Good Vibrations: The Frequency of Connection with Johnny Scratchley. Music, Nature and Belonging

Finding Connection Through Sound. What happens when music becomes more than something we hear?

In this thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation, Kelly sits down with Johnny Scratchley, musician, festival founder and frontman of Gentleman's Dub Club, to explore the deeper connection between sound, community and human experience.

From growing up in a musical family and training as a classical singer, to discovering dub music in Leeds and performing around the world, Johnny shares the journey that shaped his life and creative path.

Together, Kelly and Johnny reflect on the power of music to bring people into the present moment, the energy exchanged between performer and audience, and why so many of us are searching for connection in an increasingly disconnected world.

The conversation also explores emotional release, fear, change, grief, transformation and the importance of creating spaces where people can simply be themselves.

Johnny also shares the vision behind Good Vibrations Festival, a community-centred gathering rooted in nature, music, wellbeing and belonging.

This is a conversation about much more than music, it's about what it means to feel alive, connected and part of something bigger than ourselves.

Who is Kelly Saward?

Kelly has been presenting radio shows for a while, and has often been asked if these shows can be heard again many months after the show has aired, listeners wanting to listen again. She heard what was being asked and now brings to you …

'Conversations with Kelly'

Can you hear me?

She wants to hear you, and shares here what's been heard so far. We all have a story, we all have something of value to share, we just need a safe space, the right ears, and a deep trust in what is felt. I'm beginning to understand the rest speaks for itself.

I invite you to listen in, get in touch, and if you'd like … be curious to live the question!

Do you want to be heard?

Do you need an interviewer or host, just get in touch.

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Kelly Saward in Conversation with ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Today I have got the pleasure of being joined by Johnny Scratchley. Have I pronounced your name correctly?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

You have, Kelly. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Brilliant. Good morning, Johnny. Thank you so much for your time. So I first discovered you at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, but you have been performing long before that. So can we go right back to where your love of music began? Tell me a little bit about you and just yeah, share what feels right, really, Johnny.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Amazing. Thank you, Kelly. Well, yeah, it's a real pleasure to be here. And always a bit uh shocking to disgusting because they're talking about um music. I always remember it's quite strange actually, right? It's a very experiential experience, both performing and listening to music. Um, and so I suppose just after baptist to say um i if anyone listening is at all interested, then come and experience it because that really is the point, that's the purpose. Now I've been involved in music for many, many years. My dad was a conductor, like a classical conductor, and um so from the age of nine, I was thrust into environments where I had to sing solos or a part of a choir or mostly classical music, but also music theatre and stuff like that. And so I I learned at that stage to feel comfortable, I think, within within that space. And um it was through throughout my like when I was growing up, it was always something that I could do, just do it, and that was that was an advantage because there was a lot of things I couldn't do. And and then I was gonna be an opera singer originally. Uh that was the plan. Then I got to the age of 18 and realized uh I actually really loved hanging around at dank clubs, listening to huge fat electronic music, and that changed my course. And so when I was in Leeds at uni, I met a group of Dragon Buffins who all had a similar sort of journey to them. You know, they all had a similar course where they had come from performing classical music, basically, or jazz, and then discovered I see yeah, I suppose dumb music really a part of it was um what you know, dub music it with a slight nod to that initial caveat that I've got out there. Dub music is a a genre that doesn't work at home. It doesn't really even work with headphones on. Like you have to be stood in front of a stack of speeches and feel and feeling the the the full threshold of the music is is is most of the experience, it's most of the purpose for making it, is most of the purpose for going. So, yeah, so feeling it, and and Lee, I went to I was lucky enough to go to Leeds University and I hadn't planned it this way, but in Leeds, when I arrived there, there was this mad thriving dub scene, which was also very kind of student, it like embraced students. So even though it was in an area of Leeds that wasn't traditionally frequented by students, it had like this reputation and its draw, it was the West Indian Center, and the night was called Subdub, and the sound system, the in-house sound system was called Iration Steppers. And so we like fell in love with that, two friends and me, and then that extended to a wider group of musicians, all with this kind of weirdly similar journey. So, kind of like uh yeah, a love of like jazz or heavy metal or classical, and then suddenly we were all there listening to this these um deeply resonating bass lines that would consume you completely, you know, and bring you into total presence. And there was like an element of of socializing, there was an element of consumption, but really was about being like totally just locked in at that stage, and we were all 18, 19, and so we hadn't really experienced anything like that before, and we just happened to all be together and in this room together and doing it together, and so it was about our identity, it was about our social journeys, and then and then that's kind of where the band was born out of that, and yeah, and so we'd just been lucky. That was 20 years ago, and and in that in that time, we went from slogging it out, doing the small bars and house parties and small venues in the north of England, which soon spread, and festivals became a a real opportunity to flourish as a band. I suppose there's a certain freedom within an audience at a festival, which was uh fixable uh the way that we performed as well and didn't like write any songs or anything. We would just choose the key signatures and go. And so, like, there's that sort of liberated listening as well, takes place at festival. And it's the the the promoter or the programmer, it's their choice. So it's like you know, we can actually get shunted right up to the top of a lineup sometimes if just one person really loves what you do. And so I think that worked really well for us, and we'd be fortunate enough uh be chosen by a few of those key people, and they and they shunted us up the bill, probably into a slightly bigger audience than what we would, you know, we were sending tickets ourselves to venues, and so we we got a chance to do that and and yeah, and then did that, and now suddenly it's 20 years later, and we've sort of toured the world with this music, we've been to India multiple times, we've been to Africa, we've been all over Europe, we've been to America, and the energy is really similar all around the world, but like there's like these pockets and these like passionate pockets of music enthusiasts and like a real love of especially dub music. I didn't know it existed, like I said, until I really stood in front of a set of speeches, but there's this um this infectious kind of trait within dub music where it's got a certain tempo, you roughly about 140 BPM. It's not strictly dub that we do, but it's the um the essence of dub, which is basically to take a sound and mess with it. So you know you can take any sort of frequency and then put it through different processes and and really allow the electronic and the sort of human to combine within that uh and result. Yeah, and it's buzzing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

