Ten Laws with East Forest

Lee McCormick has always lived out loud. Born into a tribe of movers and shakers, he was raised between his pioneer family’s farm in Florida where his great grandparents homesteaded during the Civil War, and his Dad’s Wyoming cattle ranch. The boldness of his family and the richness of his heritage made him a passionate man. In the late ‘70s and ‘80s Lee hit the road as a singer songwriter. Talk about an education, he plunged into the lifestyle head first and headstrong. His tipping point came in 1997 when he (barely) woke up one day, realized he had an out-of-control drug problem and checked himself into rehab. In rehab, he had a profound awakening and set out on a personal quest to find REAL truth and healing in his life. His inward journey took him to Native American and Mesoamerican shamans and healers who opened him up to a universal view of life and a new paradigm for addiction treatment. In 1998, Lee founded The Ranch Recovery Center in Tennessee and later The Canyon Treatment Center in Malibu California and has been a creative force in the Mental Health and Recovery scene for over 15 years. He founded Spirit Recovery Inc. to produce Healing and Recovery conferences and Spiritual Journeys around the world, and he is a founder in Nashville’s Integrative Life Center and IOP/PHP Community Recovery program in Nashville, Tennessee. Lee and Mexico retreat: https://spiritrecovery.com/spirit-recovery-journeys/

Liana Sananda Gillooly is a lifetime activist for social justice, drug policy reform, ending war, and the environment. She is the Development Officer at Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). MAPS is the largest non-profit investigating the therapeutic uses of psychedelics. Currently, we are in Phase III FDA trials utilizing MDMA Therapy to treat PTSD. Results have been so promising, it earned the designation of Breakthrough Therapy from the FDA. In addition to her role at MAPS, Liana is engaged in transformational technology movement, with an interest in VR/AR therapy and emergent blockchain technologies. To highlight the connection between the psychedelic and cryptocurrency community, she instigated the formation of CryptoPsychedelic, an event series that kicked off last February in Tulum and gathers together these communities all over the globe. Before joining MAPS, Liana worked as Outreach Manager for a prominent cannabis investment and market research firm, The Arcview Group, where she helped grow the accredited investor network, advocated for legalization, and supported the work of Marijuana Policy Project. She has worked in event, festival, and film production, as well as artist representation, art curation, and art creation. She owned a visionary art gallery in Venice Beach, California, called Sananda Gallery. She has produced fundraisers, parties, and art happenings for special events and festivals, including High Times Cannabis Cups, MAPS conferences, Envision Festival, Serenity Festival, and Fractal Planet at Burning Man. She has been a featured speaker at numerous events, lobbied Congress, lectured MBA students, and given a TedX talk. She is an experienced meditator and trained death midwife. LianaSananda on Instagram MAPS.org

Derek VanScoten is the producer, guitarist, and Emmy-winning musician behind Cloudchord. In early 2010 he hit the scene as a solo artist, merging live guitar with modern electronic production. Ears caught quickly, and within a year he was playing coast to coast for growing audiences. East Forest unpacks a recent interaction between the two artists where an email thread got wildly embarrassing - they're here to digest the episode. Based in Austin, Texas, he has been actively releasing solo material since 2009. In 2011 he released an official remix of Break Science featuring Talib Kweli, and in 2012 he was a featured guitarist and co-producer on Michal Menert's album Even If It Isn't Right. His album, Hit the Clouds Running, was released on Gravitas Recordings in 2013. He has played guitar and other instruments with groups including the Boulder Philharmonic, DJ Logic, and Devotchka, and toured with Big Gigantic, Beats Antique, Emancipator, and Lotus. Cloudchord Spotify Cloudchord Instagram eastforest.org

Diego Perez is a meditator, writer, and speaker who is widely known on Instagram and various social media networks through his pen name Yung Pueblo. Online he reaches hundreds of thousands of people every month through his written works that focus on the reality of self-healing, the movement from self-love to unconditional love, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves. His first book, Inward, was self-published and quickly became a bestseller on Amazon. A revised and expanded edition of Inward has recently been published and is now available in bookstores around the world. The name Yung Pueblo means young people; it serves to remind him of his Ecuadorian roots, his experiences in activism, and that the collective of humanity is in the midst of important growth. Diego's practice of Vipassana meditation, as taught by S.N. Goenka, has given him a deeper understanding of liberation that inspires his writing. Through writing and speaking he aims to support the healing of the individual, knowing that when people release their personal burdens it helps humanity build a global peace. "The inward movement can be summarized as follows: we observe ourselves, we accept what we find without judgment, we let it go, and the actual release causes our transformation. We are already always changing, but when we focus on healing we can change in the direction of our choosing; these are moments when we intentionally reclaim our power. Every moment we take to know ourselves, we return as someone new." - Yung Pueblo Yung Pueblo on IG - instagram.com/yung_pueblo "Inward" on Amazon eastforest.org

