First off, tell us about this compilation you just put together on Gravitas Recordings.

I put together a compilation, my first ever that I’ve curated. It’s mostly Gravitas artists, but not all. It’s just a compilation of different music that I like and that is in the scene, in the zeitgeist. I just wanted to put something out to help promote the sound.

Can you talk about working with Gravitas, where most of the music goes out for free. Where do you get the returns? Merch and touring?

Yeah, that’s really it. With pay what you want, it’s donation-based, but the music is really put out for promotion. It really helps get the music out there a little bit better, and it allows people who maybe haven’t listened to a lot of it to take a chance and download it and put it into their playlists. It’s hard because these days, people expect to get content for free, so you’re competing with that, but there’s always a part of the population that does give back and financially support it if they like it.

Well, it’s probably easier now that you’re an established musician. Do you think the business model is different for unknown artists, and that maybe it changes over the course of a career?

Yeah, and I think we went through the file-sharing period where everybody just started getting music for free. There’s a whole age range of the population that never even knew you were supposed to pay for music in the first place. So, we went through that, and we’re coming full circle to people appreciating and recognizing that if they pay for art, they’re supporting something that keeps giving. So, I think even people my daughter’s age, I have a couple kids that are teenagers, even they know that, and they tell me that they pay for music now. So, it’s coming back around and people are starting to do that again I think.

Can you tell us about the name Govinda? There’s a few others that rank higher on Google than you, so that must be tough. What does the word mean?

Yeah, there’s three or four Govindas, so I’ve chosen the name “Govinda Music” for most of my social media and networking. There’s a Govinda who’s a famous actor in Bollywood, and he’s probably the original. Then there’s the Govindas that do music, and there’s like three or four of them around the world. It’s been a constant battle or shuffle to figure out who’s who when you Google it. Govinda is another name for Krishna in the Hindu religion. It has many different interpretations, as many of those words do. It’s a deity, and I don’t claim to be that deity, I just was inspired by the figure. I was in a meditation many years ago where we were chanting “Hare Govinda,” and I had an epiphany during that chant that I was supposed to bring music to the world to elevate consciousness. So, then I figured I would use the name Govinda because that was what we were chanting. I’m not Indian, so it’s a little confusing or misleading to a lot of people, but I’ve had the name for so long that it stuck.

You’re not Indian, but are you Hindu?

No, I have no religion, but I’m very spiritual. My family is from the Middle East in Syria. My grandparents were immigrants.

What does that spirituality look like for you? What does it mean to reach the world with music for the purpose of elevating consciousness?

I believe we’re already evolving, no matter what we do, even if we’re at war, we’re still moving forward in some way. I want to offer something in my short time on this earth in this life form to help that evolution along and do what I can to help open people’s heart and inspire people in a positive way, rather than slow it down and create negativity. Music was one of those things that just felt so natural for me to do in this life, and it just so happens that it’s a great tool for reaching many people and inspiring people. It’s a purpose that inspires me.

In your online bios, you reference your “gypsy roots." What does that mean?

My grandmother’s side, as I say, I was Middle Eastern, but also my grandmother was from Spain. Her ancestors immigrated through Northern Africa into Spain from the Middle East as well. They were more gypsies when they landed in southern Spain. Of course gypsy in Europe has a pretty negative connotation, but when I speak of gypsies I mean the music and dance; and how they were just free and wild. That kind of made its way through the generations to my blood and my body somehow. I felt inspired to create music with that theme, sonically.

Your music certainly sounds more organic and analog than a lot of other people in the electronic scene.

Yeah, totally, and that’s the other thing that sets me apart is that I play violin. I’m a classical violinist, and I didn’t listen to anything else but classical music until I was out of college. Electronic music, to me, is a pretty new thing. It’s relatively new to be a producer, so I’m still figuring out how to do it, and what my sound is, and how to incorporate the strings. But, the instruments are a big part of what I do because of my time studying composition and playing violin.

Do you treat the computer like just another instrument in your arsenal, or as the conduit that all the other sounds run through?

Yeah, absolutely, I think it’s an instrument, and the more I learn my instrument, the better I am at expressing what I want to express through those electronic sounds. And that’s something that I’ve known how to do on the violin for years, but I’m now figuring it out on the computer. I’ve been producing as Govinda now since 1996, so 21 years. I would say I’m one of the pioneers of the sound, because no one was really doing it then. Nobody was really blending live instruments and world music. There was some world electronic, but it was an uncharted path. Nobody knew how to do it, and a lot of times I suffered because nobody had come before me to pave the path, so nobody’s ears were really tuned to that. It was really new for everybody and a lot of times, when somebody hears something new, it’s hard to get into; but when they recognize it, it’s a little bit easier. There was Kruder & Dorfmeister, and Thievery Corporation was around in the early days. Those are the people I was really inspired by.

Speaking of this hippie music scene, and the sort of modern flavors of spirituality that have sprung out of it. What do you think this group has to offer to the outside world and how do you think it can be shared?

I really just hold the space. I show up and create music and art so that people can see their own god, for lack of a better world. They can come into their own bliss. I think a lot of these transformational festivals are focused on that. They’re very spiritual in a way. I mean, you can still get fucked up and do a ton of drugs, but there’s a huge movement of kids who don’t do that and just find their bliss in the art and dance. People who come to teach the classes, and bring the food. I really like being involved in the festival community that I am, because it’s very holistic. I look at people afterwards and they’re very happy and elated, if they’re not coming down off drugs.

Of all of the transformational festivals, do you have a favorite? Any hidden gems?

We just got back from Envision in Costa Rica, and it was by far my favorite one. I’ve played four of them, and it was our favorite. It was the most dialed-in. I would say that and Shambhala and Lighting in a Bottle are my three favorites for sure.

When you say “we," who are you talking about?

I travel with Jordan, she is my dancer and girlfriend. She travels to all the big shows like Envision where I have a very big visual representation or show that I put on. She’s a great dancer, and she does fire and acrobatic stuff. So, that’s a huge part of all of these shows. For some of these festivals, they schedule some of the best dancers and acrobatic and fire performers. Usually really beautiful women who don’t have much on, and they’re spinning fire. What’s not to like? So, that’s what Jordan does. She travels with me and she oversees all the other dancers and makes sure it all comes together.

Fantastic. The last question is just to find out what you have upcoming that people should be on the lookout for?

Yeah, well, I have a lot of tour dates that you can always find either on my website or on my Facebook. Definitely, the show in Atlanta, we want to pump since you guys are there.