Mikael Gunter: Freedom, travel, and mysticism [Voice Seeker #13, Winter Solstice 2025]

From Morocco to Poland with Badre Zaid [Voice Seeker #14 Vernal Equinox 2026]

I first met Zaid at a Rainbow Gathering in Morocco, playing guitar songs around a campfire. A few years later our paths crossed again at another gathering in Turkiye. We ended up having some adventures after that and I am proud to call him my friend. 00:00:00 - Intruducing Zaid 00:03:15 - Meeting in a Morocco Rainbow Gathering 00:05:30 - Musical confidence 00:09:19 - After Moroccan Rainbow 00:11:26 - What was it like growing up in Morocco? 00:16:54 - Meeting a Polish wife 00:20:02 - Paradise for the rich, hell for the poor 00:25:58 - Colonization from Europe 00:29:58 - Things missed about Morocco 00:32:34 - Experiences in Poland 00:38:22 - Our second meeting in Turkish Rainbow and on to the Mad House 00:47:41 - Musical history 00:53:54 - Learning music from friends 01:01:32 - Making frame drums 01:06:55 - Connecting artists across the world 01:11:53 - Musical collaborations 01:18:25 - Big dreams 01:21:07 - Final thoughts and philosophies

Mikael Gunter: Freedom, travel, and mysticism [Voice Seeker #13, Winter Solstice 2025]

I met Mikael Gunter at a communal camp in Albania during the global lockdown. We bonded over music, tesseracts, and the quest for freedom. Here is our conversation. 00:00:00 - Introductions, our meeting in Albania 00:04:07 - Alone on Winter Solstice 00:07:00 - Staying in Albanian bunkers 00:13:10 - Balkan conquests, appearances vs reality of living in a country 00:20:16 - Returning to Australia after 10 years 00:23:02 - Termites = didgeridoos 00:28:46 - Herniated disc 00:30:54 - Healthcare and employment in Australia 00:35:16 - Cultural cringe 00:40:35 - Some technical difficulties and a brief history of this podcast 00:43:20 - Extended travel: how to live abroad indefinitely without employment 00:48:43 - Technology addiction 00:52:24 - Multidimensionality 00:55:18 - Psychonaut explorations 01:04:36 - Food quality in USA vs Europe 01:10:01 - Mikael's current situation "in the bush" 01:11:35 - Busking at home vs abroad 01:13:10 - Our shared busking experience in Skopje 01:16:21 - Balkan issues 01:21:50 - Belief vs knowledge of presented information 01:27:40 - Observing the cosmos 01:45:57 - Placebo, belief, power of consciousness 01:55:17 - What's next? Final thoughts

A bardic journey with Metka Knap [Voice Seeker #12, Autumnal Equinox 2025]

Metka Knap is a folklorist, musician, and visual artist from Slovenia. We met in 2022 in Macedonia and took a bardic journey to Prague and beyond. Unfortunately, the conversation takes place over a Zoom chat with Metka being in a remote cabin in Slovenia, so the fidelity of the connection is at times spotty. Hopefully you will still be able to glean some interesting insights from our conversation. https://www.instagram.com/vrabovka/ https://www.instagram.com/tjulnica/ https://www.instagram.com/izpodkorenin/ https://www.instagram.com/gruntuntun/ 00:00:00 - Introduction, urban vs rural for artists 00:09:44 - Does the USA have more opportunities for artists? 00:16:04 - Metka's musical journey 00:22:18 - Floating Castle Festival 00:26:25 - How did we meet? 00:29:24 - Dandy's banjo 00:31:43 - More instruments 00:35:54 - At the meditation center in Serbia 00:38:38 - Recording "More Izgrejala" 00:41:28 - Onward toward Prague 00:44:39 - Our concert in Ljubljana 00:48:05 - Balkan rainbow in Serbia 00:53:31 - Future plans 00:58:39 - Visual art, a safe place for creativity 01:02:31 - The other band, Grunt 01:05:32 - Final messages

Remembering hitchhiking w/ Saša Hajzler [Voice Seeker # 11, Summer Solstice 2025]

