[Aural Reports] Colette Aubrey's Yoga Music Will Center You

The Ethereal Thing
It's no stretch to say Colette Aubrey's yoga music will center you

Newport Beach-based singer/songwriter Colette Aubrey makes music that'll shake your ass—or center your spiritual being.

How long have you been making music?

I've been singing my entire life. I usually have a bunch of musician friends. My husband, Jason, creates the music in Fruity Loops and ProTools. One of the musicians I worked with, Lou Napoli, had a ton of songs he'd created. I have some songs we created together. Other times I said, “I'd like something with banjo in it.” In other cases, he'd have music he'd already produced, and then I'd write all the lyrics.

That seems similar to the common hip-hop working model.

Exactly. That's not how I started. I was working with a musician and producer named Finbar Lamontagne in Long Beach. He'd start playing the guitar, and we'd be making music before we even realized it. I've been trying to start a yoga album, as well.

What's a yoga album?

It's more ethereal. It's more relaxing. In some cases, it's chanting or a call-and-response. Since I've found yoga, which has completely changed my life, it's enhanced my singing and made me realize that the only limitation I have is my own imagination. I've realized there are some beautiful musicians in the yoga community, and that's something I would love to participate in.

How is yoga music meant to work with doing yoga sessions?

Some yoga teachers will say that in a yoga practice, there should not be any music. I think it really enhances the entire experience. If you've taken a yoga class and you've been able to stay in a beautiful state of mind, music really enhances that. They call it a yoga high. You feel better than any drug or orgasm you could possibly have. It can enhance a practice, but it's really personal preference.

Is it to create a sensory experience?

I think so, but with yoga, we teach you to stay away from the senses because senses are the physical body rather than the spiritual body. So I wouldn't necessarily say you would do it for the sensory experience, but it creates a sensory experience.

Does your desire to create yoga music come from being a musician and getting into yoga?

I did the 9-to-5 thing and hadn't really pursued music. Once it started happening, and I started flying to New York to sing with different artists, it was pretty life-changing. I realized the only person holding me back was myself. With that came the yoga path. Depending on the avenue, you can get through to people in different ways. I can get through to people with my music, but if I can do that with yoga as well, it's almost more powerful than just the music alone.

Do your pop music and yoga music exist independently, or would you release them under the same name?

I would create [them] as separate [entities]. I feel they're different aspects of my life. When I wrote my album, I was in a really dark place. Since I've found yoga, it's amazing the amount of light and lightness that it creates in your entire being. With a yoga album, it's going to be a lot more spiritual because I'm in such a different place than when I wrote my first album that it's almost like I'm two different people.

Would the two projects have different names?

Yes. In the yoga world, I go by Coco B. I have a radio program, and I'm Coco B. It's more of a branding thing, as well. Some of the songs I sing as Colette Aubrey you would never bring into a yoga practice. That's more of my rebel side, my party side. The yoga side is the peaceful entity.

What's your radio show's focus?

My show is about yoga. It's called Yogi World With Coco B and Jay. Jay is my co-host. It's about anything and everything pertaining to yoga culture. We'll have musicians, authors, charities, anyone creating positive change for the world.

How is Orange County as a home base?

Where I happen to reside is very Stepford-y. It's been a major blessing, but there is a lack of diversity in this little bubble. It would be nice to have more places for musicians to play more often.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/coletteaubrey. Yogi World With Coco B N Jay airs on KUCI-FM 88.9; www.kuci.org. Wed., 8 a.m.