I have got so many things I want to just ask you and say. Uh, one of which is I want to, I'm so interested in what you went to uni for, but some like were you actually were going to uni for? You obviously met these great people. Were you going to study music? Was that what you went for anyway? So, what what was your degree in? What was that?

SPEAKER_00 8:21

It was in it was in music, but it also had an element of theatre in it. So it was like music, it was like a joint honors thing that I went for. Again, that was another thing that I was just able to do, so I did it.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

I think what you said about um, you know, meeting this group of people that have traveled through this time of your life with you. I mean, I'm a big, I'm a huge believer in like synchronicity and I teach mindfulness, and I think even at that early age, to have the privilege of being really present with that music. So that discovery and what you said at the beginning about there's a huge difference between performing and listening. So, you know, you're feeling that, but then to actually listen to something and be able to feel the experience of that and then be in communities of people that are feeling. I mean, what a gift at an early age, essentially, to really kind of go into that. You can feel from what you were sharing here. And when I was in that room, I mean, I actually already loved that music. So I was really fortunate to end up in that tent that day. But what you say, that frequency, you know, we've got like vibrations and there are different sound waves that we're able to connect to. And you're doing, I feel, is enabling other people to experience what can be felt through a certain specific sound wave that they may not actually have the ability to access otherwise, because there are so many benefits to that, not only the community and the coming together, but to be able to really just feel into that space. I mean, it's such a powerful experience to be in. And can you tell me a tiny bit more about the performing and listening aspect? Like, how does that feel different for you?

