, non stop impro sessions for hours and hours.
Then one day I took the mission to start traveling around Mexico and the world,
finding any ocation to create music alone or with others,
jamming with any kind of musician I felt a musical connection with, a resonance, a spark, an inspiration to co-create,
those jams never paid a nickle, years and years of playing for free, but they gave me the confidence, the practice, the bravery,
the experience and musical range to be able to match up and improvise with any genera,
any kind of musician or Dj at any kind of stage or given moment. music language fluidity and self confidence .
After 13 years of freestyling, improvising, collecting and composing songs and lyrics
I moved to Vancouver, Canada at age 26 and immersed myself in the arts, film and music scene from the very bottom, It took me only one summer to start playing at summer festivals in canada, playing at fests is easy, the hard part is to get paid what you deserve to make it work in a place such as Vancouver, so at the same time I was a DJ, I continued being a festival photographer, jewelry maker and whatever other position I could do as a side hassle. Working in Canadian summer festivals became the highlight of my life, in winter I would return back to Mexico and Central America, and I would do a completely different set of jobs and festivals down south in order to be able to return every summer to Canada and re-build my life and business from the ground up, every year.
THE FESTIVAL LIFESTYLE
In the last 8 years of festival life in Canada-Mexico-Costa Rica I have learnt so much, specially from all the musical creatures, artists, performers, dancers, producers, film makers, dream makers and magicians that I have collaborated with or seen, and whose unique lifestyles, philosophies and musical styles have deeply influenced my craft.
Im very grateful with all the rad festival "schools" that I have devoted time-energy to:
-Shambhala, Bass Coast, Luminosity, Envision, and many others... by working at festivals both as artist and crew for the last 7 years in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica, I have acquired innumerable valuable skills useful for life.
Some of the main lessons I can share with you are:
- Always have multiple "side hustles" to keep boosting your career, and be able to
pay for your apt and lifestyle while you are at the festivals. To Hustle is a must.
- Become your own graphic designer. Invest in pro photos and videos.
- In music collabs : Respect the rhythm, recognize the sounds and people that are already in the space and read/listen to what they are doing
before making any input or give any feedback, make eye contact.
- Do what needs to be done to help whats already happening, find the gap, the Empty space, and bridge it with epic beats, lyrics, dance moves, actions or melody. Always be ready to help others, cuz shit usually happens at fests.
- Stay alert, dont abuse substances and you will be able to make great artistic connections, stay in top of your music game, make biz moves & meet incredible people from around the world. - Take good care of yourself, after many years of sleeping at weird hours, your adrenal system will be begetgets impacted, so you will have to become a master at regenerating your adrenals, immune consuming immune boosters, eating healthy food, and stepping back when you are tired.
- In your music creation, and jams: Learn how to leave blank spaces,
some of the best songs are the ones that have pauses. -Make sure you eat copious amounts of food before a long set, dont be hangry.
-Make sure you have lots of cold water inside your water bottle during your set.
-Never be afraid of asking other artists for collaborations, or to borrow their tracks in order to rework or remix them.
-send sound cloud messages to reach out to other producers.
-send your music to labels, festivals, venues, other producers, etc.
Networking is key in the soundwarrior world, survival of the fittest also applies to the music and arts scene.
TOGETHER WE RISE, SEPARATED WE BECOME DRONES
