soundcheck getactive THE ORIGINAL Since the 60’s
Power couple. Photo: Julie Dreelin
startingpoint roadmap
Rentals • Lessons Boards • Wetsuits Surfwear • Sunglasses Sunblock • Sandals T-Shirts Old Nags Head Cottage Row MP 13.5 Beach Rd. Nags Head 252-441-7349
gokite milepost graphiccontent
GOOD VIBRATIONS gosurf
Forget entertainment. Martier Sound Meditation is all about feeling — and healing.
outthere
If you’ve spent any time on the Outer Banks over the past 30 years, you’ve seen Laura and Dan Martier play music. Maybe it was doing funk-soul-alternative circa 1990. (The B-Sides.) Jamming jazz fusion. (über Lounge.) Channeling country legends in sequined costume (Always…Patsy Cline) or crafting 100% original Americana (BirdDog). You might’ve even caught Laura’s torch-song vocals lighting up Norfolk’s Chrysler Hall or witnessed Dan drive the drums behind Tim Reynolds at Yoshi’s in Oakland. And yet, we guarantee that you have never, ever, seen them play anything like this — because they won’t let you.
gohunt
rearview
“That’s what these eyebags are for,” laughs Dan as he unpacks a mix of yoga gear and percussion instruments. “No peeking!” Their latest collaboration? It’s called Martier Sound Meditation. The genre? It goes by a range of descriptions: Gong Bath, Sound Bath, Sound Immersion, Sound Healing. But no matter the name, the concept’s the same: lie back on something soft, close your eyes, milepost
38
turn off your brain, and let the music wash over your body until your consciousness wanders. Or, actually, let the vibrations go to work as 3000-year-old metal instruments send shivers from head to toe. It’s a mix of sight deprivation, auditory hallucination, and vision quest. And it’s definitely “a thing.” Enough of a thing, in fact, to have its own New Age heroes. (Eightyfour-year-old Gong Master Don Conreaux’s been leading clinics for a half century.) Enough to build specialized venues in major cities. (Los Angeles has at least eight, including a SoundBathCenter™.) Enough for a pair of long-time performers to change focus from entertaining crowds to engaging individuals. “Is it a logical evolution?” muses Laura. “No. But it is an evolution. I get to express myself, but I’m not pushing my voice or putting on a show. And at the same time, I help people looking to relax and explore. For me, this is the most authentic, holistic way I’ve found to be of service through music.”
It’s a polar opposite from the usual gig. Instead of rowdy nightclubs, they play quiet studios, like KDH’s Well Yoga Co-operative. Walking in, the soothing sounds of Brian Eno set a soft mood. Rows of symmetrical mats lay waiting, each with a blanket, a knee bolster — and an eyebag, of course. Even the ceiling is lined with linens, creating the cozy atmosphere of a slumbery sleepover — if the sleepover were set in a Pottery Barn. The floor’s a semi-circle of Tibetan brass and crystal bowls. On the wall, eight giant metal discs stare down like a spider’s gaze, concentric circles shimmering and glowing in the dimming light. “The gongs are tuned to planetary vibrations,” Laura explains later. “And the bowls have specific notes that correspond to different chakras in the body. So there’s a science behind it. I don’t know exactly what it all means [laughs], I just pay attention to what sounds good. And not just what sounds good — what feels good.”