Chuck Wild (Liquid Mind) Interview #2 - The Final on Vinyl Podcast

Check out my deep conversation with Chuck Wild regarding his most recent release, Liquid Mind XV-In The Love.  We unwrap the meaning behind the title and the different forms of Love one can have.

Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

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Transcript

Speaker 2 0:14

Hello everybody, this is Final on Vinyl Podcast, and today we're with Chuck Wild, who is the mastermind behind The Liquid Mind. And he has a recent album released on Valentine's Day, actually, Liquid Mind 15 in the Love. Welcome back, Chuck, for your second interview on the Final and Vinyl.

Speaker 1 0:35

Thanks, Keith. I'm really uh really glad to be here. And uh the album release has gone pretty well so far. And uh everyone kind of gets the idea that it was released on Valentine's Day because it's called In the Love. So there.

Speaker 2 0:59

So Hi Yeah. Oh, go ahead.

Speaker 1 1:03

Oh, I was just gonna say uh a lot of people are wondering if this album was like, you know, kind of had a romantic slant to it. And well that's that's not eliminated, that wasn't really the the main intention. The primary intention is is more uh I guess you would say a spiritual uh viewpoint or just a wider viewpoint about the the concept of love. Um you know, I've always felt that that a healthy society um you know is the the culture needs to be a culture of love, um love and and perhaps forgiveness at times and all the titles of the the songs on this album kind of relate to that. You know, showing gratitude, uh forgiveness, um all all different things. So um it's the the titles of the Liquid Mind albums of kind of been my own path to healing over the years. I don't know if you recall, Keith, but I started the Liquid Mind series I actually wrote the first piece in 1988. I didn't release for a few years later, but um I was having anxiety and panic attacks. A lot of my friends were dying of AIDS. I was working on the Max Headroom television show and um that was 1987. I was signed to Warner Chapel Music and they asked me if I wanted to to score that show with a guy named Michael Hoenig from Tangerine Dream, and I went, Yes, that sounds great. But little did I know that the show would get really far behind schedule, and uh we would have only three days to write and record and mix forty-three minutes of music. That show had more music than just about any show on TV. And that led to twenty hour work days. I started having anxiety and panic attacks and I got very sick. Fortunately the show was canceled uh just in time for me to start getting some care, which uh primarily back then uh was from ocupuncturus. I saw and and and was cared for by two Taoist masters actually, Na Mao Xing Mi and Dao Xing Ni. And um they've since become quite famous. I saw them once on Good Morning America a few years later, but uh they were very helpful to me in guiding me to uh meditation as opposed to medication. And um as well, my my pal composer J. S. Kingfisher, Jeff Kingfisher, he suggested that I see a counselor friend of his and that counselor said to me words that I'll never forget, really. She said, her name was Susan, and Susan said, Chuck, you're a composer. Why don't you create the kind of music that represents the way you'd like to feel not the way you feel and I had never even thought about that. I thought, oh my gosh, I'd like to feel calm, I'd like to not have a my heartbeat beat like ninety beats per minute all the time. I'd like to be calm and relaxed, but I couldn't figure out how to do that music. And I um once uh once I started thinking about it and I was sitting there meditating, and I remembered that when I was in church as a kid, I used to love sitting behind the organist. I'm a keyboard player, and I've loved keyboards since I was a child, and I used to sit and listen to her play, and eventually she let me play the organ. I was so excited as a teenager, and I played the organ in some services, and she'd say, you know, there's this part of the service where we, you know, have like prayer and meditation vibe, and just play like this, play really slowly, move the chords really slowly. I didn't know what I was doing, but I remembered that in 1988, and I went, you know, I'm gonna try and do that. And I wrote the first piece called Zero Degrees Zero, because that's what I felt like, absolutely zero. And uh but the the the piece was well received. I made uh hundreds of cassettes of it, and my assistant and I went around to all the AIDS hospices and cancer clinics as well and gave them free cassettes, and that's how Liquid Mind started uh 1988. I didn't I couldn't really afford, I didn't have enough money after all the healthcare um for the year after you know, after the Max Headroom. I didn't really have the money, but about uh five years later, uh producer that I had worked with, Michael Jackson's producer, his name is Bruce Swedean, five time Grammy winner. And Bruce had always encouraged me. I met him when I was in the band Missing Persons, and he he liked my slow music. He thought it was a great idea, and he called me one day in nineteen ninety-four and he said, Chuck, what are you doing? And before I'd always said, Bruce, I'm so busy, I can't believe it. But this time something told me uh to say something different, and I said, Bruce, I'm working with you. What are you doing? He said, Great, I'm working with the glove. Uh the glove being Michael's nickname for the people that worked with him. They used to call him the glove because he wore those gloves, I guess, when he danced and performed sometimes. And he said, Michael wants you to create some sounds for him that the human ear has never heard. And back then that was actually pretty easy. Now with AI and all the other options for music production, there's a million sounds the human ear has probably never heard. But back then I hired a bunch of people to go out and take samples, and then I would sit in my in my studio twelve hours a day and create sounds for Michael. And that gave me enough money, uh, enough money to start my own label. And that's how Liquid Mind got started, you know. Fifteen albums just yeah.

