The Uncarved Blog

David Lynch, (Non-)Musician: The L.A. Weekly Interview

By Gustavo Turner Thursday, Jan 20 2011

[Music Ed.’s Note: On January 31st, David Lynch will release an expanded edition of his recent single “Good Day Today”/”I Know” on the Sunday Best label. The collection features remixes by several prominent electronic artists and special packaging by renowned UK designer Vaughan Oliver (of 4AD fame).

Check out also our selected David Lynch discography (including instructions for the perfectly Asymmetrical David Lynch mixtape) and our exclusive interview with Vaughan Oliver about the “Good Day Today”/”I Know” single.]

Here’s David Lynch‘s recipe for success, taken from his inspiring little manual Catching the Big Fish: “Try to get a job that gives you some time; get your sleep and a little bit of food; and work as much as you can. There’s so much enjoyment in doing what you love.”

This philosophy, plus a healthy helping of Transcendental Meditation, of which he remains a vocal advocate, allowed Lynch to become an intriguing visual artist, with works in painting, collage, cartooning, photography and art-film. Later, this approach helped him make the mysterious jump into Hollywood filmmaking, where he remains one of the few working heirs to the great surrealist auteurs of cinema.

And it’s a philosophy that Lynch is now applying with renewed focus to yet another art form: music. Anyone familiar with his film work has long figured out that Lynch is a genuine sound freak: Witness the uncanny industrial soundscapes of Eraserhead, the unforgettable aural stampede that elevates The Elephant Man, his 180-degree redefinition of Bobby Vinton and Roy Orbison in Blue Velvet, the groundbreaking romanticism of the Twin Peaks score, the jagged, deranged edges of Lost Highway and, especially, his covert beatnik musical Wild at Heart. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say he possesses the keenest ears among all major living Hollywood directors.

Lynch soon will be relaunching his website, davidlynch.com, as a way to broadcast the result of a series of musical collaborations (or “combos,” as he likes to call them) with other artists, under the supervision of his personal engineer and main partner in sound, Dean Hurley, at the filmmaker’s prolevel home studio, Asymmetrical Studio.

Hurley says the website “will feature unreleased singles, experiments and instrumentals created through the years,” including the legendary Thought Gang project, a full album of noir avant-jazz recorded alongside the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me soundtrack by Lynch and longtime associate Angelo Badalamenti.

We met Lynch for a conversation about his music at his luminous homebase/art studio in the Hollywood Hills. (The italics below are an attempt to convey Lynch’s distinctive manner of speaking, an infectious way to share his enthusiasm. In Lynch’s world, some things are not just great, they’re “really, really, really great.”)

DAVID LYNCH: I’m not a musician, but I play music. So it’s a strange thing.

Click on this link to read the complete interview, page 1, January 20, 2011, published in the LA Weekly News on David’s 65th birthday http://bit.ly/dVOWWA.

Also see flavorwire: 65 Things You Didn’t Know About David Lynch | Moviefone: Lunch Break: Happy Birthday, David Lynch! | Houston Press Blog: The Best of David Lynch on the Web. And two days later from Vanity Fair’s James Wolcott’s Trance and Transcendence.

Talking Miracles with Israeli Actress and Author Meital Dohan
By Meital Dohan | Tuesday, January 18, 2011 12:25 PM ET

The very sexy and very spiritual actress and philanthropist talks with Bob Roth, executive director of The David Lynch Foundation.

Hello y’all…. I was honored to be asked to do a radio show called Loud Miracles on WOMEN’S RADIO and a blog by Tonic, and I decided to talk with you guys about Miracles — not like hoki poki abra cadabra style, but more about Miracles which make this life worth living.

I launched the first episode of my radio show with a very special guest named Bob Roth, someone whom I consider to be a miracle worker for his 40 years of contribution to the world of meditation.

Bob serves as the executive director to the David Lynch Foundation, started by the great filmmaker David Lynch who has a mission to provide scholarships for underprivileged and at risk kids all over the world to learn Transcendental Meditation. Bob also serves as the executive director of the nonprofit Transcendental Meditation Organization. You can read more about Bob’s work involvement by clicking on the links below.

