Speaker 2 1:45

Of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Venecia, a passionate, versatile entrepreneur from South Carolina. Her work seamlessly blends music, sound therapy, and visual art, creating a unique, transformative experience that transcends traditional boundaries. Her journey in music and healing has taken her all over the globe, from Europe to China, where she learned how to play the Gojung instrument. Goojang. Gozheng. You just say it so much better. It's just so eloquent. She's also skilled in playing the Native American flute in Tibetan singing bowls. In 2007, she founded Soul Being Sound Massage, where she blends the art of relaxation with music, I'm sorry, with magic of sound to create an oasis of tranquility and rejuvenation. Her sessions consist of Tibetan sound bowl massage and group sound therapy, as well as group hypnosis journey. She also offers personal personalized sessions that dissolve stress, restore balance, and elevate your vitality. Well, I need all of that. All of that answers. Each session is tailored to your specific needs, incorporating techniques like EFT, hypnosis, and affirmations.

Speaker 3 3:07

Hmm.

Speaker 2 3:08

I love it, girl. How are you doing today? I'm great. Thank you. Well, you look beautiful. Thank you.

Speaker 1 3:14

So you look I was looking at the eyeshadow, I was like, She did that.

Speaker 2 3:16

Thank you. Thank you. A lot of practice. Yes, it looks great. So a lot of our listeners are probably new to hearing about sound therapy and you. And so can you tell us a little bit about yourself before now, your childhood experiences?

Speaker 1 3:32

Oh, okay. Um wow. Okay. So if I were to go all the way back and tie everything together, I could say that I've always had a connection to sound, a connection to music as a young child. I mean, I remember when I was maybe about nine years old. You know, this is definitely when we were like play pause tapes, you know, cassette players, that kind of vibe. You know what it is. So I was about that age when I really discovered that I had a desire to compose music and create music. So I remember being really young, and we had like the huge box speaker in the house, and I had a little purple radio with a little tape player. And you know how you have to plug in, plug the electrical wires in the back of the speakers to get sound. So I was savvy enough to do that. But some kind of way it was a bit of a short in it, and it created this bass. So I remember leaving it like that, and I would be making my little tapes, and I'd be like thumping the floor to kind of get the bass to excite. So it was like, ooh, you know, and so from then on out, I had always had an interest. I would touch any musical instrument, anything. It didn't matter if I could play it or not. I want to touch it. I just want to see if I have any connection. I've been a vocalist all my life. So I felt like, well, you know, how can I combine it? You know, how can what else can I do? So when I got a little bit older, um, I've always had an affection for the bass. You know, I'm a 70s baby, so we was raised off good 70s soul music with thick bass lines, super grooves. So I've always had an affection for that. So that was the first instrument I actually purchased. And I remember being maybe 16, 17, just got a credit card and maxed that thing out. I was like, this is the first purchase. So I did that and uh, you know, learned as much as I could. And, you know, as time goes on and technology goes on, I just began to collect. You know, I had a computer, so I would learn how to make beats. Um, then I just started buying instruments from all over the world. And I think that around the early 2000s, I began to feel like, well, you know, how can I combine some of what it is that I've learned to create a way for people to really feel a sense of satisfaction from music not only being something that you just kind of grew to, but um, how can I create a level of satisfaction so that it can go a little bit deeper? These were just the questions that I had at that point. It wasn't so popular, it wasn't as popular as it is now, but it was we were kind of just edging into that space as to where, you know, in new agey kind of holistic lifestyles were a little bit more prominent. It was just kind of peeking around more heavily. Um, so you know, then I just kind of studied a little bit. I spent some time overseas, um, and I learned to play the Gu Jung, which is the Chinese harp. Um, for those that may not understand what that sounds like, if you've if you're like a Chinese fight flick girl or guy like me, then you've heard it before.

Speaker 6:30

Oh, yeah, the Wu Chang sound.

Speaker 1 6:34

So it's just that harp, and you hear it in all of most all of the movies. When you hear, and it may be the Japanese Koto, maybe the Guzheng, they're very similar. You know, the sound is very similar. So I remember um I had gone to China. Part of it was because I wanted to learn, but it was one of those things as to where it was a subconscious kind of thing that whipped back around on me. Um, when we were living in North Carolina, I remember my daughter was around three, and I fell asleep on the couch and woke back up and reading Rainbow was on. And there was a special that they had. There was a beautiful woman from Japan at that time, and she was playing the Kyoto. And I just remember peeking my eye open, and I was like, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna learn how to play that instrument. And it just stopped there. The thought just stopped there. And maybe two years later, I ended up going to China to learn an instrument that was very much so the same, and I had no feeling like this is a plan. It was just that thing that your spirit knows. Like, well, you know, I'm gonna put you in alignment with what you're supposed to do. So from there I went and learned, and I recorded an album there, and um I met with some really amazing musicians and people that were like traditional Chinese musical composers, you know, and sat in the studio while they're making big grand work. And so I got the chance to kind of sit in on different, you know, styles, ways, instruments, uh, you know, ideas about why you do the thing that you do. So I brought all of that back. And then it just kind of kept snowballing and snowballing, you know, as I got back here, you know, it was like, well, let me just keep putting all the things together, you know.

Speaker 8:08

Wow. So how many instruments do you play?