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Just from what you were saying there, Kelly, there's a phenomenon which I clocked a few years ago, which I think speaks to that quite clearly. And there's um there's unified experiences happening, and that can happen with one or two people, um, it can happen with a hundred people, and quite amazingly, it can happen with a thousand people. And I believe it requires attention, but then as you say, the frequency demands attention. So it's um it's it's it's a useful tool to be able to come into this kind of unified space. And I tell you, I realized it actually more than ever the third gig back from lockdown. So the first gig back from COVID, we were playing at a festival quite hilariously called Sheepfest, and it's in Middle Devon, and I'd felt very different over that time where I hadn't had an outlet for performance for like a year and a half. And there was this moment in the set where it was like it was all good, the sound it was quite good. I don't know, there was probably maybe 3,000 people there. And there was this moment in the set where everything just went wood, right? And there was this like unified experience suddenly, and it felt as though building up to that point, uh, it was a bit disparate. Energy was a little dispersed, and then suddenly it was like there was nothing that happened in the music, I don't think, from memory, that maybe, but there was like a an acceleration at this like root, like energy that just went, and I felt like rush inside where I went from sort of going through the emotions to being like an amplified state where suddenly I had like another thousand percent of energy of the resource that I could tap into, and it felt like everyone was having that exact same feeling at the same time. There's this interesting relationship between what we do and the people that are listening because it's and I sometimes say it, it's it's sort of it's the responsibility of everyone there to be a part of that, and and it's interesting because when you when you take responsibility for that back, you also go back to the producers of that show and the people that are selling that show, and the people that have made the speakers, and the people that were playing beforehand, and like all of that stuff is a part of it because that's what's brought everyone together, and what we do, I believe, is we kind of give, and then that energy is like swirled around and it's given back to us, but with interest, and and then it's churned up again and it's given to us, and then I I almost see my role as like a central conduit, you know what I mean, that just receives and then gives and then receives and then gives, and that it's that sort of like escalation that then takes place because there's a um there's a harmonious movement and a recycling of that whatever it is. I actually sat down with a guy who came to a show of mine and and he said to me that I needed to be really mindful of that. He was like, You you can do it, you've got some sort of innate ability to generate and regenerate. Um, but you've got to be mindful because there's actually a lot of people throwing a lot of stuff at you. He was like, There's people in there that are really happy, but there's also people in there that are really angry, people in there that are really sad, it's like broken heart that there's a lot going on there, and so it's like you need to be super mindful about cleansing your body afterwards. You need to go and ground, you need to go and so I find myself going to pool for losing the festivals and just sitting there straight after a show for 10 minutes and just kind of grounding myself a little bit because it can be quite an intense experience, and um, and if I don't process it or at least just breathe it out and and let it settle, then it well, sorry, it's very challenging for me to settle and feel calm at any point. It can be really um edgy if I don't properly go through that emotion. So, yeah, that was not an answer to your question. The difference between uh listening and performing for me is one of uh yeah, I d I I suppose I get as much out of going to an amazing gig as I do performing at an amazing gig. So it feels um like and I I I don't mean in in my head, I mean in my physically in my body. I I think it's basically about a connection. So if I'm listening and I'm I'm listening to something which I'm amazed by and something which really lights me up, then I feel completely apart that process, you know, creatively and fully connected to human beings that are on the stage and around me, and that's the same experience as when I'm on stage. So I suppose with everything working, like tuned in perfectly, the sounds right, the moment's right, the people are right, then that's the same experience.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Thank you. I mean, honestly, I was so inspired, just sat here listening to you, and I'm glad you went off on that other little thread there because it's really important, you know, the discovery of that phenomena and that energy exchange and cleansing. I mean, I work a lot with energy myself outside of this. I completely appreciate, you know, if you're mirroring, that can be good or bad, but we have to have these experiences, don't we, to kind of learn and elevate that connection? Because all people really want is to feel connected to something or part of it, that unity element, element of kind of existence, isn't it? It's it's what keeps the world turning, but we're kind of lost when we come up here. So when you're able to kind of feel into the frequencies, the music. I mean, what a gift, really. Everybody can relate to listening to a piece of music in some form that takes them to a place where they can feel something safely that they might not have the ability to do in day-to-day life because it can be difficult out there. So you've got this huge platform where people are able to show up with whatever they're carrying, like you said, that man shared or person shared, you know, the sadness, the love, the joy, the excitement, the anger is able to then move through. So it's you can feel a lot in what you're doing. I'm guessing, and then vice versa, on the same thing, if you're listening, you're inner space, you're able to, I guess, have your own experience and process things. And that must happen between all of you within the band, mustn't it? In like your group. Like, tell me a little bit about all of you together collectively. So, how many of you are there? How did you all form? I know some of you started really early, but it's an amazing chemistry to watch your own energy exchange between you. It's almost like there's a little bit of an I felt when I was watching. I know there's got to be some sort of loose structure, but sort of I could feel that you'd look at each other and then the energy might ramp up, or then you might do something like some of you come together and move around, and you can feel the energy exchange between the audience and between you, and it's really powerful to feel. I feel a lot, I always have, but it honestly blew me away the whole thing. Tell me about your your group.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

