'Religion' is an album released by Vonderfuel in December 2020. Instrumental melodic synthesizer music from the Arctic Circle, Norway. Available to stream and download here via Bandcamp.

If our Universe is a simulation being run on a giant quantum computer, by someone from an intelligent civilisation in a different dimension, it wouldn't just be a computer game to them. It would be more like a religion. They would worship the life and diversity that exists on Planet Earth, and they would have great faith in humanity to create peace and unity on Earth. So should we. Across all borders. They would celebrate Planet Earth every Sunday, by praying for us and by playing modular synths and traditional drums, singing and dancing around the fire, sharing the love and compassion they feel for each other and for the life that they have created within the simulation on Planet Earth. 

So, as the theory goes, this raises the possibility that we are actually living inside what could be described as a genuine love machine, where love is the ultimate achievement. Think about it, the Univers was founded on love - someone out there genuinely cares and believes in us.

So then, you are just a guest on Earth, visiting through the body which has been lent to you by the Universe. Your body, belonging to Earth, is your temple, a gateway to a higher consciousness. Your consciousness is the gift that the Universe has given to you, so that you get a chance to experience life on this planet.

A planet which is an oasis of life in an otherwise possibly lifeless Universe. Earth had the spark that kicked it all of billions of years ago. We have become part of, for a brief moment, the journey of life on this planet. A journey that will likely go on for billions of years after we are gone. Every branch of the tree of life has evolved from the same spark that got life started on Earth, every species on Earth is on the same journey. So when you see a butterfly, you're not just looking at an insect that was born in spring. You are looking at a distant cousin, and the pinnacle of one branch of the tree of life that has evolved continuously for possibly billions of years. You are looking at the history of our planet - life's ancestral home. It took life 3.5 billion years to get this far. Long shall it prosper!

Human reach and influence has extended with technology during recent times, and will continue to extend into the future, as humans, the most complex of lifeforms, continues to create higher orders of organised complexity from taming the chaos of the cosmos, as we're being pulled into a more connected future. Eventually, technology might allow our future descendants to start running their own consciousness containing life simulations. The ultimate AI.

Technology has turned us into a global culture. The next step is to synchronise and unite as the people of Earth and enter a new age were global peace on Earth becomes possible. The next generation, who will inherit the Earth, is growing up with a global mindset and understands that we all share a common destiny. We must believe and hope that our dream can come true.

Man is trying to become masters of the natural world, but - if we're not careful - we might become victims of it. We can't beat nature, but we can learn to live in balance with it. We have after all, always been - and always will be - part of nature, and nature is part of us. Life on Earth is one continuously balancing system, where humans and every other lifeform, along with the environment we all inhibit, plays its part.

Even though we're only here for the length of a lifetime, we all have the chance to make a difference while we are here. Earth made you. For the benefit of its own living consciousness. Be grateful for the chance you have been given. And please enjoy your brief visit on this planet. Treat it, and all it's inhabitants, including yourself, with love and respect. Like family. Be guided by love and good intention, and the fruits of existence will fall on your path. And we should all have faith in ourselves, because we are great if we want to be. Your life matters. All life matters.

Peace!

I had been working on my album ‘Sapiens’ for six months, and once this was completed, I had a good sense of direction musically, so ‘Religion’ was composed in four weeks during the xmas/new years holliday 2019. I was in high spirit, I suppose. Xmas is always a nice peaceful time for me, where I feel a bit more aware of the spiritual and a bit more connected, so this made it’s way into the music. After the album was completed, I started thinking a lot about our place in the cosmos, and where we fit in. I got the idea for the title and album cover after reading DMT trip reports, listening to a certain female roots reggae tune where a female choir was chanting about the earth, and my own experience with Salvia Divinorum while I was in London. I read a lot about evolution and the cosmos, and I gradually became more conscious of what our Earth is, and how I could use my music to share my thoughts and experience with the world. So the music became for me the soundtrack for a meditation on the big questions in life. I hope it can open up some channels in other people listening as well. Hopefully we can share the journey, and bring about some hope for the future of our civilisation and our planet.

I, Hans A. Pedersen, come from the village Kabelvåg on an island in the Lofoten archipelago in the Arctic Circle in Norway, where I am now based. After experimenting with making music on the Amiga computer in my childhood, I started to pursue music making as a creative outlet after I moved to London in 1998. As I progressed with my music, my collection of synths also grew, and I had a very fine selection of synths that I used in my music making, both analog and digital midi synths and vintage keyboards and pedals. I spent a lot of time in my studio, but also managed to take my music out to clubs, and performed with a violin player at the Notting Hill Arts Club and at Cargo in Shoreditch and some pubs and parties. Music for me was a spiritual pursuit, as I was on a bit of a journey when I lived in London, being caught up in a creative environment with lots of musicians and generous, loving people, that resulted in me losing focus a little bit on the basic necessities in life, or maybe I found my focus on what was more fundamental to having a meaningful life. I ended my pursuits of career success and became a Rastafari in pursuit of truth, wisdom, love and compassion. I lost my synth collection in the process and from having a nice flat with a studio, financed by a decent income working in media and design, I ended up living in a hut behind a Caribbean food joint, with no income, but with free food, as I assisted the chef in the kitchen, and helped with washing the dishes and cleaning. I fell in love with the Jamaican vibe from the people I worked with, and realised that I was following a path I felt at ease with. The Rastafarian chef was a great mentor to me, and I felt that the wisdom and friendships I obtained from the Rastafarian community in London was very close to my heart. Hanging out at the Channel One, Aba Shanti-I, Metro Glory and Good Times sound-systems at Notting Hill Carnival every August bank holiday, Jah Prophecy at Hackney Carnival, Fatman Sound at the West Indian Culture Center, University of Dub at the Scala, celebrating Ethiopian New Year with the Rasta community, going to Nyabinghi drum ceremony, drum circles in Finsbury Park, jamming at CoreArts, where I also had one of my tunes arranged for, and performed by, a classical orchestra, as well as attending the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Clapton, hanging out at music venue Passing Clouds in Hackney and at Gillette Square in Dalston, I was right where I needed to be to get to know the world of culture, music and spirituality. Finsbury Park is also where I met Earl Lindo from The Wailers, Bob Marley's keyboard player. After his pub gig, I helped him with his equipment, and we talked about keyboards, before he finished of with 'Yes, it's 007.' So thats when I officially became an agent for the Rastafarian brotherhood! London is a fantastic city full of amazing people, and I soaked it all in. During this time, I did have access to some music facilities, and continued to make music, but I did not have my own studio. I returned to Norway in 2019 and set up a studio in my parents basement, where I have been making music regularly since then. Life in the arctic is nice as well, I now have dark winters with northern lights and snow, and in the summer, the sun never goes down. A different mood then London, but it has it's perks.

Me at the Vortex Jazz Bar in Dalston, London, doing a little rasta chant for the occation at the Rockers Community Hi-Fi in 2018.

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