I met Bob at a charity event a few months ago and he immediately began talking to me about Transcendental Meditation. He was very passionate about TM and I was very curious because I had tried so many things to improve my well being before. In other words, how to stay alive without jumping off a bridge or going to an asylum.

I was initially very skeptical about trying something new because I feel that are so many people out there promising to change your life. However, I did end up taking Bob’s advice and trying TM. I loved it and it has been part of my life, twice a day for 15 minutes, ever since. And of course, since my show is about miracles, I asked Bob to share his thoughts on miracles, which were very unique and inspiring.

Me: So I have the pleasure to have you as the first guest on the show. And the show is about miracles. And I wanted to hear if you believe in miracles at all.

Bob: First of all, I’d like to begin by reading this great quote from the great Catholic saint, Saint Augustine. And he said about miracles: “Miracles are not contrary to nature but only contrary to what we know about nature.” And my feeling is that there is no such thing as a miracle. There are just deeper realities and deeper manifestations of the ultimate reality. And what we perceive to be a miracle is actually just an expression of an infinite network and fabric of Divine Life or nature’s existence. But the same intelligence that can create, not just all the infinite life forms on this earth, but think of all the planets and galaxies and infinite numbers. So that intelligence can do lots of things that we don’t understand. So I don’t know that the word “miracle” means something that is unreal. I think there are just very real things that are very profound that sometimes pop up and let us see them.

I wanted to give Bob enough time to describe the magic of Transcendental Meditation. Bob describes it in the best way when he compares our minds to the ocean.

Bob: If you take an ocean, you will see that there are waves on the surface and then there are 20-foot high waves and then a mile in depth of the ocean. The waves on the surface are a tiny little thing compared to the mile long depth of the ocean. And the active thinking mind, all the millions of things we have to do, are just the surface of the mind. But the mind is profoundly deep and silent in its depth. TM is a simple technique that allows the attention of the mind to turn inward. So we are not just stuck on the surface of the wavy mind. And the mind naturally begins to effortlessly settle down to experience quieter levels of thought. And then there are times when we experience the deepest level of the mind, the source of thought, when we transcend even the finest thought and we experience our big Self. The land of pure miracle.

Me: I am fascinated by [TM] and the effects of it. I was so taken by this technique that now we are talking about bringing more awareness to it and bringing it to people that serve in the Israeli Army. For me, your role is definitely to bring magic and miracles to other people’s lives.

Bob: Let’s say all of us are 100-watt bulbs. But stress and fatigue and tension and strain and doubt and disappointment and rejection, all of the stresses are like dust and dirt on the light bulb. And we don’t glow. It’s there. It’s inside of us. TM doesn’t create anything that isn’t already there. It just washes off that dirt and dust and we can shine the way we want to shine.

Me: What is the source of the technique?

Bob: TM has its origins in the oldest continuous tradition of meditation known. It predates Buddhism, Hinduism… It predates all the ‘isms’. It’s just a science of consciousness. It has been handed down from teacher to student, from teacher to student, throughout time. And the most recent custodian that everyone knows about at this time is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who brought TM to the world about 50 years ago. And I was very fortunate to spend some time with him. He taught me to become a teacher of TM.

I loved the way Bob’s explanations were so beautifully simple.

Listen to my first show to hear the complete, wonderful message from Bob Roth who was taught TM by the master himself, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

* Are you a miracle worker? Perhaps you know someone who is a miracle worker. Meital would love to hear your story. She would like to interview some more miracle workers for her show! She invites you to post suggestions or stories on her Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/MeitalDohan
* To learn more about TM, visit their website at www.DavidLynchFoundation.org
* To learn more about Meital Dohan, visit her website at www.meitaldohan.com

Meital has moved on but her interviews are posted on SoundCloud.

Added July 16, 2019: Meital Dohan on Transcendental Meditation.