I'm gonna get onto that in a second, Kelly. That's all right. There, because just I just want to speak to what you first said there. I often use the term cathartic aggression uh when it comes to dancing. You know, at the age of like 18 and I started getting raving. Like I I've got exactly the same thing. It was like uh and especially as a like as a as a teenage boy there was there wasn't a safe or acceptable outlet for my aggression. And so I would go raving, and um and drama base particularly where it's really hard to cast and like everything is accepted, like you can just pull, you can be whoever uh feel to be at that point in time and it's dark and it's not weird. It it was just such an accepting environment, and I feel really similar when it comes to performing as well. So it is a it's an emotional release, and it's the one moment in my life where I feel I can genuinely be um I don't want to say myself, but it feels a bit redundant because it's not that I can't be myself in everyday life, it's that there's uh um yeah, maybe just an elevated state where it's like that is not allowed. It's like weird. So the yeah, that performing element. I remember I I studied to be a person center counsellor in lockdown, and I always had this kind of eternal beef with uh my tutor on the courts who was always saying that I would was always suggesting that I I was pretending on stage to achieve like she was like, Oh, you're acting, you're pretending you're wearing a mask, and she would, she would like, she'd never been to see me play, but she just assumed that that was the case. And I used to do my nothing, I was like, you know what? Honestly, I I genuinely feel more at ease and safe and like vulnerable, and I have capacity to to speak a real deep truth that I I actually don't have access to me in everyday life, and it and it can be very challenging to um to feel that open and at ease as what I do on stage. And it's alright, it's like I could put a weird face, I could like release more aggression and that's fine. It's it's like a it's it's it's a safe space for that. So yeah, I find that element of it really, really interesting. Um uh yeah, the emotional release, the cathartic release.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

No, it's really important what you just shared there, though, that emotional release, because I write a lot and people are people are not able to express what they feel. We've got a such a range of emotions, and where do they go? Like the layers of trauma just build up if they're not expressed. So to have those spaces, you know, they're fundamental to you having the freedom to get to where you are now, aren't they? Really?

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Yeah, yeah, I agree. And because there is an essential aspect of emotion, which is simply just raw energy and and and it and it attaches itself to stories and narratives and um perhaps more specific emotion, but there is ultimately uh just a more simplified version of that, a less heady version of that.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

And do you find, Johnny, before you tell me about your the all of you, um, you know those passionate pockets you like mentioned right back at the start, where whether you've been to India or Africa or wherever it is, up in Liverpool, you're you're finding, was it Leeds or Liverpool?

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Leeds.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Leeds, but these passionate pockets of people essentially are keeping that motion moving in you because it keeps building the connection that if we keep disconnecting out, like how do we ever feel the things? Like, how do we feel the feelings? How do we get the connection?