Speaker 1 8:11

Um I have to say the voice is one. That's the first one. Yeah, sure. You know, um, then I played the guchang, which is the Chinese harp. I play the Native American style flute, not necessarily the traditional flute, but the more Native American style flute. I play that. I play the kalimba, I play some percussion, I play the bass. I still consider myself a novice, though. You know, it's I can get what I need. Um so those, and then I do some production. So I could say those comfortably.

Speaker 8:40

Right, right.

unknown 8:41

Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:42

I should have told her to bring every single last one. Oh yeah, I'm all set up right here.

Speaker 8:47

So how did you get into uh sound healing then from being a musician and and kind of you know, like I I I feel like you you felt this this mystical power of music, but then how were you introduced to to actually using it as a tool?

Speaker 1 9:03

I was introduced to it and it wasn't m it wasn't a mistake, but it kind of was one of those things it was like, oh, I remember um years before I'd actually gone to China, I think I purchased my first um Tibetan bowl. And I I knew how to use it. You know, I know you you take the poo, you rub it around, and the vibration creates a resonance. I knew how to use it. But I remember being at my best friend's house one day and she was talking to me about how she had a headache or back ache. It was one or the other. And and at this point, I was like, well, I do have that bowl, and it does kind of create. I wonder if I put it on your back, if it'll make you feel better. And I put it on her back and she was like, Wow, that feels great. And so from then on, I was like, I wonder if this is a thing. And so then I researched, I was like, oh, it's a thing. So I was like, well, then I think I need to research this thing. And so from then on out, um, the understanding that that was a thing and that you could use resonance to heal. I just kind of went deeper down that rabbit hole and you know, um bought instruments and played around with them, and you just kind of put two and two together. Once you know the foundation, you can kind of put the rest together. So that I did a lot of that. And um, that's how I kind of came into that space of then widening, you know, um my idea of what could happen with that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:23

I like what you said. You have to play. So you always still have to be that child to figure out your next step.

Speaker 1 10:31

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you have to be. You have to be. I mean, I think even going into music stores now, I feel like a child, you know. It's like, here, take my purse, let me go. Let me live. Let me free. Let me play with the through. What can I touch? You know? So when I invite people into the studio, I'm like, touch, you know, they don't really know if it's okay. I'm like, no, touch, play. Like, play some things. You may discover that you really enjoy something that you have never had the opportunity to touch before, and here's an awesome opportunity for you to play. No one's gonna judge you. Get down on it, you know. So, yeah, you have to play.

Speaker 2 11:04

Yeah. My first time hearing you was at um Monifa's birthday event. And actually, Kevin was supposed to be there instead of me. And when I was there, I was like, oh my gosh, I love this girl. I have to have her on the podcast. You just when you came to the event, the yoga was perfect, but the sound therapy makes it elevate to another experience. So can you talk about how you create that experience for your customers?

Speaker 1 11:35

Um well, I think the creation of the experience for one, it's um it's a very intuitive thing because I think that you can kind of use a recipe to do these types of things, but I think when it's done really well, you're attuning to the room. You're attuning to the energy that's already present in the room. So you can kind of tell by when people gather. For me, like if I have a group session, um, I usually talk to the group for just a bit. But also while I'm sitting in there gathering, I'm just gathering information. I'm watching them move. Um I'm just kind of watching their energy. Because some people's energy may be just a little bit more, you know, they got a lot going on. There's a lot of kinetic movement internally and externally, and you can just kind of see it. And then some people may move a little bit slower. You could tell that they've got a heaviness about them in their body or even in their spirit. So as I'm gathering information in the room, that's usually how I can tell what composition would be best for that day, um, what combination would be best for that day. Because some days may require the harp, but some days may require a lot of kinetic, uh kinetic texture that helps to break up things. So when I think about sound therapy from that perspective, I think about the basics. When we listen to things like strings and things like that, those are the things you can easily remember it works on the heart. So we always think about heart strings, but those are the types of instruments that work on the heart. You know, that's why when we can hear beautiful guitar music or piano music, it can move you in a certain way because it works on that center of the body. But then let's just say that you have some energy that's kind of stuck in physical places, it almost feels visceral and tight and textural, then I'm going to use something that's going to be a little bit more of a breaker. So I might use rattles, I might use um anything that has a clicky cheeky cheeky sound. I may use percussion because those things they chop, you know, they chop energy up. Or if I need to add sweetness into the room, stillness into the room, then it let's just then I may use a certain type of bowl, I may use harps, I may use chimes because it it emits a certain level of sweetness. It takes you back to a certain level of calm and innocence. So you can kind of read it. And then what I also do is go to each person. When we have individualized and group sessions, well, more so we're talking about group, when we go to the group sessions, I'll go to each person and um I can kind of read what they mean. This person might need a little bit more of that chime. They might need me to sit by and play a little bit of that flute, you know, just to kind of take the body down, you know, or just to kind of get you in a space of being being able to really um relax. And so then to combine, um my study was in hypnosis as well. So I went to school for hypnosis. And one of the things that I found to be interesting that always kind of made me feel like uh was that idea that in hypnosis we call it bypassing a critical factor. Now, if you have an idea that it's not gonna work for you, then it won't. You know what I'm saying? Because it is a it's a subconscious thing that we're working on the subconscious mind. So if there's an idea that you have that says, nah, this ain't gonna work for me, it probably will not work for you. But we can bypass that if we can just take you right into that hypnagogic state by balancing the brainwave frequency. So we can do that with sound. So that's what I do. I don't want, I don't want you to have to feel like it can't work for you. So we just bypass all of that, and we're just gonna balance out the brainwave frequencies so that you could be right in the perfect space for receptivity. So we don't even have to go through all of that. So that's where I usually kind of integrate the hypnosis and in other ways too. But so I've just kind of taken everything that I've learned, brought it all together, and created a practice that changes according to what is before me in the moment.