Justin Boreta is a music producer and a founding member of The Glitch Mob, a deejay collective born of the Los Angeles electronic music scene. The trio has combined their different skills and aesthetics into the compellingly collaged whole that has become one of the most beloved live electronic acts, and distinctive recording artists, working today. On the podcast we dive into the role of psilocybin and sound, the creative process, and more! instagram.com/boreta Boreta + Ram Dass "Imagine" - YouTube Watch eastforest.org/podcast

In this ten minute guided meditation we explore the feeling of "letting go" with the notion of just loosening the grip and giving oneself over to a larger river of flow. eastforest.org

Brian Koch is a musician, artist and founding member of Blitzen Trapper and Dead Lee. Blitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental country/folk/rock band associated with Sub Pop Records, Vagrant Records and Lojinx. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a quintet, with Eric Earley, Erik Menteer , Brian Adrian Koch, Michael Van Pelt, and Marty Marquis. Blitzen Trapper self-released its first three albums. "Wild Mountain Nation" was No. 98 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. Blitzen Trapper released its third album, Wild Mountain Nation, in 2007 to much critical acclaim from critics such as Pitchfork Media, The Nerve, and Spin Magazine. The group signed to Sub Pop Records in the summer of 2007. The release of Furr in 2008 was a high-water mark for the group as their eclectic new songs received a two-page feature in Rolling Stone. The album was ranked No. 13 on Rolling Stone's Best Albums of 2008 while the title track was ranked No. 4 on the magazine's Best Singles of 2008. The albums Destroyer of the Void and American Goldwing followed, to similarly high acclaim. On October 1, 2013, the band released VII, their first on Vagrant Records in the US; the album also appeared on British indie label Lojinx in Europe on September 30. In mid-December 2014, the band self-published their first live album, Live In Portland, followed by the Record Store Day exclusive, a live cover album of Neil Young's Harvest record titled Live Harvest. Their eighth studio album, All Across This Land, was released on October 2, 2015. Their ninth studio release - marking a return to the band's own label LidKerCow - is titled Wild and Reckless and was released on November 3, 2017. deadlee.bandcamp.com blitzentrapper.com

This week we take a look behind the song "I Am Loving Awareness (feat. Krishna Das)" from the new East Forest x Ram Dass record. Discover the process into how the song went from simple beginnings in 2017 to become a deep mantra dive with two heavyweights of spirituality: Ram Dass and Krishna Das in their first joint recording process. Hear the song in hi def and in full at http://music.eastforest.org Hear more about Krishna Das' process with the song in episode #41!

The first in a series of looks 'behind the song' - so you get a glimpse at the inspiration and how a track comes together from start to finish. In this episode we explore the song "Home", from Chapter II of East Forest x Ram Dass where Ram Dass discusses is first experience with psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms) and how it served to propel him on his spiritual path. You can hear the full song and album at, Chapter II - https://open.spotify.com/album/7keeucmBz1BKOKt1c8Zma4?si=vtS7CRYcR0KQH_jBMt75yw Chapter I - https://open.spotify.com/album/0VS6IDF8414tXSVqkpJVk1?si=DrDrDzmASViW7ADvwe1vWA Chapter III hits the streets June 21 2019 and the full album on August 9 2019. eastforest.org

Emerging from his own distinct corner of the West Coast electronic music scene, Random Rab offers a powerful and unique contribution to sonic exploration. Often referred to as “The Master of Emotion” his music is patently beautiful and melodic. With diverse influences ranging from trip-hop, classical and Arabic to bass driven compositions, his songs are considered anthemic and timeless. As a multi-instrumentalist and singer, his tracks are organic, uplifting and stand on their own as a distinct genre. Listeners of all types of music can find something they can relate to in his sound. He has toured extensively across North America, including tours with Bassnectar, Shpongle, Emancipator, Beats Antique, and has headlined dozens of festivals across the U.S. and internationally. There is no doubt that Rab understands a multitude of musical styles. He has been the front man of a heavy metal band, toured as a classical trumpet player, played bass in a country music band, was a scratch DJ for a jazz fusion project, was the singer for a rock band in Mexico and has collaborated with countless musicians of all styles. From acoustic performances in the Himalayas to rocking packed clubs in New York, Random Rab has found a way to connect with people of all kinds. With a dedicated fanbase born from the San Francisco underground, Random Rab has become known world wide for his sunrise sets that have now become one of his most sought after performances. Having played before 3 solar eclipses and at the Pyramids of Giza, Random Rab has created a unique niche for his equally danceable, yet thought-provoking compositions. His current popularity can often be traced to his breakout album, The Elucidation of Sorrow and in particular his first hit, The Riddle and followed up by hits such as Release, Falling Tao, For My Corpse and Apparently. His critically acclaimed current and 10th album Formless Edge, catapulted him into the state of momentum that is now taking hold internationally. randomrab.com eastforest.org/podcast