The Japetus Project - Jay Moxham

Many people have asked me about the name of the project - Japetus - so now here is a separate page specially for the Name. It has always just been me Jay Moxham as the Multimedia Producer behind the Japetus project which was really more the 'band' name - the musical project. You can read the All Music Guide biography or explore the iTunes Preview page plus an extensive page of info on New Paradigm Journal.

Genesis
I was born and raised in Sydney, and from a very early age, I ‘heard’ music in my mind but had no practical means to capture it. In the school band, I played side-drum and gained insights into basic musical form and structure, but it was not until I taught myself to play a variety of instruments - including drum kit, acoustic guitar and keyboards, as well as singing, composing, and production - that I managed to capture it all, layer upon layer in multitrack studios

For 4 years in the late 70s, I worked in one of Sydney's most innovative music venues - And Now For Something Completely Different - where I was exposed to and involved with live music almost every night with the cream of local talent. One thing that came from those years of exposure was the beginning of my desire to create, record and release my own music. This was first realised in 1979 when I recorded my first songs and then released two of the songs as a ‘single’ under the band name Social Comment.

The Crazoids Era
I continued to combine these skills into audio/visual production and I worked for several years as an audio/visual producer/engineer where I also wrote theme music and jingles for corporate videos and ads. To assist in my desire to be a recording artist, in 1980 I set up my own 8-track analogue recording studio in Willoughby, Sydney, and began creating songs and experimenting with sound synthesis using some of the latest, affordable, digital music keyboards and drum machines that were launched in the early 80s. I recorded over 40 Pop/Rock songs as The Crazoids and sent them to record companies all over the world, however I was unsuccessful because I was still a bit ahead of my time - recording as a solo studio producer who didn’t perform live, writing songs about social change and global perspectives.

A Shift in Consciousness
Along the way, I stumbled upon the practice of meditation, gathered information on various awareness paths and gradually came to recognise the importance of a higher more mindful understanding. As this new perspective of life grew within me so, correspondingly, my interest in a traditional Pop music career began to diminish, and I found myself working in a more instrumental vein. With my existing background in the relationship between audio and visual, I began to recognise the connection between sound, colour and imagery - which then evolved into the ‘Japetus’ project. The more I worked with that new perspective and continued to explore consciousness the more I developed the various inspired journeys that went on to become the Visionary Journeys catalogue.

The Synthesist, Not the Pianist
At the time I was often just experimenting and ‘grabbing’ at fragments of ideas and spaces and often I couldn't explain or understand the things I visioned and created until much later when the synergy of all the albums became apparent. It wasn't until I gained some perspective on it all, that I could fully comprehend the complete picture and the unfolding journey within the catalogue itself.

Remember: if you sat me at a music keyboard and said "play or else" I would play 'Chopsticks' because I have no real musical training - and guitar is actually my most accomplished instrument. All my albums are capturing the vision in sound, image and words, so it's ironic to have produced over 10 original album journeys that still hold a fascination for me today as to how I created them. This is the primary reason I do not play 'live' but fortunately, I'm a reasonable producer and so I was able to bring it all together in my home recording studio.

A Multimedia Vision
Between 1983 and 1997 I composed 10 inspirational albums (plus later three compilations) and released them through my own record label. I did all the programming, recording, performing, production, manufacturing, distribution and promotion myself. This catalogue is an evocative and colourful collection that presents a profound musical framework for exploring the immersive worlds of imagination and sound for the purpose of self-discovery, meditation and healing. Most of the albums were created on keyboard synthesisers and music samplers, intuitively synthesising my own unique, inspiring sounds, perfecting innovative ways to provide the perfect atmosphere and colour to evoke the particular mood, imagery and journey, as well as many ‘happy accidents’. Later, I added spoken, guided visualisations based on the imagery embedded in the musical structure that I had imagined when I first developed the concepts for the original musical tracks.