SPEAKER_00 21:48

It's very, very important. Yeah. And then also within different cultures, the particular demographics within them are also very different. So what I realized it well in India, even interesting stuff. We once played to a a group of like middle-aged men, basically. It was like a we were playing at a Harley Davidson festival called India by Weeking Go. And it was like 45 to 70 years old now. And there was a real, really challenging to engage and like to experience that. There was like a hell um element. But then also we played to younger audiences in India. I think about um a show that we played in a vinyard in northern India, and that was younger or at least more diverse, and that was the total polar opposite, and it was there was real sort of verbaceous energy for the and that felt much more akin to our expectation. And there's uh an aspect of reaction which uh fluctuates, I suppose, like dramatically, depending on that scene and environment. Like there's pockets of community, big reggae fans around the world. They will go there for different reasons. They'll actually be going for almost like a more more for like an appreciation rather than an active involvement. Um, so like some sometimes we'll get reggae fans who will just stand back and they'll just experience and they'll experience it with their ears and they'll listen. And then there's other places who go which is the complete opposite. Like I remember in Casablanca, Casablanca, and we played there, and there was, I don't think, a lot of knowledge of our music, but we played a free event in the Central Square, and I don't know how many people were there. I think for at least like 15,000 people were there, and it stretched back further and further than I could see, but then it was quite thin, and there was this like physicality to the way that they listened where they actually were just bouncing almost the entire set, like sitting in the air, this whole square was heaving, and I think that's the total opposite of it, and so that was much more physical listening. I never thought about it like that. There's lit the different those two very different, and they're act they both access emotion. Some is less uh it's harder for me to witness. Like sometimes it's weird, like I'll play to a crowd and it'll be like be like a still lake. And then after the tunes finish, suddenly they'll erupt with energy and emotion, and it'll be this release, which is a very different way. I think there's a yeah, I think within it's got a lot to do with the sound and the audience and and their relationship to us retrospective, like uh historically, it's like their knowledge, all of those things. They're all that's what I was saying at the start there. There's this there's this unified experience, there's this combination of key elements which all need to contribute towards that like fully involved, immersive, cynical experience.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah, I know it's amazing. So tell me about because you've got your festival as well, that you you run that, don't you? Or you're involved in the setup of that good vibrations. Yeah. So tell me, did you always want to go into setting up your own type of festival? Because you've been on the festival scene, all of you, all this time, and some of you have started like right way back when at the beginning. So, how how many of you formed like Gentlemen's Dub Club initially? Did was it has it always been the same members the whole way through, or did it grow and develop? What did that look like?

SPEAKER_00 25:42

There's two two strings to that answer. Uh firstly with the band. Yeah, there were three of us that became eight and bus a manager and the sound engineer, so nine. And that there was never a plan to that, there was never uh an expectation. There was simply like a doing and reacting to whatever was there. And you know, we were fortunate enough to, I think, have something unique. And there was was a bet a very high quality of musicians, of musicianship, even the music, even though the music is can be incredibly simple. But the the fact that you have to be able to hold a group or move with uh the slight sort of fluctuations of that group and all be locked in without needing to have rehearsed every element of it. That's a very important connective tissue. Um so yeah, no plan, no strategy. My involvement in festivals is being different. So when I at uni, or the when I left uni, I started promoting events at the age of 21. And very soon after that point started a festival in Croatia with four friends. Um it was called Outlook Festival, and we started that in 2008, which was basically the same time as Band and Central, well, a couple of years after, but so those two ran in tandem and I r and I ran out of for 12 years, and that got quite large and got up to about 15,000 people, and then off the back of that started two other festivals as well, uh I mentioned, and then and then the one in London. And so I was running that company up until lockdown. Um in its time um really successful and like very, very enjoyable. And so I I got this opportunity to experience I think like a really high level of production and musicality, and so what happened, like I said, with that is that really magical moments of uh when a musician meets um audience uh collected by production and this sort of harmonious um trinity is is like a real phenomenon and I love it. And so when lockdown came, when Kobe came, that company essentially went bankrupt. And uh so there was a huge restructuring, and I moved away from that, um, and then at that point launched in vibration, uh, which is a smaller show, more family orientating, probably just something more for the version that needs.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