For this Summer Solstice episode of Voice Seeker, I am pleased to welcome my good friend and traveling companion, Saša Hajzler. She is an avid conversationalist, traveler, thinker, and phd student. In this conversation we recollect some moments from our hitchhiking travels through Morocco. We also talk about Yugoslavia, private equity enshittification, the fool's journey, and more.Enjoy! ~Dandelion 00:00:00 - Introduction via Skopje 00:02:49 - Meeting in Morocco 00:04:54 - The allure of Fez 00:08:06 - A Moroccan encounter in Istanbul 00:11:28 - From Turkiye to Morocco 00:13:29 - Arriving via ferryboat to Tangier 00:17:15 - the origin of Sasha's miraculous quest 00:27:32 - From Tangier to Merzouga 00:37:11 - Moroccan Rainbow Gathering 00:39:46 - So many dudes 00:42:06 - Back to Casablanca 00:43:45 - Yugostalgia 00:50:16 - Private equity enshittification 00:54:03 - Things made to last, or at least deteriorate slowly 00:57:40 - Growing up at the end of Yugoslavia 01:05:45 - Class solidarity with Moroccans and beyond 01:12:04 - Back to the hitchhiking adventure 01:17:49 - Food memories 01:25:02 - Communication without language 01:28:29 - A shepherd dog in a field at night 01:34:01 - Hitchhiking a fairy boat 01:38:28 - The instructional act of being a fool 01:48:54 - Wrap up

Elexa Dawson: native wisdom, contemporary action [Voice Seeker #10, Spring Equinox 2025]

On the 10th episode of Voice Seeker, we have a wide-ranging discussion with Elexa Dawson: musician, songwriter, speaker, mother, gardener, Potawatomi Citizen, and all around awesome human being. Elexa Dawson is a practitioner of the soul. Her red-dirt honey vocals and rhythmic guitar style deliver a sound that hits home. Both familiar and intriguing, her songs speak of the earth and community, and celebrate all relationships, from mother and child to friend and lover. Kansas-based and Oklahoma-born, Elexa is a songwriter, educator, community organizer, Folk Alliance Region Midwest's Board President, and serves on the Board of Directors of Music to Life. Elexa is a Kansas Touring Roster Artist, Music to Life's Juried Artist, and Mid-America Arts Alliance Interchange Fellow. Former fellowships include First Peoples Fund and Western Arts Alliance Native Launchpad. Elexa is the founder and director of Good Way Gardens, a land-based arts organization, and is co-founder of Weda Skirts, one of Kansas' best-beloved female folk ensembles. She runs an independent label, Turns Out Records. She’s also a founding member of popular folk groups The Power Lilies and Heyleon. https://www.elexadawson.com/ https://www.patreon.com/elexadawson Native Heritage and Place in the Flint Hills presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJPFaBuC73c (00:00:00) - INTRODUCTION (00:04:10) - PRACTITIONER OF THE SOUL (00:08:19) - SINGING TOGETHER (00:10:47) - MUSICAL BACKGROUND (00:15:14) - WINFIELD (00:17:42) - THE CITIZEN POTAWATOMI NATION (00:26:30) - INDIGENOUS EARTH (00:32:40) - INSPIRATION, APPROPRIATION, FETISHIZATION (00:42:22) - SHAPED BY NATIVE HERITAGE (00:42:44) - INDIGENOUS FOODS MOVEMENT (00:47:10) - FOOD SOVEREIGNTY (00:52:11) - A WORLD OF ABUNDANCE (00:57:38) - ABANDONING THE PATRIARCHY (01:02:58) - IF EVERYONE'S A MILLIONAIRE, WHO'S SPECIAL? (01:05:24) - WOMEN'S HOMES (01:09:24) - EDUCATION (01:18:35) - POTAWATOMI LANGUAGE (01:21:07) - MUSICAL MEMORY (01:22:58) - GOODWAY GARDEN AND MORE (01:26:10) - PETER OVIATT, STANLEY HOTEL (01:31:30) - ARTIST RECOMMENDATIONS (01:33:44) - WORDS OF ADVICE FOR YOUNGER CREATIVES