Speaker 2 8:17

I remember this story now. I do. I know it's been a few years since we talked, and your uh the that first review I did for you was still the number one red review on my new age music review site, too. Yeah. Yeah. So that's uh that's a good intro for folks that haven't heard you talk before. And um when you said uh you named that track, that first track zero, because you felt like a zero, but it's also like you're starting at zero. Number zero, right? And you're working your way up.

Speaker 1 8:52

I never even thought about that. It's true.

Speaker 2 8:55

Yeah, that's exactly what you did. Here you are. So I love that cover. The artwork is is beautiful. It's of this I don't know. I would say a being, not a man or a woman, more like a being um out in the cosmos, you know, holding its hand up and touching the light or holding the light. And uh the blue color, of course, is very calming. Blue's a very common color, like like it's in water and the ocean. And uh that that's my interpretation of it anyway. And I certainly did look at it as a spiritual album, not something that was romantic at all. There's uh there's things of romanticism that just don't touch upon all the things that you dove into for the titles on your your album here, that's for sure. And uh there's a lot to contemplate while listening. And you know, besides the title and the artwork and everything else, what do you feel for you was different this time when you created this music?

Speaker 1 10:01

Hmm. Well, that's uh that's a good question. You always did ask good questions. Um I'd say, you know, with everything that's going on in the world, uh the album was actually finished last year. Um but w with everything that's going on in the world, um there's just so much conflict and so much disagreement and in the United States as well, but it's it's not just in the United States. You know, there's uh there's generational differences, there's political differences, there's the the whole concept of um the increased distraction that we feel. Um there's just you know, the internet. I mean the internet changed everything. And a lot of people these days do not connect in person. And I just kept thinking about that. My co-producer, he's a young fella, really great guy, he started out as my assistant and went on to to co-produce some recent uh two recent albums. And you know, I was just thinking about Jonathan, uh about his generation that you know especially with COVID, you know, I mean what can they do to stay safe? They go and get online. And then they're in the habit of relating online, and for me that is so different from relating with someone in person where you can see their body language, you can see, you know, I've never even heard anyone use the word body language for for years, but I used to hear about that a lot when I was a kid, you know. My mom would say, you know, Chuck, your legs are crossed, what are you angry about?

Speaker 2 12:05

Or your arms are crossed, yeah, yeah. Right, or the arms, exactly. It's true. It it's true. And uh thinking about what you just said for me, um working in the music industry over twenty-six years now, there's people I've been working with since the beginning that I've never spoken to over the phone. Just emails.

Speaker 1 12:26

Wow.

Speaker 2 12:26

Isn't that weird? Yeah.