It's important though, I think, that you acknowledge that change and shifting yourself. Because I think a lot of the problem I'm discovering through the work that I do and speaking to people is is often we try and stuck and stay stuck in this sort of false sense of safety, these outdated templates, but do you want to hold on to what we thought was it? And then over time, obviously we change our energy changes, our circle of people sort of shift and move so we can become that fullest version. And I suppose even with your festival scene, you know, again, maybe that's just like another moment of synchronicity, this kind of meant-to-be stuff, and now you're moving into still something that you're really passionate about and that you laugh by the sounds of it, but it's kind of suiting who you are right now as you're changing and you know, growing into this new phase of music and energy and people and that whole dynamic. I mean, when is the festival? Tell tell us where we can find it.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Thank you, Henry. Um, it's at the start of August, or this year it's the 31st of July, the first and the second of August. It's on the Ashdown Forest, and uh find that all over the internet. Um, I just yeah, I just want to speak briefly, if that's alright, with that ideal change of state uh subject, and and one that I've been quite involved in recently through uh company I've been working with who they can set up to look at the change of state. Suppose it's like our lives, right? So like allowing death to take place and that allowing rebirth to emerge from something real and genuine, as as natural a process, as unforced a process as possible. And it functions based on the like the network of mycidium in the way that mycidium naturally helps and supports decomposition and then also rebirth and life outside of that, and it it's and it shares our resources and it's very unselfish in that process, and then nourishes what it needs for itself, and then any leftover energy should get shared out then the um the plants around it. Um uh so yeah, I find that fascinating and also really hard to do. I mean, it's it's really hard to see because when things are working, there's a funny phenomenon in the world where that I've experienced where like the line between success and like extreme success, like abject failure, they can be so they can be so small, and it's like it's not real at all. It's like a perceptive state where it's oh that's a massive success, or this is a huge failure. So massive success that needs to be studied. We need to retain all of the things we've done, we can't change anything, it's perfect, or like complete failure. We've got to tear the whole thing down, and nothing's working with it anymore. We've got to destroy all of those ideas, and that could be really the same thing. And also the the process which has led to that definition often isn't based in reality, or it's as a result of a surrounding ecosystem, uh, rather than uh anything like in any individual input that's gone in for that. I find that really interesting, and that those moments in my life where I've been forced to change have have actually often been as a result of like external practice, you know, whether it's it's external reality that comes down, so there's a forcing, like a pushing through of change. And then, of course, that needs to be embraced, and it can be difficult, right? It requires often uncomfortable acceptance, or like I refer to earlier, death, which is um a pretty scary word.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Sorry, I think what you've just said there, I've been doing so much work on this, it's fascinating because you know, we can look at it as we're forced into these situations of change, or we can embrace the change. And actually, we have opposites in life of all things. And when we're stuck in a state, it's really helpful to look at the opposite. A lot of the work I do is actually around that, you know. Oh, I'm feeling sad. Or what might the opposite of that be for you? You know, can you go to that place? Where do you feel that in your body? You know, can we explore this a bit and like what happens when you merge them together and that line you're talking about so quickly between here and here? How very quickly that can change. And death is like something we're experiencing all the time, like death of things, death of times, death of friendships, death of you know, a really great night out, you know, and you're at the end and everyone's like, Oh, I love you, I don't want this to end. That's kind of grief, that we're grieving a good time, that we don't allow ourselves to kind of name it. So we're kind of trapped in all this and like not wanting to feel. When we we need to have these experiences and these passionate pockets of community, like you say, and find your people to safely experience whatever the thing is, like the comfort, the discomfort. Great, you know, but feel it. That's what I think is really important. I could really go into one on this subject, but I think it's hugely important to acknowledge death of stuff, to be honest, actually.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

The word for me that comes um to mind is is fear, which which seems to be the cutlest of all emotions to name and then work out what to do. Yeah. The fear of loss, the fear of not um being able to have something that's wanted or whatever, that feels like the hardest um of all of those to accept. But yeah, when that can be accepted, like I'm I'm scared, I'm I'm genuinely terrified right now, then there doesn't need to be any suppression of that.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Uh and I can imagine, not where I've been, but I'm gonna try and get there this summer. Anyone that's listening should also try it and come. So it's good vibrations festival, you can just Google it and it will come up. And I'm imagining there's gonna be lots of pockets of spaces to feel all the things.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

