Meet Charles Preston | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Charles Preston and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Charles, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
The real challenge is that all of our music is created with the leftover scraps of energy we have left after our day jobs have completely drained us. We constantly wonder what our potential could be if we could devote ourselves to music (and other creative pursuits) full-time, and we yearn to win this tug-of-war between the way society functions and what our hearts plead with us to do with our short time on this Earth. So the whole thing is a constant struggle — quite unbalanced — but we soldier on because it’s what gives us purpose, and without purpose, it would be difficult to see anything worth doing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The Dead Sages is a musical group that seeks to bring esoteric spirituality into mainstream music and/or make what yogi’s might call ‘heart-centered’ music more accessible, drawing inspiration from bands like Radiohead, The Beatles and so many others. We are not full-time rockstars however (lol), we both have day jobs and have various other skills which support our creative pursuits.

Jeff has much more experience in the music industry than I do, having toured as Vertical Horizon’s bass player for many years and being on the road doing national and international tours with his main band, The Reign of Kindo for the past 15+ years. I’m sure he could write a book about his experiences. Much of what he has learned along the way, is what informs many of the decisions made by The Dead Sages and what we believe will help us to be successful.

As for me, I’ve been toiling away at a career as a graphic designer and art director for the past 14 years — taking every spare minute I can find to get back to writing songs and chipping away at my various other creative projects. The Dead Sages however, is my primary extra-curricular focus and we’re both doing everything in our power to make it our full-time gig. Being a professional designer is also quite useful in the band as I take on all of the graphic and artistic needs from album covers to web design/development, motion graphics, logos etc. I have recently been hired on as the art director/designer for The Reign of Kindo, and it has been incredibly refreshing and inspiring work.

Jeff and I have both been in so many bands over the years that one thing we’ve learned is how to check our egos at the door and sort of streamline our creative and business processes, having learned from many many past mistakes and pitfalls.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way can be summed up by Alanis Morrisette in her lyrics to “Thank You” when she says, “the moment I let go of it, was the moment I got more than I could handle”. Something Jeff and I have both learned is that when you cling to things so tightly, for fear of losing them, especially a dream, you stifle the flow of the universe and essential prolong the process — but if you can find the courage to completely let go of it and say “I’m going to be happy and enjoy my life whether this dream comes true or not,” that’s when things start kicking into high gear and the magic starts happening. This is something I learned from life experience, from many disappointments, setbacks and letting a lot of dreams die. Sometimes when you let a dream die, it rises from the ashes like a phoenix and comes into your life bigger, stronger and brighter than ever, but so many of us are afraid to let that happen and we get stuck. Something I struggled with was that when the dream started to manifest, it was not in the form that I imagined and therefore I rejected it. So you have to trust the universe too — even if it doesn’t look like what you wanted. So whatever that’s worth to you, I hope it helps somebody or at least plants a seed. But what do I know? I’m a nobody.

Something we’d like the world to know about our brand and our story is that we are starseeds — or individuals that have awakened to the truth that humans are not limited corporeal beings, but rather multidimensional spiritual beings having a third-dimensional human experience which we call life. Yes, it sounds very cringey new age, but unfortunately this is something that Jeff and I have both experienced to be true haha. This perspective has made the experience of being alive on Earth much more bearable for us and we believe that the more people who can awaken to this for themselves, the more the planet will change for the better. Our music approaches very terrestrial things such as indie pop from this perspective, and our words and music are infused with frequencies of love, peace, kindness and the extra-terrestrial/other-dimensional places we hail from. The music itself does not sound as weird as I’m making it sound however, it’s quite grounded and approachable. Perhaps someday we’ll let things real weird, but for now we’re taking it slow and following the path.

So, all of that having been said, we hope that our music is enjoyable to a wide variety of people from all walks of life and it is by no means a pre-requisite for anyone to believe these things in order to enjoy our music — we simply feel that it would be inauthentic to withhold this aspect of ourselves as it is a big part of where the music comes from.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Gosh, I’m a huge introvert and borderline hermit — this question gives me anxiety lol. I also live in the North Bay so idk if the readers want to hear from me on this haha. Let’s see, there’s an absolutely amazing ramen shop in Sebastopol called “Ramen Gaijin” — if you’re ever in the North Bay, I highly recommend. I also know some pretty decent places to stargaze, and if you’re with me you’re definitely going to see a UFO so there’s that.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This is an amazing question. We are firm believers that no one achieves anything without someone else — literally, none of us would be here without our mothers (and fathers) — so from day one, none of us got here on our own. With respect to the music however, and as far as this interview is concerned, we wouldn’t be speaking on this platform if it weren’t for our friend Carla Macapinlac, who has supported our music from the very early days. She recommended us for this interview and was our very first Patreon supporter. It so happens that our music tends to resonate with a lot of Reiki and/or spiritual practitioners. Which is fitting, since we see our music catching on in those types of circles.

In addition to Carla, we have many other Patreon supporters who have generously helped fund our music and we’d love to give a shoutout to them. Their names are as follows: Lainie Ziner, Leonard Trinceri, Amanda Persky, Dominic Scaffidi, Tony Preston, Nathan Paul, Palmer Maxwell, Maura Nicholson, & Ginna Kemna. These folks help keep the Dead Sages machine running and their support means so much to us!

I can’t speak for Jeff on this, but for me, there are a few books and spiritual teachers which we have to thank for much of the lyrics and intention behind what we’re doing. To name a few, “The Untethered Soul” by Michael Singer, “The Law of One: Books 1-5, The Ra Material” by Carla Rueckert, Don Elkins & Jim McCarty, “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass (and basically all of his books and lectures), Alan Watts (all of his books and lectures) – those are the main ones but the list is extensive.

I also want to give a shoutout to my medicine guide and mentor (whose name I can’t mention). He has had an enormous effect on my spiritual growth and development and has helped me to heal so much within myself over the years — the experiences that he and I have shared, is what has opened me up and allowed this music and its lyrics to emerge.

We also receive a tremendous amount of support from friends and family who constantly help to remind us that what we’re doing is worth continuing, whether our music touches one person or a million.

Website: thedeadsages.com

Instagram: instagram.com/thedeadsages

Twitter: twitter.com/thedeadsages

Facebook: facebook.com/thedeadsages

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPYmdLzcXneVm2kxcVUVRHA

Other: patreon.com/thedeadsages