Derrick Hart is our interview for this month. Derrick is a musician, recording engineer, and booking agent all in one. Derrick arranged and recorded “Free Indeed” from the Ode to Quetzalcoatl LP. You will find him on the Harbinger Orchestra Project.
Thank you for doing this interview with Harbinger Magazine. We have interviewed you before. That was a few years ago. We want to catch up with you.
For the last few years, you have lived all over the United States. How many states have you visited and lived in?
Thanks for having me. I love what you’re doing with Harbinger Magazine. Yes! Haha! I believe I only have Maine, Hawaii, and Alaska left to visit. I’ve lived in Kansas, New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Illinois, California, Washington, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Arizona (where I got to spend some extra time with the great David Bixby).
Now you spend a lot of time attending meditation retreats. Please talk to us about the benefits of meditation and why you practice this art.
Yes. Twelve years ago I decided to get off some nasty psych meds. While this proved to be the right move for me and my health in the long run, it was difficult at the time. I couldn’t sleep. But I noticed the tips I’d learned from the mindfulness course I took at the local hospital were the only thing helping me slip into dreams. A daily meditation habit was formed, and slowly over the years there’s been a release from a lot of the suffering that comes with overthinking. With yearly retreats, this has been able to happen sooner. I’m 12 years sober, in recovery from drugs and alcohol, and it also helps tremendously for keeping all of that away.
Have you been working on original songs?
Yep! Can’t wait to show you! Ezra from Mad Gleams (madgleams.bandcamp.com) and I have written a whole album’s worth of songs. We just need to record them now! In my youth, my lyrics were sometimes soaked in victim consciousness. Things are different now. I sing about healing and growing and exploring and all kinds of cool stuff like that. I want the listener to be empowered when they hear this music.
When and how did you discover the Ode to Quetzalcoatl LP?
I’m so glad I did. In 2010, a friend said, “Hey, you’ll like this artist. He lost his mind on acid, joined a cult, and recorded this album.” I was intrigued. The first track, “Drug Song,” hit hard. I could totally relate. I’ve totally been there too. Such darkness. But then the next track, “Free Indeed,” was deliverance. I literally had a spiritual experience right there in that basement when David sang, “So then I changed my style. It took a little while, but I made it.” This put me on a mission to find David Bixby and to get permission to cover this song for my own album I was recording at the time (https://derrickhart.bandcamp.com/album/the-shock-you-experience-at-the-sudden-recollection-of-the-moment-you-were-conceived). When I finally made contact, permission was generously granted and a lifelong friendship was made. The next year, we toured together.
Share some of your plans for the future.
Right now, the plan is to keep opening up the heart to living a life of creativity and service to others. To live along the spiritual guidelines of purifying the heart and mind. To stay in the company of saintly and awesome people like Jesus, Buddha, and David Bixby 🙂 I’ve never been overseas. It may be time to start seeing some of those places. I’m quite interested in Southeast Asia.
Is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
Let’s all keep building each other up! Every moment counts! And if you’re going through something right now, remember there has never been a storm yet that has lasted forever. Things change. I’ve been to hell and came out okay. David Bixby has his own beautiful testimony as well.
You never know when a blessing could be right around the corner. Never give up!
By David Anthony
Dave Bixby 