Life is a Festival

elrow is a global event brand from a family of promoters going back to all the way to 1870. From its home in the small town of Fraga, Spain, through its sold out summer residency at Amnesia in Ibiza, to its next generation of festivals and events from Brazil to South Africa to China, elrow is setting an industry standard. And with great power comes great responsibility. Vicenç Marti is a serial entrepreneur in gaming, travel, adtech and even Blockchain. He is the President of elrow and has been pivotal in bringing “the world’s craziest party” to a global audience. Behind the scenes elrow is anything but gonzo. The organization is committed to the values of sustainability, harm reduction, participation and not taking yourself too seriously. Setting a new standard of success by making the audience the show, elrow isn’t only influencing it’s broad global community, it’s bringing the whole industry along for the crazy ride. In our conversation we discuss elrow’s new commitment to sustainability, which Vicenç admit needs improvement. He tells me about throwing colorful raves in China and cultural sensitivity. We chat about spreading the values of family all around the world while keeping it cheeky. At the end of our conversation, Vicenç even gives me some timely advice about this podcast. While the episode goes pretty deep into the industry, there’s also invaluable wisdom on leadership from this innovative global behemoth.

I know few people in their 30s who are actively thinking about their legacy but the writer Marcus Golden Barnes is leading by example. I first met Marcus at Amsterdam Dance Event in 2015. He was sliding through the crowded lobby of the Dylan hotel blowing kisses. He was a full blown festival afloat on a black ocean of trench coats and techno. Marcus is a music journalist, a graffiti artist and a DJ. He’s the Techno Editor for Mixmag and has contributed to every major publication I know in the UK. He’s produced two major books, Around the World in 80 Raves and his most recent Around the World in 80 Record Stores. He was once Fest300’s European Editor and he was my guide to shenanigans at the final Secret Garden Party. On the podcast, Marcus talks about why he’s so popular with the artists he interviews, the quirky record stores he profiles in his new book and how Vipassana meditation taught him to be nice to himself. Most of all we discuss legacy and how Marcus uses dance music to make the world a better place, from mentoring aspiring writers to promoting mental health. Benjamin Franklin famously wrote: If you wou’d not be forgotten As soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing. Marcus it seems, is intent on doing both.

It’s not only leaders within festival culture who can teach us to create a life like a festival. Today’s guest is a spiritual master in the arts of human blossoming although she herself no longer uses that title. Zhenzan Dao is the founder of a deeply erotic spiritual tradition, MogaDao, an evolution of Taoism that offers an astonishing array of technologies to support human liberation. From DH Lawrence, Walt Whitman and Sappho to Taoism, a religion that is passionately interested in undermining itself, Zhenzan has constructed philosophies, traditions and somatic practices to cultivate an Erotic Basis of Being. It is from this knowledge that she offers an unconventional antidote to the modern epidemic of pornography addiction. On the podcast, Zhenzan teaches us to reclaim our sexuality through calming the mind, grieving our loss of self and trusting our original fantasies. We also discuss how transgender people are champions of longing, why kink might not be as liberating as it seems, and why the root of predation is in fact a lack of autoeroticism. With a voice that drips like honey from the mouth of a Jaguar, Zhenzan could be from a fantasy herself, yet here she is in all her ferocious wisdom, to help us craft a life of limitless passion.

It’s 8am on January 1st, and David Block serenely paints on a large collaborative canvas in the sun drenched third floor of San Francisco’s iconic Clock Tower. He has just produced the most audacious event of his career so far, Slow Down New Years Eve, and after its resounding success, David paints. David is an artist. He performs electronic music as The Human Experience and has collaborated with 50 different musicians in his career including Rising Appalachia and his new super band Gone Gone Beyond. David is also a visual artist and photographer and has recently been ramping up his event production by slowing down. On this episode of the Life is a Festival Podcast, we discuss how David conceptualizes and designs his life as an artist. We chat about his relationship to psychedelics and his passion for Vipassana meditation. We wade into some controversial territory as we discuss cultural appropriation, outrage culture and our mutual missteps in spiritual egoism. For David the life of a professional artist means taking risks, even when it might offend someone; it means collaborating with people who push his boundaries; it means patience, persistence and passion; and above all, it means choosing a dangerous road that could very well ruin the most beautiful things that art has to offer. Life is a festival, but beware the life of an artist, unless it’s the medicine for your soul. The Human Experience : https://www.humanexperiencecreations.com/ Slow Down: http://slowdown.world/ Photo by Mark Fillmore: https://www.instagram.com/mark.fillmore/