Speaker 15:27

So each time you do it, it's kind of improv. You're just you're playing what needs to be played at the time for that crowd. That's very interesting.

Speaker 2 15:35

So you have to be vulnerable every time.

Speaker 1 15:39

Every time. Every time. Even with individuals. Um, when we when I do the individual Tibetan sound massages, it's always interesting because it's never the same. And you can read a person's body so so all of the delicate things that you you wouldn't think you could pick up on, you can pick up on. You could pick up on not only, you know, physiological tightness, but because of the nature of the work, you can of course pick up on what kind of things people eat, you can pick up on their emotionality, you can pick up on if they have, you know, all kinds of things that are just kind of stuck in certain places. I've even had some sessions as to where people's like maybe your mother passed away and she comes. Wow. And she's like, here, I have something I need you to say, say to him. And so I have to ask permission if I can give you this message, you know. So it's it's a wide open portal. Wow, it's a wide open portal. Exactly.

Speaker 2 16:41

I love that.

Speaker 3 16:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:42

So how do you release that energy when you're each client you come in contact with?

Speaker 1 16:49

Well, I mean, definitely you have to have a personal thing that you do externally to release energy. I think that for me, sometimes I mean, you have to use the restroom for me. And even the client, sometimes you need to drink some water. Sometimes I may burn something, sometimes I need to be outside like I need to have the shock of the weather to just kind of snap me back. Um, and sometimes the energy is so light and so sweet that it transfers over to you in a certain way. So that's the cool thing about that, is like if I'm working on a client, they don't, it's not only them that's that's getting that sweetness, it's me too, you know. So some people, their energy is so light and so sweet that it just leaves you feeling so good, you know. So it just again, it it it always just depends.

Speaker 2 17:39

What are some misconceptions that you've heard about the sound therapy or the work that you've done that you would like to clear up?

Speaker 1 17:47

Um I think misconceptions are from a real surface level, I think people have, I don't want to, I don't, I don't know if I want to say it's a misconception, but I think that people are not very clear about the depth, you know, the way in which it can really affect your body, the way in which it can really affect your soul. It's really difficult for me to talk about this thing without getting into the core of how I feel about my practice as a black woman. I feel that um not only in our community, but most communities, when we think about um sound therapy, sometimes there are very linear ways in which we think about it and the way in which it should be distributed, done, and expressed as correct. You know, there are ways in which people feel you should do a certain thing in a certain way, you should use this this way, you know, that kind of thing. So for me, when I think about it, I think the misconception is that we have to marginalize it to looking like crystal bowls or looking like Tibetan bowls or looking like flute. Look, we don't have to marginalize it to any of that. In our community in particular, and this is where my passion is, I think that there is a spiritual technology that happens by virtue of you understanding the language of your own soul. You understand when you feel something. That's why soul music moves everybody. It's not anything you have to understand, it's just something that you feel. So for me, I think eradicating the idea that it has to be so technical, you really just have to be in a receiving space as to where your soul understands what's being what's being said. You can pick up what's being put down. So to open up that idea that for me, my job looks like the exaltation celebration, and you know, bringing out in full sprawl all that has come before us in my ancestors in terms of the music and the medicine that we've been putting down for eons and eons and eons. Why can't it look like Stevie Wonder? Why can't it look like Donnie Hathaway? Why can't it look like D'Angelo? Why can't it look like Shade? Why can't it look like Rae Kwan? Why can't it look like all those things? Why do there to me there's no boundaries in how music and medicine shows up in the community? And I think that we'll get an opportunity to really look at and accept music as medicine the way that it really can to me and should be, if we can eradicate those boundaries. Because if you were, I was raised in the church. I mean, I don't know about I was raised in the church, and for me as a little girl, I remember the things that impressed me so much was just the feeling that I had listening to good gospel music.

Speaker 2 20:31

Yeah.

Speaker 1 20:31

Good, good, good. I mean, the kind like, you know, that old wood floor hand clapping. It's a small, it's a praise house, you know, and they get the turn in that spirit. And it's something you just really can't deny. That is a spiritual technology that you cannot deny. And you can go to the continent and see the same thing exalted. You can go to Central America and see the same thing, you can go to Mexico and see the same thing. It's not about the temple, the church, the mob, it's not about any of that. It's the language of the spirit. It's just the language of the spirit. So just looking at all of those things as an opportunity, all of those methodologies, those practices, those techniques and tools as just that something I could put in a tool belt to use at any point in time to get you there. We don't need any of the you gotta do it this way.

Speaker 21:22

Yeah, this sounds a whole lot more organic to me than like the sound healing I'm familiar with. It's like like people have thousand dollar tuning forks that are perfectly aligned to this perfect pitch. And it it seems like a very pseudoscience way of doing it. Kind of this sounds much more organic and intuitive and tuning into what you're perceiving from people and and kind of cultivating a space. I like it. I take it.

