Interview with Jayson from Jayson Stilwell Sounds

I have known Jayson for over 30 years, and I am delighted at this opportunity to share this dialogue with you. His sound work offers profound and deep connection with the Source through working with the one instrument we all have, the human voice. He has a rare gift with sound and real talent for making this work accessible and usable. His ability to share energy through sound is remarkable. If you feel called to learn more about our innate gifts with sound, I highly recommend learning from Jayson.

Jayson Stilwell is an overtone singer with 3 decades of experience of performing, recording, public speaking and facilitating workshops on the subject of the transformational nature of sound. The use of our voice through each of our direct source connections for the highest good of Earth and all her beings is the intention behind Jayson’s work.

Jayson has run many workshops in the UK, USA and Europe including The Noetic Sciences Institute Conference, Guy’s Hospital, hostels for the homeless and schools for autistic teenagers. He has appeared on BBC TV, BBC Radio and many other UK national and regional stations.

Jayson has released 3 solo albums; “Brand New World”, “On Earth”, “and “Spaces”. His written work has appeared in magazines as well as in the book “In the Name of the Gods” by David Elkington. 

More recently Jayson performed with Deep Cabaret, who play an experimental mix of jazz, world music, blues and folk. Deep Cabaret recorded their album “Matchless” at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and it has recently been released on vinyl by Wrong Speed Records and featured on BBC Radio 6.

In 2024 Jayson completed a tour of sacred sound events at Stone Circles in the UK. He is soon to release a full-length meditation version of his track “Return of the Humans”. Jayson also has a background as a drummer and percussionist, including playing with the Grammy winner Richard Walters, and Emmy Award winning “Flight of the Conchords”.

Jayson, welcome to the Lantara Project. I’ve been looking forward to sharing your work for some time. Can you share with us the essence of what you teach?

Thank you for inviting me to chat Alex. The essence of my work and play with sound is that using our voice for giving thanks, sharing love or healing with the world, moving emotions and experiences through our bodies, or coming together in community to celebrate, is a birthright of all human beings.

It is not about performance, it is about sharing your inner world and your divine connection through the unique sonic fingerprint we all possess, the human voice. 

I feel it is important to add, for me personally, that sound work can be profound and transformative, but I try to work with lightness and a sense of humour, which is also very powerful.

It’s all about creating relaxed, safe spaces to freely explore the potential of our voices together.

How does your sound work empower people to make a deeper connection with themselves?

I hope, that by creating a space that gives permission for individuals to explore their voice, we create an opportunity together to engage with the power of any individual voice. This is not about singing, it’s about honouring your voice as it is and feeling the validity and confidence that one’s unique vibration makes a beautiful contribution to the overall symphony of Earth and all her beings.

You have done a lot of work with people at sacred sites around the UK. Last year you completed a tour of some of the main sacred sites. How does your sound work connect with the Earth? 

The feedback I get from these events is fantastic. When people do it, they feel how natural it is to connect with the Earth, and each other, in this way. I like to think that my work and play with sound in sacred sites is accessible and de-mystified. I like to make people feel comfortable. At the risk of repeating myself, we use intention, breath and vocal sound to create connection with each other, the site, Earth, and all her beings. It is simple, in essence.

How can we use our voice to feel a deeper connection with the Earth? 

I was fortunate enough to begin my journey in healing sound with Jonathan Goldman. One of the first things he said to me 30 years ago was, “sound plus intention equals manifestation”. I feel that this represents a cornerstone of my work. Sound is also something that is multiplied to become more than the sum of its parts, in my view. By coming together in community, we can join our minds and hearts in simple intentions that benefit Earth and all her beings. When we do this at sacred sites, we tap into gateways of amplification for this energy, and this benefits all of us.

Can you say a little about your own connection with the Earth and what difference has this made to your daily life?

I first engaged with the experience of using sound, breath and silence as a way of connecting with Earth in the early 90’s after a synchronous meeting with Jonathan Goldman on Glastonbury Tor. It was like a bolt of lightning in my life and very quickly I seemed to find myself at sacred sites and moved to just open my mouth and make sound after opening myself to the idea of sharing healing with the Earth. This process has continued as part of my personal practice, and also sharing sound in groups ever since. In my daily life, I connect with simple intention, each of our direct connections to source energy, and bring through a wide variety of sounds as a way of expressing that connection and its energy for the highest good of all. The sounds can be overtone singing, vowel sounds, simple humming or any of an interesting array of clicks, breaths or vocal rhythms. The simplest way to say it would be that I connect to Earth and all her beings through intention, breath and sound in my daily life.

Can you share any experiences you have had connecting to the Earth with sound that demonstrated to you that the Earth was conscious?

As you will know Alex, we could share many experiences of this kind that we’ve had through the years!! One that springs to mind was with our mutual friends The Bards of Avalon, the amazing ambassadors of sound. I was running a group at Stanton Drew stone circle some years ago and they were attending. It was a rainy spring day, and we were all getting very wet. The group were all laughing at the experience and we decided between us to give our sounds some extra gusto, positive intentions and fun! We made a big sound together with some additional whoops and hollers to express our enjoyment, and as we stopped there was a single crack of simultaneous lightning and thunder directly above us. We all drew breath and laughed at the beauty and humour of the experience, and we could see in each other’s eyes that we felt this moment of reciprocity with the group, the site and the Earth.

What key advice would you give to anyone who wants to explore using sound to connect with themselves or the Earth? 

Humans were born to do this and have been doing it for thousands of years. Your voice is unique to you, it is a bridge between the internal world of thoughts, intentions and feelings, and the external world of physical creation. Your voice is a carrier wave of consciousness. We all know this as we feel the energy of the sound that comes through people, positive or negative. We may have to delve past any barriers of self-consciousness borne of the performance culture associated with singing in the modern world. I would invite people to step in to a deeper place, where there is no stage, no judgement, just direct connection through sound beyond words.

How can people get in touch with you if they are interested in learning more about your work? 

My Jayson Stilwell Sounds page on Facebook is the main point of contact for those interested in my work. I post all my events on there, share some free sounds, and interact with those that are called to be in involved.

I am also contactable via overtonejay@gmail.com

Do you have any news or events you would like to share?

I am running a 2-day workshop at The Tara Centre in Lancaster on the 21st and 22nd September. 

I run regular one-to-one and group sound healing sessions and tuition online on a donation basis. 

I will be releasing “Return of the Humans”, a 30-minute meditative soundscape, soon in 2025. Announcement is imminent.

Soon to be announced sacred site gathering in 2025.

For more information go to Jayson Stilwell Sounds Facebook page or email overtonejay@gmail.com

For more information about how Jayson came to do this work, check out the following interviews:

Jayson speaks with Jonathan and Andi Goldman

https://www.healthylife.net/RadioShow/archiveJG.htm

https://hrnradio.com/media/JG031225.mp3 (direct link)

Jayson speaks with Graham Fletcher from Awaken your Highest Self