Is it possible to design a world that works for 100% of humanity without succumbing to the dismal anxiety of impending climate collapse? Amanda Joy Ravenhill thinks so, and in part, it’s about the stories we tell. Amanda is the Executive Director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute based on the work of the famous futurist, ecologist and creator the geodesic dome. She is also co-founder of Project Drawdown and an avid systems thinker, futurist, burner, humanitarian and environmentalist. After experiencing “1 in a 1000 year weather events” in Bolivia, Amanda Joy recognized the multiplier effect of climate change and dedicated her life to the joyful pursuit of planetary design solutions. On the podcast we talk about Buckminster Fuller’s life and ideas, Amanda shares her S.P.I.N.E. acronym for climate action; she explains why Burning Man is a “trim tab” for global culture; and describes how the festival community can help the awkward transition from a culture of unintended consequences to one of cascading benefits. Life is a festival and it’s time to plan for the future we want, not the one that we’re afraid of.

Rebecca Jean is the founder of Nourish Inc., a nutrition company she created from her experience successfully treating an autoimmune digestive disorder with food as medicine. The multimillion dollar business she founded now serves 3 million meals of healthy food in the workplace each year, employing over 300 people, but even during times of enormous success she has continued to battled with her own relationship to food. On the podcast, Rebecca Jean and I talk about getting the body you want by nourishing your whole being. We discuss addiction, self-love, practical nutrition tips and alchemizing challenge into triumph. Life is a festival and the secret to a perfect festival body is nourishment.

Today I’m speaking with Brad Burge, the Strategic Communications Director of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies. The nonprofit MAPS was founded in 1986 to bring life enhancing psychedelics through the regulatory system to legitimize their use as prescription medicine. On the podcast, Brad and I talk about harm reduction, his own experiences with entheogens and festivals, and the state of psychedelic research in 2018. Our conversation includes patenting psilocybin, the promises and pitfalls of Ketamine treatment for depression, MDMA and therapy for PTSD, and ayahuasca and cultural appropriation. Life is a Festival, so let’s keep experimenting and do so wisely.

Today I’m speaking with Gustaf Tadaa, futurist, public speaker and co-creator of The Borderland, the Scandinavian regional Burning Man event. I met Gustaf a few months before I attended The Borderland in 2016 and I have been fascinated with the event and this man ever since. Unique amongst global gatherings, the Borderland is almost entirely decentralized. That means that it is absolutely up to all the participants to co-create the festival. On the podcast, Gustaf and I talk about leaderless leadership, why he loves crappy art, how he sees festivals as vehicles for personal growth and why decentralization is so important for that process. From Nordic LARPing to becoming one of Sweden’s most sought after public speakers Gustaf Tadaa has truly designed his life as a festival. Follow Gustaf on his website (http://www.guff.se) Special thanks to my rad producer Ari Andersen (Host of the Millennials Don’t Suck Podcast) My multi-disciplinary design partner Andy McErlean And the most delightful dj atish for the truly festive theme song: “Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi]

Join me for a series of conversations exploring our collective wisdom to inspire a bold courage for life. Deeply grateful for the truly festive theme song: “Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi] by DJ https://soundcloud.com/atish

Today I’m speaking to Mikey Lion, renowned House DJ and co-founder of the popular Southern California micro festival Desert Hearts. Mikey talks about Sober October, using his platform to promote personal growth and the secret psychedelic inspiration for Desert Hearts. Remember, “Life is a Festival, only to the wise.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson