{image1}At first it sounds like an oxymoron, but Dave Stringer came upon spiritual chanting by way of Hollywood.
Born and raised in Brookfield, Stringer graduated from UW-Madison and moved to Los Angeles to work as an editor in the film industry. Later, he was hired to edit films on an Indian ashram, and although skeptical at the time, he was also broke, so a free trip to India was appealing.
Today, Stringer is called the leader of the new American kirtan movement. Kirtan, the Sanskrit word meaning "to chant," is traditional call-and-response mantra chanting that has become wildly popular across the country.
Stringer performs primarily in yoga studios, but when he visits his hometown he'll lead kirtans at Milwaukee's Central Library, 733 N. 8th St., at 8 p.m. on Oct. 1 and Brookfield's YogAsylum, 3815 N. Brookfield Rd., on Oct. 14 (time undetermined).
Stringer says kirtan is widely received because it requires people to participate, whereas much of art today is a passive activity such as watching a film or viewing a collection of art. (Hmmm... could there actually be similarities between kirtan and karaoke?)
"Kirtan asks you to participate. You can't just sit there and watch -- you must sing -- and therefore there is no audience and there is no performer," says Stringer. "You're not just listening to music. You are the music."
Stringer credits the children on the ashram for teaching him how to chant, but says prior to his experience in India he created music comprised of made-up words he calls "emotional language."
When Stringer first started chanting he didn't know what the mantras meant -- nor was he into any aspect of Indian spirituality and only took yoga for back trouble -- yet he still had a soulful reaction to the kirtan experience. Through research he learned that there is an observable shift and actual pattern of activity in the brain when one chants, similar to a drug experience.
"The part of the brain that defines the self actually 'quiets down' when chanting," he says.
But it's not all New Agey rigmarole for Stringer. He performs with electric instruments and brings aspects of rock 'n' roll to his mantras. He says if he could figure out a way to bring the kirtan experience to MTV, he'd do it.
"If I did something intensely Indian, people would feel a certain distance. People who attend kirtans also attend rock concerts. They are familiar with them."
Stringer is supporting his new record, Mala, released earlier in the year on Anja Music. Cuts from the CD receive extensive airplay on NPR and college radio stations.
His recorded music is energizing, passionate and fiery, but his live performances are an inferno. At Stringer's kirtans the audience not only repeats the chants fervishly, but many also clap, dance and play their own instruments. (Shaker eggs are even for sale.)
The experience is both soothing and stimulating and like any good piece of work, it has a beginning, a climax and an end. The final minutes of a kirtan are usually silent; something that just happens and isn't encouraged by Stringer.
"It's completely profound," he says.
Dave Stringer's Web site is www.davestringer.com.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