Yeah, yeah, there's stuff that you can't do at a festival, or that you uh like, oh, ethically, it's can be a bit challenging because it is still like a festival environment. So there's an amount of processing that you can do, but there's almost a depth which is very difficult for us as organized to um incite. I feel really quite strongly about that. However, there is a um, yeah, within the festival, we're we're in the woods, right? Which is huge. So it's like we're fortunate enough to be a private site to keep a cart, but within the Ashdown Forest, or what was traditionally the Ashdown Forest. And the Ashdown Forest is the public peak land, but it would be impossible to put on a large-scale event there. But we open our doors, and so you can go out during the day and you can choose to go on a 30-minute or a 60-minute or a 90-minute walk, and there's a kind of like rough rough guide for where you could go. So you can go and spend um an hour and a half by yourself in the woods and and and really feel and go deep into that uh with space, which that processing actually required. We also have a uh sort of uh an immersive experience this year, which is inspired by Taoism, or more poignantly, Tao Pu, which is the Lao Tzu version interpreted by Winnie the Pooh. And then we have a face down at the bottom. We've I've organized the site into essentially like a tree, and so there's this spine to it, or this trunk that goes runs up and down it, and then at the bottom we have the route, which is our Beneva route, which is throughout the day and the afternoon, early post-c classes and workshops, and then at night is focused on dance, very much like free-fall, liberated, open floor type dance. So each one of those stages within the route is there for to be able to move away from large crowds into uh space, take your shoes off, and there's a there's a great bit of love and support within that venue. And then just opposite that as well is a spa called Enchanted Glade that's held by this very amazing family, actually, and then the extended family is a group of people who um like heart-based choices in their provisions and and how they offer this kind of hot and cold experience, and that's a very caring space. And then it goes the total opposite, so it goes to this like really gorgeous celebration where there's all of these kind of higher faces, so that's the that's the bloom, as those are the those are the flowers where you're at the root at the bottom, at the opposite end is is the canopy, it's the um the space for things to really kind of like atoms to open and the leaves to uh get the right amount of sunshine, and and that's where and that's where we have yeah, the real high points need to be for that for that with AMR. And so there's a lot of different textures to this event, which quite got massive. Uh so it's very safe, uh, it's caring, it's like a it's a legit rave, right? But with all of this safety, and like you know, certainly that's been something that's been amazing for families. So so you alluded to it earlier that you've come through listening to to electronic music and going clubbing, and that like there's a lot of people that have done that who are now maybe in their mid to late 30s, early 40s, who have a family and they have this this sort of they're in a different phase of life. Doesn't mean that they don't absolutely love this this release and excitement that comes with large crowds and within like uh amazing music, but also there's the the opposite to that where there's a a care and a need for uh recuperation and and and and then also a broader family, so kids, whatever age they're at as um as things with them crucially in a safe and caring and kind of small environment. It's not needs or reddit, it's there's like there's uh there's small groups anywhere you go, a community spirit, which is actually born from the local area. Like I grew up in this area, and there's a small village that I'm in right now called Forest Row. And I went to Rudolph Steiner School, which is here, and it's quite an alternative part of the country, and there's a core audience within the festival, which which lives here year-round, lived in in community and in a fairly cohesive, caring, extended group of people, and and so that forward to the event offers a leave a safety and a war, yeah, stability, which is which is important and felt.

SPEAKER_01 39:48

Well, I can feel it from you, and we're gonna have to wrap up our conversation because there's so much I want to ask you. I almost want to have like a part two, because Rhea, I want to dive into your experience at school in the Steiner school environment, which I like really support, about what instruments you play, the opera. There is so many things I still want to ask you that just to kind of close our conversation here and just wrap up about the festival, because I think it was just so powerful for you to like you're kind of like rooting it in this whole kind of tree, like stable, grounded, through the body, the trunk, the chakra, the blooming, the whole thing, like for people to have that experience. And the word opposites come up a couple of times there. And this is really important for me, this opposites thing. I'm exploring myself in life in conversation energetically, that we have to have, you know, hot and cold, light and dark, you know, feelings of rage and feelings of love, and like bringing them together in these safe spaces where we can experience because that's all we're doing, right? We're each having our own experience of something, and it's we get more information and insights, the more held we are. So you're holding these people within this lovely forest. What a beautiful space to be. Thank you, Johnny. It's been amazing to talk to you. I've got so many questions. I genuinely want to have a part two because I could go for another hour, but thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_00 41:19

I appreciate that. And I'll be open to doing a part two. Um uh, but just yeah, just really, really grateful, actually. There's a lovely thread that's come when you come into the show.

SPEAKER_01 41:35

Yeah, tell us all, tell us anyone listening where we can actually find you, like Instagram, website, anything at all. Or do we just put your name? Yeah, you and the festival and everything you do, like or what's coming up, you know.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

So the festival is the vital part of this, really. It's very important. That um for the sustainability of the event and it's to be able to connect with more people. So it's good vibration society.com and it is uh the society element is important, and it's yeah, it's in Sussex and at the start of August. And you can also find out any of our information. We've got a lot of new music coming out at the moment, about three songs and that in five months or so, but and a little more to come. And uh I hope to see you, Kelly, and anyone listening.

SPEAKER_01 42:25

Thank you so much. Well, keep sharing what you do because it's so powerful and I can fear, and thank you so much for being with me today.