Speaker 1 21:47

Yeah. And then also opening up a way for people to feel as if they can, they too can access it. You know what I'm saying? I never as a practitioner, yeah. As a practitioner, I never want you to feel like as a client that that I I have the juice that you have to have in order for you to feel better. You got the juice. You know, so if we can just open up that portal so you understand that you've got it, then the work is done. So that's why for me, I think, like you said, in a more organic way, it speaks it speaks more deeply to my my placement and how I'm supposed to do this thing, you know. Um, but I think all the tuning forks and all the cool stuff is cool. Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm not saying you're saying it's not, but yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no. You can feel it when you're cool, but I mean it's expensive. Yeah, yeah. It can be expensive, but it's it is cool. I mean, I like to collect all the cool, I love it.

Speaker 22:42

It's like people have been doing the same thing with any string that you could get tight enough to plug.

Speaker 1 22:51

Yeah. This is true. This is true. Um I think for me the idea that I think as a musician because I've never been formally trained anywhere, it's been the one most wonderful thing because I've never had any boundaries and I've never had anybody to tell me, no, don't do it like that. You can't do it like that. You know what I'm saying? So I've always been like a scientist in the lab, like, well, let's do this and this and this. And I never felt like, well, I can't do this, so let's do that, you know. So I love and and to me, then the practice grows.

Speaker 2 23:34

Yeah.

Speaker 1 23:35

It grows. You can add so much, you can add so much, you know. Um, and I've even found that as a musician, it's kind of grown into my performances. I can't help but Integrate it, you know. I cannot help but integrate that aspect into the groove and that's special, you know, because you don't see it coming, you don't really expect it. So it's just taking all that that that comes naturally and all that I've learned and and not leaving anything on the table. You know.

Speaker 2 24:03

What's your um group sessions like?

Speaker 1 24:07

The group sessions are usually my space can pretty much hold comfortably, maybe about 12 people lying down comfortably. So it's a very intimate space. Um, you would just come in, you can lie, or you can sit. I usually encourage people to lie down just because then I can kind of come around to you and put the bowls on your body. So I'll have session time where I'm just kind of at the front of the room and I'm working the bowls, the harp, whatever, whatever I'm working at the moment. And then there are times at which I come around and I'll put bowls on you or I'll put different different instruments around you, maybe around your feet, around your head. Um, they usually last about an hour. And um they are just mini sessions of what you would get if you were having an individualized session. I usually like to give people the opportunity to feel what the instruments feel like on your body too, so that you can have not only that audio reference, but you can have a physical reference as well. So that might be what makes things a little bit different. I have I have been to a few um group sessions before, and it's so interesting because they're all different. You know, it's it's it's really cool, but um that's that's kind of what it's like, you know, it's an open portal, an open space for you to feel comfortable, for you to, you know, get into a space of pure receiving mode, you know, and then we just gift back to one another, you know. Um, so that's that's pretty much what it's like.

Speaker 2 25:36

What type of groups come to these of to your group sessions? Maybe like families or yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 25:43

I've had families come. I love when people go like they'll come and then they'll say, I'm gonna bring my mom and my daddy back. Yeah, I'm gonna bring my daughter back. You know, so I've had people come and bring their children. I've had sessions with children, like at the Richland County Library. I've done sessions with just children. Um, people, all kinds of people come. All there's no limitation on the types of people that come. And that's what's really cool because you know, different people have different expectations. They have different things that they've experienced. So they, you know, they come with that and they leave with something new, perhaps, you know.

Speaker 2 26:20

I'm excited. We we should go.

Speaker 1 26:22

Yeah, we should all do it. We need a group session. Yeah, yes. And I do group sessions like let's just say that you're having a it's your birthday and you want to do something special for yourself. Yeah, I do sessions and people kind of bring their family or bring their girlfriends or whomever, and they just have a a day where it's just for them. I do that a lot. So, and then I do, you know, you can just kind of hire out and say, hey, well, I have four people, you know, and then I open the studio for you. So it's pretty flexible.

Speaker 2 26:48

And where is your studio located?

Speaker 1 26:50

I am located on 1021 George Rogers Boulevard. So it is actually inside of Brick House Gym. Brickhouse Gym has layers to it if you've ever been there before. So I am on the back side of the gym, um, and it's its own entity. Yeah, so I'm located there, and which is right next to the stadium. That's the easy way to remember. Okay.

Speaker 2 27:12

I was about to say it sounded familiar, but I'm like, I don't know where in Columbia that's the stadium store to ETV directly.

Speaker 1 27:18

Uh-huh.

Speaker 2 27:19

Oh, perfect. Okay.

Speaker 1 27:20

Yeah.

Speaker 2 27:21

So I know this is a random question. What what is your favorite uh, I guess, frequency? Do you have a favorite frequency?

Speaker 1 27:29

I don't. I don't have a favorite frequency because sound or you said the bass earlier. I'm gonna be honest, I can't say I have a favorite because it is ever changing. And the favorite might be a favorite because the need is there, you know what I'm saying? Like, I could say that it's hard for me to say there's a favorite frequency because I I guess I kind of take things in totality a little bit. My mind kind of takes things in totality a little bit differently. So, for example, I often will get stuck in jazz. I'll get real stuck in that space. It is probably my favorite tool for sound therapy when that I personally use because it just wipes my mind. It's like a mind wipe. You know, you cannot, the complication of what you're hearing, you know what I'm saying? All of that composition, it takes up so much of you if you're if you're being honest and you're lending yourself over to it, that you can't be all in your head. Um, and it also ignites my sense of creativity and wonder. So I think that's what I need most often. So I I use it most often. And even when I think about musical genres, I use those as tools the same way you would use tuning forks. I say maybe I might need yacht rock.