Although I have focused on music, as a synthesist in the broader sense, my talents include video producer, vegetarian cook, creative writer and graphic/web designer. To support one of my best-loved albums, Visions Of Paradise, in 1987 I filmed and produced a Visions Of Paradise nature video of magnificent natural vistas, rivers and sunsets, creating an audio-visual healing experience. This had wide applications in therapeutic areas as well as in the home and workplace and I re-shot a version of that video in digital video in 2008 (see Visions of Byron). I have also performed some of my musical soundspaces at various ‘healing’ workshops and conferences including the Creative Education Foundation conference in 1990 (where I also held a rare workshop) and at the opening of Conference Earth in 1995 where I also had the delight of providing a live soundspace on stage behind 60's visionary legend Dr James Hurtak during his mind-blowing guided visualisation.

Conclusion
Life is not a monotone. Life is full of colours and sounds and symbols of all different qualities and textures. Relaxation and visualisation are only the doorway but there is a whole world of imagination beyond that. A multitude of evolving elements that can hone the facets of our clearest state of conscious awareness. This ‘diamond’ must be polished and set and all this takes patience, practice and focus. Our duty is to develop a focused consciousness and learn and practice being present in the moment with ‘what is’ - as we imagine it - ensuring not to ‘fall-off the edge’ into ‘belief’ and delusion.

In today's society it is easy to recognise the need for healing in any form, and these musical soundspaces, the spoken visualisations, the visionary artworks, the video and workshops, all offer a way of discovering a more subtle and holistic sense of self.

Imagine Better.

Commissions, Collaborations, Awards & Global Recognition
- 1985 - commissioned by Australia's most prolific writer in mysticism and the occult, Nevill Drury, to produce a series of three albums of 'Inner Space' music to accompany his book Music For Inner Space (ISBN 0907061745) for release in Germany and around the world;
- 1987 - compiled the soundtrack for an alternative short art film called 'Into The Light';
- 1989 - recorded and produced a series of Tibetan Buddhist chanting 'practice' albums for Lama Trijam;
- 1990 - worked with Denise Linn (USA) Jo Buchanan (Aust.) on their guided visualisation albums; 
- 1995 - supplied music exclusively for the National Federation of Healers Inc (Australia) guided visualisation album; 
- 1996 - commissioned to create the title theme and incidental music for the 23 part international health and well-being TV series 'Yin, Yang and You' initially broadcast to over 100 million viewers on NBC Asia as well as in South Africa and the Middle East on a satellite network called ‘yes’TV; 
- 2000 - built my own website in and remastered all my albums for CD with new artwork all designed by me; 
- 2000 - won Best Ambient/Instrumental track + Best Environmental/Message song + Best Promotional Artwork design in the North Coast Entertainment Industry (NCEIA) 'Dolphin Awards';
- 2002 - music and video were selected to support a guided meditation video for the Qantas First Class in-flight movie channel;
- 2002 - won Best Folk song and numerous other nominations in 2003;
- 2005 - signed to Apple iTunes as an official Label Affiliate with my entire Visionary Journeys catalogue available for download worldwide; 
- 2005 - stopped producing CDs and for 10 years the catalogue was only available for download;
- 2006 - travelled to Cannes in France to attend Midem - the world's largest music industry fair - where I made a range of different contacts;
- 2006 - International Planetary Society world conference in Melbourne planetarium (the first one in the southern hemisphere in 30 years) I was delighted to have my music exclusively selected to be played during the two evening dinners; 
- 2007 - commissioned as Musical Director and Sound Designer for the Day Spa for the Mind website project where my musical soundspaces were used exclusively as the basis for the hypnotherapy and motivation treatment modules;
- 2013 - signed to Omvana who released three tracks as part of their catalogue. 
- 2014 - most of the CD titles were made available drop-shipped worldwide to order on Kunaki in Nevada; 
- 2015 - The Day Spa For The Mind immersive website closed down and I obtained permission to retain the audio rights and purchased the domain name;
- 2017 - the track Starlite from Deep Space was chosen for use by Virry.com in an African River Safari Virtual Reality (VR) App for their meditation section.