Speaker 1 12:28

And I can relate. I can relate. But it's I don't know, it's it's really different. And and I think, you know, that was one of the things that kind of drove me. I mean, that's that's uh the last album was called Simplicity, and that was part of the focus of that album as well. But um the you know, in in my experience, um being in the love, there's so many ways to express love. You don't have to just you know, it's not necessarily a romantic relationship, but being of service I've learned over the years, helping other people, volunteering, that's an exchange of love, you know, um self-love through meditation, um, you know, getting perspective on my life, how can I help people? Um how can I be of service in the world and and to my family, you know, as I get older, I'm the oldest member of the family, and um, you know, just the list is endless of ways to express love in our lives if we're just open to it. Nobody ever needs to be without love. Um and it maybe it's expressed in a phone call, maybe it's expressed in an email. I really wish it would be expressed in person. I mentioned to Jonathan way too many times. Jonathan, are you in a group yet? Are you in a he's in college, so um you know, I really encourage you to to have these in-person get togethers. And I th I do think COVID was part of it too. You know, it separated people. And I'm sure it's gonna spring back the other way, but I just wanted to draw attention to that. And I guess the last element is is the political discourse in the United States has become increasingly confrontational over the past couple of years and that was definitely something that I was feeling. I live in the Los Angeles area and um you know, I just I see this sort of thing.

Speaker 2 15:01

And um it's everywhere. I think it's like you said, I think it's across the globe. And um i as far as the civilization is concerned on a worldly basis I hate to say this, but it's like we're going backwards, not forwards. And I would think by now we'd be somewhere else and in a better place, but I don't know. It's uh there's so many things going on, it's so complicated, and you know, reaching middle ground is something that I think we need to strive for as a you know, a human race, but it's gonna take a long time, Chuck. And I don't know if you or I will ever see it happening. I don't know if we're gonna be around when it does. And I hope my kids see it, you know. My kids are very young, you know, late twenties, early thirties. Uh they can make a difference. They're wonderful people, and I I think they're the kind of people that could, but you know, uh as politics gets into everything now, and it's very unfortunate, you know, one one person's on one side, one's on the other. And I experienced that myself, too, you know. Uh and uh even even with my own kids, unfortunately. But I had to come to a point where I said, Look, I love you no matter what, and I hope you feel that way about me. Let's not talk about this certain subject so we start going in the wrong direction with our relationship. Your relationship with me is way too important for anything to get in the way, so let's just end this now. And that's what we did. I did it with my sister the same thing, you know. It's like, let's just be brother and sister, let's be parents and children and uh live our lives, do the best you can, be the best person you can. And you know, simple as that.

Speaker 1 16:49

Right. Exactly. That's how you know I a couple of things come to mind for me, uh phrases that I use, I guess you would say, in in similar situations. One is we can agree to disagree, you know. Um it doesn't mean one of us is a bad person and the other one is a good person. We can just agree to disagree. And the other thing uh that uh I found very useful is just to say, you know, you might be right. When I disagree with somebody, I say, you might be right. Let me think about this. I'll get back to you. I'll do a little meditation, I'll uh whatever. And you know what? Sometimes they are right. And uh and sometimes, you know, who knows what's right and wrong, but I just think we have tools and um you know one of the tools is to you know, is to say the right thing when when there's a disagreement. And I just love, you know, the idea of saying we can we can agree to disagree and let's talk about it more. You know, I value your opinion, I want to hear more. Um Right.

Speaker 2 18:10

You know, there's a lot of voices out there coming at us 24-7 though, like never before. That's part of the problem too. I think that's part of the creation of the problem, you know, and the communication thing, it's a funny thing that here we are all paying attention to all these voices on the outside. What about the voice on the inside? And like you said, take care of yourself first before you can have that ability and that understanding to take care of somebody else and love somebody else. It starts with you. And communication abilities that we have today are far beyond what we had, say when you and I were growing up, and um there's a social disease now because of it. It's just crazy. It's like upside down. It's like w shouldn't it be better now that we have all these different ways to talk and communicate with each other? But yeah, you'll see groups of people sitting at a table and you go out to a restaurant or looking down at their phones. It's like what's going on here?

Speaker 1 19:08

Yes, that's crazy. That's crazy. My uh I have a cousin and she had four kids and she did not allow them to have phones until they were sixteen.

Speaker 19:19

Wow.