Speaker 3 28:50

Really?

Speaker 1 28:51

I love yacht rock. I love it. I love it. I hate that there's not more of it. It was beautiful then and it's still beautiful now. It's like when I think about yacht rock, I think about just that yummy, sweet, like, oh, like one of my favorite things was like the soundtrack to The Last Unicorn. America did that soundtrack. Oh. Just beautiful. Like the orchestration is gorgeous, and it just takes you someplace, you know. So I love music that makes me feel like I can't, I couldn't take myself from this feeling if I wanted to. I'm just submerged in it. That's how Donnie Hathaway's voice is for me. I just, I'm submerged. It's like, oh, I'm stuck right here, right here, you know. So I think more so genres, I think about that. It's um yeah, maybe even more so than like songs or or frequencies, more so genres that just kind of use different things at different times to do you DJ. Do you know what? That is going to that's my next endeavor.

Speaker 29:59

I can I can see that. I can definitely see that.

Speaker 1 30:01

That's my next endeavor. How did you know?

Speaker 30:03

Well, because the just the way that you're talking about uh the genres as tools, and it it kind of like that's kind of what it brought to mind was how a DJ just kind of uses that. And um I've I've dabbled a little bit, and I think when you're young and you first start dabbling, like there's songs you like, and you have to come to a realization that that might not be the song to play.

Speaker 1 30:25

Uh-huh.

Speaker 30:26

That that there has to be like this this ongoing progression of mood and theme and feel and vibe. And you can't just be letting the AI pop in the next track. It's gotta be curated and thought through.

Speaker 1 30:40

Yeah.

Speaker 30:40

Yeah.

Speaker 1 30:41

Yeah, you're right. I had um the last event that I had was a um celebration of life and music for D'Angelo when he transitioned. And um there was one before that was kind of similar, but it wasn't for a specific thing. And I realized that one of my favorite things to do was to just DJ the whole set. Like just to think about what to play next. There is I get off on it. So you're right on time with that. And plus, there's just so many types, so much music that I love to just blend it all together like sub-Saharan jazz with you know, some dirty backpack hip-hop, shade, this, that, to just take people on a journey. You know what I'm saying? It is the it's so fun. It is so fun. So, yeah, I'm interested. I'm definitely interested in doing that. I recently, are you familiar with Ron Trent at all? Ron Trent is out of Chicago, he is one of the most famous house DJs in the world. And um I just recently went on tour with him. He's actually nominated for a Grammy this this way coming up here. Um I went on tour with him in Europe earlier this year. And, you know, I learned a lot about his artistry then in that space. And he taught me through just him in his work um the power of utilizing frequency when you're when you're DJing as a tool. Um, I never really understood the power from that perspective until I witnessed it coming from him. And people really revere him. And I wonder if they understand why they feel so powerfully pulled to him. Because I remember he's so dope. And so when I saw him in North Carolina, I remember I went there with a friend of mine. This was the first time I saw him spin. And uh there was a fellow that went on before him, and he was dope. I mean, the music was fly, it was great. He was he did a great set. But when Ron came on, it was as if it was as if nothing played before.

Speaker 3 32:52

Right.

Speaker 1 32:53

It was the volume was different, the frequency was, it was as if I had never experienced anything like that. I was like, what did you do? I just heard a whole set and it was fly. I was cool. The sound was great, volume was pumping. But when he came on, it was everything changed. Everything was different. It sounded as if the sound had just gotten turned on in the space. I was like, how did you do that?

Speaker 33:17

You know, controlling this feel, controlling the vibe.

Speaker 1 33:20

Controlling the vibe, a true audio architect. So looking at it from that perspective, looking at like the artistry of sound as architecture, you know, taking all of those things to me is what makes it so fun too. So, I mean, sound therapy for me is like my gifting space, but first and first, I'm just a musician who loves making music and listening to great music and discovering music. Yeah.

Speaker 2 33:48

I would love to hear your playlist. Can you please share your playlist? I can share a playlist, yeah, for sure. So tell us a little bit about your music because I didn't even know anything about any that world. I didn't find that when I was Googling you.

