In 2010, I was at an industry party in Tribeca, New York. There I met a musician, a composer, who was working on writing scores for motion pictures. Gabriel Pulido is from Venezuela and his music has taken him to Florida and California and Europe (Paris) and New York (Manhattan and the Hamptons). We kept in touch periodically throughout the years, and connected again this winter in New York City for a Cross-Interview at the palatial Cooper Hewitt on the Upper East Side to discuss music, magic, Carl Jung, and the healing aspects of sound and art.
*(Short Excerpts below, and the full 36-minute Cross-Interview at the bottom)
On Music Therapy -
Gabriel studied music therapy at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He then moved to Florida in order to join their highly esteemed Music Therapy community. Eventually he branched out to create his own immersive multi-media healing music, for film, television, online meditations, and live events.
On Art Therapy -
I studied art therapy, but in a much less formal way. During one-on-one therapy sessions on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the 1990’s, I learned about art therapy and used it to understand my own psyche. Prior to that, I saw the power of art therapy in my mother’s rehabilitation after a terrible car accident in the 1980’s.
On Carl Jung. Art & Music Therapy -
During these art therapy training sessions in my twenties, I was also introduced to psychologist Carl Jung, who influenced my art over the next decades. Gabriel is also familiar with Carl Jung and recognizes the importance of his work in the healing arts.
On Mandrake the Magician -
When we met, Gabriel recognized my last name because in his hometown in Venezuela, “Mandrake” was used in a common saying among the children there. Whenever a child would do something wild, he told me they’d say, “You’re crazier than Mandrake” - and so he has suggested that I put together a unique film combining the comic Mandrake with my grandfather, the real life Mandrake the Magician.
On Pioneering Oil in Venezuela -
Gabriel’s great grandfather founded Táchira’s Petrolia Mining Company, on October 12, 1878, creating the very first oil production company in Venezuela. This would be the seed level for what would become the largest oil exporter in the world.
On Hollywood’s Mandrake -
Twice Hollywood attempted to make the Mandrake the Magician movie. I was in touch with one of the producers, but in both cases, the project fell through due to lack of funding. I believe it will still happen as it’s always just a matter of Divine Timing.
On HBO and Game of Thrones -
I was speaking to a former HBO-colleague during another of my Cross-Interviews, and Gabriel asked specifically about it. We discuss the first season of Game of Thrones, when I was a part of the Creative Service team for the original series.
On HBO Latin & Immersive Performances -
In 2011, HBO creative directors in two of the documentary departments with connection to Latin America listened to Gabriel’s album, and he continued to create live music visual performances here and across the ocean using soundscapes, electronic instruments, and video montages. He also conducts musical meditation events, and is now moving his musical performance art to the planetarium.
On Making a Television Network -
Over the past three years I have been incorporating all of the skills from my work in the arts, in television, and feature films to build my own version of a television network. My own rules, my own style - as I like to say, "one foot in the mainstream, and one foot in the underground." Long-form movies, shorts, cross-interviews, a podcast with my audio book stories, installations and visual diary entries... all under the umbrella of Love, Healing, and the Truth of Time.
The Behind-the-Scenes -
The Musician looks at the sunset through the bow windows of the Cooper Hewitt museum. “We still have some light.” The Artist remarks that the setting sun must have slowed down its pace, because it seems it should have disappeared by now. And The Musician declares that it is “an act of magic…”
Here is the full 36-minute Cross-Interview with Gabo -
Love, Käla
Amen!