East Forest is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, speaker, and ceremony guide. Since 2008, East Forest's "lush" (Rolling Stone) and "blissful" (NPR) music has blended ambient, neoclassical, electronic, and avant-pop to explore sound as a tool for inner journeys and consciousness expansion.
The project's latest endeavor is the feature-length film Music for Mushrooms, a narrative documentary showcasing the transformative power of psychedelics, music, and community. The long-form six-hour record, "Lovingly: A Soundtrack For The Psychedelic Practitioner, vol. III" serves as a musical answer to the film's central journey: providing an album to guide listeners on deep journeys of introspection from start to finish.
East Forest's extensive catalog includes over 30 albums and notable collaborations with artists such as Jon Hopkins, Ram Dass, DJ ANNA, Laraaji, Dead Prez, Nick Mulvey, Peter Broderick, and Max Cooper. The project has performed in over 18 countries at major festivals and venues including BottleRock, Beyond The Pale, Mysteryland, Wilderness and SXSW.
As a trailblazer in meditation and inner resilience, East Forest offers guided meditations, retreats, and a podcast ("Ten Laws w/East Forest"). His approach promotes non-religious, accessible spirituality. He's a faculty member at the Esalen Institute and has collaborated with institutions across social justice, mental health, science, music, and creative fields, including Google, Johns Hopkins University, UCSF, New Earth, Stanford d.school, and TED.
His work has appeared on Bright Antenna, Domino, Mercury KX, Ghostly, Aquilo Records, 1631 Recordings, as well as Tender Loving Empire & Universal/Decca.
In his words,
We're just scratching the surface of what music can do. At its core, I see the current societal crises ultimately as a spiritual issue. We can all learn to harness the power of personal choice, threading the needle through this time that we find ourselves in. East Forest is my contribution to the cause — my act of service.
-East Forest