Speaker 1 34:04

Yeah, stalking you or so. It is, I'm gonna, admittedly, this is embarrassing. I'm gonna say this because I am definitely super analog y and you know, let's just say that there are some areas in which I can grow. You know what I'm saying? I I'm I'm still that kind of person that has music kind of like laying around on CDs and stuff like that. You know, you just got stuff on computers that you just recorded that's not, you know. So I released some CDs back in the day. I was Butterfly Brown. Now, this is going back in the early 2000s. So that's how we can find you. You but you won't find nothing. But you won't find nothing online. And that's the issue. Like, I it's the people who know, like, they have physical proof. Okay. You know, physical proof that I put together a few a few albums that were dope back in the day. So one of them, the first one was called uh Five on the Black Hand Side. And it was just a comp it was just an EP of just straight soul music, dope beats, sassy ass lyrics. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yeah, you find it was fly. And so then the second album was Hematite, which was one that I completely produced um and played all the instruments. I was super proud of that one there. Um, and then after that came um the Violet Hangover, which I did when I was in China. This was complete um sound therapy CD, in which I just kind of used some of the um instrumentals from people that I love. So I couldn't sell it, but not out of good conscience. It was just kind of thing I would give away to people. So I would use things like Moby instrumentals or old stuff from like Deepak Chopra when he had CDs where he would do poetry and stuff. There were beautiful Dean Evanson. Like I would just pull beautiful instrumentals from all around and compile it. And um, I did a disc for that. And then the other things that I've done is kind of like individual things here and there. Like I like I did some stuff on Ron Trent's album. Um What Do the Stars Say? That came out a couple years ago, and that's what we went on tour for. Um, so I've done a lot of indiv individual things. I've done some work in um soundtrack work, like uh for film or soundtrack work. Um some yeah. You ever thought about doing voiceovers? I love voiceovers. I want to do it for I I wanted to do, I really wanted to get a gig doing like the the National Geographic. Oh, yeah. Do you know what I'm saying? Like I I need that, and I'm still open to it. I'm still open to it. I'm like, that's what I really when I was in China, I did voiceovers for children's books. Wow. And I think it'd be cool to do it for cartoons because my core is a comedian. So to do it for like cartoons would be That's what I pictured when I mentioned it.

Speaker 2 37:01

I can picture you doing a cartoon character.

Speaker 1 37:04

Yeah. Yeah. No, I would love to. I would love to.

Speaker 2 37:08

So can you tell us about your experience exploring Europe and the importance of actually traveling to expand your, I guess, understand yourself and the work that you do?

Speaker 1 37:20

I think the thing that I took away most going to Europe um this time was the appreciation that is held for music in different portions of the world differently than it is here, especially institutionally, as to where now you have a government that kind of supports the arts, you have a society that supports the arts. It's not looked at as just, you know, a little hobby thing that you're doing on the side, but it's a serious thing that people consider to be a craft. You know, you are an artisan. And that level of seriousness, I think, translates into dollars, it translates into opportunity, it translates into exhibition, it translates into a vast array of possibilities that looks different here. It looks different here. You know what I'm saying? So I think that is a thing. And I think it's always interesting to experience the appreciation that other people have, that other cultures have for that which we have cultivated here on this soil as black folk, because everywhere else in the world is riding off the wings of what we've done musically. And nowhere else in the world can you see that more prevalently. So that's why I think it's so important for us to, as musicians, um especially black musicians here, to know your, know your worth and know your power, to know what it is that you've been creating, that you, which, which you've been spreading about the whole globe in terms of your gift, of your medicine, of your magic. You know, you have to understand the power of that. So for me, I think it's lovely to see people get it. Like they get it. You know, there's a different level of getting it in other places, like a different level of appreciation because, well, you know, people appreciate that, which is not always in your face. You know?

Speaker 2 39:06

Yeah.

Speaker 1 39:07

They appreciate that. So I think that was the biggest takeaway, was just the level of appreciation and the you know, wide scale, I guess, societal appreciation and reverence that they have, and then compensation for the arts as well. That was the biggest takeaway for me.

Speaker 2 39:23

What kind of advice would you give someone pursuing the same career of you? Maybe a younger uh person?

Speaker 1 39:31

I would say um I think to be authentic in these spaces, you really kind of have to know who you are first. You have to know you know, you have to know what your personal frequency is. Like what do I come to offer and how comfortable am I in this space? I think that for me, what makes what I do um powerful in its own way is the fact that I feel very deeply rooted in my own sense of spirituality. And whatever it is that roots you, then you know what I'm saying? Like be that thing a work. So for me, I feel very, very, very deeply rooted spiritually. So I feel that's where I pull everything from. And then I think that eradicate the boundaries that you feel you may have around how something is done and give yourself room to play. Give yourself room to play and don't look at it as a mistake, but play. Just just play. Um, I would say um, I always like to say, kind of do a little bit of this and a little bit of this. Take yourself inside. What do you feel? What do you think should be done here? How do you think this should sound? You know, again, just kind of personalizing your understanding of what you're doing because it's just an extension of you. These are just tools that we're using. It's like my fingers, it's just an extension. If I use a hand pan, it's an extension of what's in here. So if you don't cultivate in here, then what's gonna translate here? You gotta do that inner cultivation. If you if it's really gonna move people, you can you can participate in this work. And you know, it can be very relaxing if you're you know doing your thing with the bowls or whatever. It because it can be, but to really dive in um as to where you don't have any limitations on what you can do if you're used as a tool, I think it does require some internal investigation. Um so I would say be playful, um, be comfortable getting to know who you are in that space and play with everything.

Speaker 2 41:43

Play with everything, anything play with anything, everything.

Speaker 1 41:47

Anything you can use. I mean, any and everything you can use. That was one of the things that I loved. I one of the things that opened me up as a musician was um plant medicine and the use of um how what am I able to say here? You can say whatever you want. Okay. So I think the thing that really opened me up as a musician, it was like that final unlocking was sitting with ayahuasca. That was like the final click, click, click. And then having that moment broke something eternally open. It allowed me to see that there was absolutely no boundaries or barriers and just feeling how that medicine moves through the body in a way that was kind of navigated through the sound, through the music that was used. It was like the music that was sung, uh, the ikaros that were sung, that's what they're called, the medicine songs that they sing when you go take an ayahuasca journey. How it moves the medicine through your body. That to me was the most fascinating thing. It wasn't for me ever like, you know, the internal demons that I had to really get with, or, you know, some really deep-seated stuff that really had to I had to come to terms with. For me, it was always a work on that, on that part of my my mental and that part of my artist heart. It was really that for me. So just I understood music differently, I felt it differently, and after that, I was like, oh, I have no fear to do anything ever, to make any sound, ever, you know, and so from there, it just kind of then was like the final flight of elevation in terms of uh of um just doing the thing the way you you feel like you need to do it, yeah.