Speaker 1 19:20

Um and I at the time I went, Oh my god, you you're kidding. I said, That that's a great idea. And uh and her grandchildren were the same thing, you know, they don't get their phones till they're I mean that's up to their parents, they're her kids' kids, but um she doesn't, you know, they just they have this culture of being cool because we don't have phones which is kind of interesting. I can't imagine that myself, but uh anyway. Yeah, so I think I think it's it's all about the gifts we share, you know, the love we express to others. Um, the love of humanity and stuff. That's that's the focus of the album is help others, help ourselves, help myself so that I can help others. Um be of service to folks. It's just it's pretty simple and and it's something that I feel we can express in our day-to-day lives. It might be as simple as saying hi to somebody on the street. And it's kind of interesting. When I lived in Hollywood um excuse me. When I lived in Hollywood I've since moved, you know, a little away from there, but when I lived there, nobody would say hi to you on the street because they were worried you were a drug dealer. That's how it was back in the eighties. And I had come from growing up in Kansas City where everybody smiles and says hi. You walk down downtown, there's all these people, they're saying hi to each other, and I'm like, Well, you know, that's the way I grew up. What a what a wonderful thing. And then I moved to Hollywood and you know, I said hi to a few people and they looked at me weird, someone pointed at me and I asked a friend and he said, Oh no, we you you don't talk to people, there's too many drugs around here. They they're wondering what you want. You know, do you want money from them or or do they want money from you or whatever. Right. But then I moved out of Hollywood and uh a little south of there and it's much friendlier, you know. I can I can go to the grocery store and say hi to all the people. There's just so many ways to to interact with people and give people a smile, especially folks that are working. Um you know, sometimes it's stressful jobs. Um Yeah.

Speaker 22:05

Yeah.

Speaker 1 22:06

I just think there's a lot of ways to express love that are very simple and easy and It makes everybody feel good. But it's in person as you're talking about.

unknown 22:19

Yeah.

Speaker 2 22:19

Yeah, I just thought I just just thought of something, a saying that you could live by. An attitude of gratitude gives you more latitude.

Speaker 1 22:30

That is wonderful. I love the attitude of gratitude. Uh gives you more latitude. That's really great, Keith.

Speaker 2 22:42

And there's little things though, you know, opening the door for somebody, saying hello, because people don't expect it anymore.

Speaker 1 22:50

Right.

Speaker 2 22:51

You know, I guess I'm just an old-fashioned guy, you know, and when I do things like that, I do feel good. It's like it was so simple, so easy, and made the person smile. They said thank you. I may have made somebody's day because they were having a bad day. Who knows? You never know what people are going through and how they feel. You can't tell by a look on their face. You can't look inside and say, Yeah, I know what's going on with you. It there's just so many things to consider. So what you do is just try to treat people the way you would like to be treated, simple as that. But the simplicity of life is is uh it it's gone. It's gone too far because of technology, because of the internet, because of social media, because of the 24-7 news, which is usually about 90% negative most of the time. It's like a battle. We're facing a battle, and sometimes you just gotta flip that switch, turn it off, go inward, go outward, walk the street, say hello. And you know, that's what we just did right there was unravel that whole concept of your album and how you felt and how you created that music. So I really appreciate that. I appreciate the conversation once again with you, Chuck. And uh Sure.

Speaker 1 24:15

Well, thank you for the opportunity, Keith.

Speaker 2 24:18

I hope we can do this again, and I want to just reiterate that you released the Liquid Mind 15 in the Love, Chuck Wilde, uh, the man behind the liquid mind, and uh that started back in 1988, correct?

Speaker 1 24:37

That's correct.

Speaker 2 24:39

Okay, so here we are in 2025 and quite a while. So maybe a few more years before we talk again, but thank you so much for your music and your outlook and uh your message. It's greatly appreciated.

Speaker 1 24:55

Well, thank you, Keith, and uh thank you for the opportunity to speak and and for your outlook and your message as well. Take care.

Speaker 2 25:04

You too. Bye bye.

Speaker 1 25:06

Bye bye.