Today we’d like to introduce you to Amos Fisher

Hi Amos, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I’ve been making music all my life, and it’s always leaned toward the dramatic. Over time I began involving storylines and actual stage direction in my compositions, calling them concept albums, rock operas, and circus melodramas. Concurrently, I was immersing myself in meditation, philosophy, psychology, psychedelics, expanded states of consciousness, and music psychotherapy. When I was in graduate school for music therapy, I made an album called Workhorse with my psychedelic prog punk band CONTINVVS. It tells a story of the hardest working horse in the world who works all his life faithfully for his master, only to discover his own true work calling and then transform into a star. The covid-19 pandemic interrupted my last semester of grad school and my entire life in New York City, and this album was completed during lockdown in NC – very much as if I had myself transformed into a star and floated away from everything I knew, like my eponymous workhorse.

My band, relationship, and all pursuits in NYC ended at the same time, and I had to assemble my new career and musical identity from these ashes. From this emerged the character of somA the somnAmbulance Driver. My spiritual philosophy of life by this point was essentially that life is a dream, and that everyone in the dream is the same person split up into parts, characters with a message to deliver to the dreamer. The somnAmbulance Driver is the one who is lucid – who knows this is a dream. He tools around dreamland in his musical vehicle, rescuing people from emergencies by helping them become aware of the dream. Everyone he meets is also named somA, and they are at varying levels of awareness of their situation, some on grave missions, some having panic attacks, some blissfully at play, all with their own ideas.

This is a rather thin veil for how I feel about my work as a therapist. It is when we listen deeply and musically to ourselves, each other, and life that we develop empathy, clarity, and lucidity. Thus somA also embodies the role of a teacher, professing The Philosophy of Listening, with the goal of cultivating Empathetic Resonance. So far I am creating videos and live versions of songs, monologues, skits, exercises, and workshops to demonstrate this idea and bring this world into existence – to realize this dream. It will soon extend to include educational workshops, a brick and mortar space, and my private therapy practice.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Because of the timing of the pandemic with my career transition, it became an entire life transition – and nearly nothing from the old life seemed to come through intact. I am building my musical, social, and of course new professional networks from scratch, and developing many distinct dimensions of this idea simultaneously, all while coming into my own as a practicing therapist, training in various techniques and developing my own clinical approach. It’s a lot.

In many ways it is as smooth as can be expected for such a complete overhaul, yet my morale has taken a beating as I find myself in quite unfamiliar territory socially, artistically, professionally, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. However if one listens to the many stories I have told through music, it becomes clear that I do things intensely and fully!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I can only select ‘Other’ to classify myself, because I am putting together my clinical practice, creative life, and professional skills into a transcendent gestalt that unites these categories. That seems to be what sets me apart, and to whatever degree I am successful, what I am most proud of: as I have always longed to do, I am using music to create a holistic interpretation of life, which can be used to better understand ourselves, heal divisions and wounds, tune to each other and build community, and improve our world and our experience together.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?

I have a long standing passion for specialty coffee, vegan cuisine, and event planning. When I establish my private practice, Empathetic Resonance Music Therapy and Human Tuning, it will be located in a brick and mortar space called Worlds Within Coffee, where I will roast, serve, and sell coffee and light food, and host performances, art events, and workshops in harmony with the mission of Empathetic Resonance.

Pricing:

• Individual therapy: $125-250 sliding scale, insurance
• Group therapy: $50-75 sliding scale
• Workshops: $25-50 sliding scale, scholarships
• Yoga, breathwork, meditation: TBD sliding scale
• Coffee, Music, Events: TBD/ sugg. donation

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @soma_thesomnambulancedriver
• Youtube: @Empathetic Resonance with somA
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/amos-fisher
• Other: TikTok @EmpatheticResonance