Speaker 2 43:40

I've heard about people's stories.

Speaker 43:42

Yeah, yeah. We've we've um we've done some work with veterans, and there's been some stories where ayahuasca is like a really big game changer for them, particularly with PTSD and um just kind of accepting your place in the universe and your role right now and the smallness that it might be and and that kind of thing. It's um I've I've never done ayahuasca myself, but it sounds like you went into the proper journey with the the proper folks that know how to yeah, this person was magic, pure magic, pure magic.

Speaker 1 44:21

Um yeah, so that was that was a changing time, you know. That was a changing time, but yeah, so you know, explore, play.

Speaker 2 44:30

And you said you have a daughter?

Speaker 1 44:32

I do, I have a daughter. I have a daughter, her name is Anaya, and she is also a creative as well. Anaya can play, and she is she's one of those artists that are she's gifted, you know what I'm saying? I feel like I'm I'm talented, but she's gifted, you know, and there is a difference. Like anything you put in front of her, she can just kind of get it. You know, she can get it differently. And I saw that in that she wanted to play the drums. Um she can play the steel pan, she's played the flute, she she, I mean, she was at one point really interested in playing the keyboard, and I remember I got her a keyboard, and then I was like listening to her one day in there, and she was like playing some childish gambit. What you do? What are you doing in there? Like, how did you gather that so fast? And was like, like, you know, so yeah, she I have a daughter. I also have a grandson as well. He is um four, and he's also musical, you know. So I um it's interesting to see how the music just kind of runs through the thing through the family. Like he um the way in which I taught him how to spell his name was through. A song. Wow. And so that's how I learned. Yeah, but is it the easiest way to learn anything? And so I decided from that point to um I create I just created a YouTube channel called Spell My Name Jams. And it is a YouTube channel that is specifically for children to learn how to primarily spell their name. So if you have a child.

Speaker 46:08

That might be gold.

Speaker 1 46:09

Yeah, if you have a child and you drop their name, you tell me their name, I'll make a song for them. And then that's how they learn how to spell their name. But then I also do, of course, all of your regular stuff, like your your ABS for toddlers. So your ABCs, your counting, all of that educational stuff as well. I've been a teacher for a long, long time. So this is one of those things you just kind of can't get away from when you see it's like, oh, well, this is easy enough. Let's let's put together some things. So yeah, everybody's kind of musical.

Speaker 46:35

How long have you been in that kids' YouTube space?

Speaker 1 46:38

Not long. This is a new, new baby. Like, new, new as of I'm what I launched this month, but the idea has been on me for a few months, but I just launched. She's fresh.

Speaker 46:50

We might have to have you back to talk about that. Because I'm I'm very fascinated with um the kids YouTube space because the numbers are so insanely ridiculous. I mean, it's so and um, you know, I usually don't talk about the day job, but we had we had during COVID, um, we do a lot of work with family special needs and and uh disabilities. And during COVID, we could we're looking for things to do. And we were like, let's do like a reading rainbow kind of story time, sit down and read a book. Forgot all about it, came back and it's got a hundred thousand hits on it. And it's just been sitting there raking them in since COVID. It's not it's not part of our core mission, it's just a really neat video.

Speaker 1 47:34

Yep. Yep, it's a great space to get into. It is a great space to get into. It's interesting. Just kind of learning the the uh schematics of how those things work has been interesting and to some degree sometimes challenging, but I think it's just fun. You know, it's fun to do, and and like you said, the numbers they don't lie.

Speaker 2 47:54

Yeah, but as a teacher, that's a good way to um teach the kids because they're they're learning at different levels. You have to teach you have to be creative. You have to be you can't just do the standard lessons that we've been doing for all these years. Kids are just lacking education is another ball game now.

Speaker 48:12

I've got a six-year-old and I am learning afresh.

Speaker 2 48:17

You got to get creative with the content, and I feel like a lot of teachers have a trouble with that. So you come in a perfect space.

Speaker 1 48:24

Yeah, and I am also just kind of extending out, so even for teachers that are interested, I'm telling, hey, reach out because the the the channel is super new. So um I have family members that are in the teacher space. A lot of people that I know, I have friends that own, you know, schools. So it's like, I'm like, please, if you need me to create some content just for your classroom, let me know. I'd love to, you know, because I think it makes it so much easier. Yeah, it's easier to remember things, you know, in that way. It's that's how I learn as well. So, you know.

Speaker 48:55

Yeah, we're gonna have to follow you on that because we're we're very interested in education tech.

Speaker 2 49:00

And we also teach kid gloves, podcasting to kids um at the boys and girls club.

Speaker 49:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2 49:06

So I I I think that the youngest age is maybe eight or it's supposed to be eight to eighteen. Yeah, those ones the age range was.

Speaker 49:12

This year they're mostly elementary school kids. Last year we had a lot of middle school kids. Um it just kind of depends on you know what the what the boys and girls club has going on that year. Um but we have basically all of the same equipment that we have here for us. They have versions of it and they learn to run it and set it up and do interviews.

