M5: If you have time to listen to music, what music do you like to listen to these days?

KW: That is a timely question for me at the moment, because lately I really haven't been listening to much music at all! I remember the time when I would constantly be finding new music and devouring it, listening to my favorites over and over. Now it is very rare that I find a CD that I feel like listening to over and over. Even music that I really like, I tend to listen to only rarely. And I have been feeling that I need to fall in love with music again on a deeper level, and I am not sure how that will come about. Maybe part of the reason I'm not listening that much is because I am working on music so much, that when I'm not working, the silence is refreshing. But in general, silence is revealing its beauty more and more these days. Of course, like John Cage said, it is never totally silent, so there are always some kind of ambient sounds going on. Where I live there is nature all around, and many birds. I love the sound of wind in trees, and birds, and water rushing, and the ocean. One of the things Osho said that always stuck with me, was something like "once you have heard the sound of the silence, all other music just sounds like noise".

That makes more sense to me these days. That's why I love music that incorporates silence. The stars are so beautiful because they are set off by the blackness of the night sky.

I'm also pretty overwhelmed by the sheer amount of music that's out there these days. It's hard to know where to start. Yes, a lot of it is mediocre, but there is such a vast amount of music that is truly brilliant and inspired, too, in all the genres, in all the continents and countries. Lately I have just been enjoying listening to whatever crosses my path, things that friends turn me on to, or just browsing on the internet, and so on. But it's almost like trying to remember my dreams. So much goes through, that it's gone before I have a chance to even remember who the artist was. It's a very interesting time for music right now, and I'm not really sure how to even pinpoint it. Somehow it seems like a paradigm shift (to use a worn out phrase), where music is being given back to the people. The age of the hero up on the stage being brilliant, and the audience just passively receiving, seems to be slowly ending. Everyone can make a CD now, and everyone is! And there are some jewels coming up from the most unlikely places. Unfortunately the sheer numbers makes those jewels harder and harder to find, but we'll work that one out. It feels like a big sifting-down process going on right now. The top down model doesn't work any more, and the new way is still emerging. So we are in a kind of creative chaos period right now.

M5: Can you name some musicians that have been of influence to you or you view upon as people who made their mark in history...?

KW: There are so many! But here's a few: Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, Olivier Messaien, Shostakovich, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cream, Hendrix, Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, John McLaughlin, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Peter Gabriel, Salif Keita, Youssou N'Dour, Jan Garbarek, the Band, Procol Harum, King Crimson, Weather Report, Bjork, Pat Metheny, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Steely Dan, Arvo Part, Egberto Gismonti, Thelonious Monk, and countless others.

M5: Regarding the music of Steely Dan, what are your fav compositions and why?

I love Steely Dan! I got on the Steely Dan wagon a little late, in the 70's with the Royal Scam. That one, and Aja, were in constant rotation for years. But I think the Royal Scam is my favorite. "Haitian Divorce" sticks out in my mind, and "Kid Charlemagne". For some reason, these days, that line from Kid Charlemagne keeps running through my mind: "you are obsolete, look at all the white men on the street". Because there are a lot of obsolete white men walking around. Time to get with the program, and that is about one humanity, one Love. I know that's not really what the song is about, but that phrase has been stuck in my head.

I really like the two latest Steely Dan albums too, still the same classy elegance, and impeccable songwriting. I am really glad they are back together. There is something about band synergy that beats solo artists hands down. And those guys have longevity, and consistent quality. What can I say? More power to them!!

M5: You've traveled a lot and met with different cultures. Where do you feel your home is ...? And what were experiences that made a great impression... What places or countries touched something or made you change inside?

KW: Another timely question. At some level I never quite feel at home anywhere, and at the same time I guess I really feel like a citizen of the world. Seems like the era of big powerful nation-states is coming to an end. So many cultures blending! I live in California right now, but never quite feel settled here. I was in Australia a couple of years ago and loved it there, but I really like Europe too. Many of the places I have been I didn't get to stay in long enough to really experience, though. On tour you pass through everywhere so quickly that it all blurs together, and you don't ever really get to meet and get to know people. And for me to really feel at home somewhere I need to know some people there. So I can't really answer that question. Of course here in California i have lots of friends and things going on, but I always feel like I haven't really found the physical place called home yet.

M5: Looking back on your years as a musician, in what respect did you change or grew, are there things you would like to do again or never experience and are there (still) any dreams you'd like to accomplish...? When starting as a music student, did you ever think you'd be where you are today?

KW: When I started as a music student I had such a limited vision, in terms of what I thought I'd be able to accomplish. At first it never even occurred to me, (and no one really encouraged me) that I could write music. I kept my attention on the immediate task of learning music. Even in the 70's, our band Real Tears never even made a recording. Now I just can't even understand that. So now I am working on expanding my vision, because there are so many things still I would like to accomplish. I have a book to write at some point, and a teaching, around the link between meditation and music, consciousness and creativity, the practice of music as a spiritual path. I want to play and record with more musicians from other cultures. I want to visit Brazil, Africa, and India again, and participate in musical adventures there. I want to explore music for healing more, even though so much of it is just naturally healing without even having to try and make it so. I have many more albums to make and musical avenues to explore. I want to do more soundtracks for films, in particular, films that are about healing and humanity and consciousness. I would love to write something for orchestra. I want to reach more people with music in whatever way life wants it to happen, I'm open!