Speaker 1 49:31

Oh, I know they love that. Yeah, they love it.

Speaker 49:33

And it yeah, because right now, like that's the dream is not to be a rapper or an actor, it's to be an influencer.

Speaker 1 49:40

Yeah, it's true.

Speaker 49:41

It's kind of weird to be right, a content creator.

Speaker 2 49:44

So if you're merging that with uh actual curriculum, it it's amazing. Mm-hmm. Now, how do um kids gravitate towards the sound therapy? Have you done sound therapy with kids? Oh receptive. They're very receptive because they have any limitations.

Speaker 1 50:01

They're like, they just lay out, they receive it, you know? Um like sunbathing. Yeah, I mean, sometimes they'll fall asleep, but adults fall asleep too, you know. Um, they love it. And I love having kids in the space to kind of play as well, just to kind of touch things, play with things, and you know, create sounds on their own. But they love it. It's wonderful for kids, especially for little kids. I usually encourage new parents as well, if you have little bitty babies, especially those that kind of suffer from, you know, colic and you know, gassy kinds of things, if or if it's just kind of difficult for them to get to get themselves into a space of calm. Get yourself a singing bowl. Get you one that you can put on the child and watch that magic work. I mean, it's just it's gonna knock anybody out, it's gonna make you feel amazing. So, you know, and kids respond, pets respond so wonderfully to this type of stuff as well. Like I've done some stuff as to where I've played for animals, like a field of animals. Um and I wish it was one of those moments where I wish I had it on on video. I wish I had it on video. It was like I was in a field of there were goats and lamb, and there were big African cows, the ones that have the huge horns.

Speaker 51:21

Oh, yeah. The big watchies.

Speaker 1 51:23

Exactly. Babies, um, mamas, you know, there was a bunch of them. And so I went out into the field, and this is this was in a space where, you know, it was I have a friend of mine who has a retreat center in Mount Krogan, and this was his space, and um, and the animals were just kind of grazing and doing their thing. So I went out and played the flute, and they all just kind of looked up, and then they formed a semicircle around you, yeah, and they slowly, slowly, slowly crept up, so slowly. And then one of the babies that had the horn started to charge, and the mama was like, you know, with her horn, like, hey, back up now. And so then it's it was so fascinating to watch. And so she kind of lined him back up so that they formed that circle. They got to be maybe about eight feet away, and they stood right there, all in that semicircle and just listened.

Speaker 2 52:18

Like a concert. Yes, it's nasty.

Speaker 1 52:21

Speaking their language, you were speaking their language. I love to see, I see so many people now recording them playing for animals, and I love it. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, wow. I'm excited. This was a good episode. This was.

Speaker 52:34

So, what's next for you? What do you have going on?

Speaker 1 52:37

Um, well, I'm definitely looking to put out an album this well, coming 2026, because it's been a long time, a long time coming. So I'm excited. I'm working on that. Um, just an expansion of the kids' channel, and I'm sure I'll have some other ideas, you know. This is a time for ideas, you know. I think that this this space that we're in is the best time for if you're a creator and you're an artist, this is the time where you can really make something incredible for yourself if you tune into it. So I don't want it, I don't want it to be missed on me. So I could say that what I know right now is that I, you know, the album is for sure something that I'm working on. Um and just expanding out. I think we're gonna do some retreat stuff. I've been invited to do um some retreat work with a good friend of mine overseas. So I'm looking forward, and that'll be my first. I'm looking forward to seeing what that's gonna be like. Um, because that would be something really cool to get. Let us know. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 53:36

I was just talking about retreats on the last episode. Um, we want to go somewhere. Please let us know. I'll let you know.

Speaker 53:41

Like we're gonna end up making one at some point. It's gonna be some kind of create event. Yeah, y'all stay tuned. It's a it's in it's in the brain sphere right now. We're thinking about it.

Speaker 1 53:51

Yeah, that would be great.

Speaker 2 53:52

How can people find you on social media?

Speaker 1 53:55

Um, I am under um, I have Soul Being Sound Massage, I have Instagram, I have Facebook, Soul Being Sound Massage Aswell.com, where you'll find all of the services. You'll get a glimpse of the studio as well. Um, and then you can also find me under Venetia Running Wolf where I post a little bit more there. So, any one of those platforms, I'd love to see you, love to have you, and uh love to have you come out and experience some of the good work and see your face. And yeah. Excellent. I'm excited. I want to go. Yeah, yeah, I can't wait to have you.

Speaker 54:28

Well, thanks for joining us today. This has been a good thing.

Speaker 1 54:30

Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 54:31

This was my first, and I'm so excited. Thank y'all. It was great. Well, thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. And we are actually here at Celeb Studio. If you guys are interested in booking, um, we it's available on Peer Space as well as Chef J. She does event charcuteries and um she has like a load of mobile bar. You guys will love it if you're having parties. So please reach out and contact her. We're at 224 O'Neill Court, Unit 19, Columbia, South Carolina, 29223. And her phone number is 803-665-5262. Thank you guys. It's the wrap up of the episode. I'm your guest, host. I'm sorry, I'm your host, Tamaia.

Speaker 3 55:13

Mike.

Speaker 2 55:14

And our guest, Venetia, and Kevin in the back producing as always. Thank you guys. Tell someone you love them. Have a good day.