Monday, April 07, 2008

Salva Mea

Eclectic as I am when it comes to music, it should come as no surprise that I am a great fan of the British band Faithless, or rather the leading vocalist and rapper Maxi Jazz.

I only found out recently that Mr Jazz is a Soka Gakkai Buddhist, a particular form of Nichiren Buddhism, based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–1282).

Now, if Maxi Jazz is such a strong believer, why then choose a name like Faithless. The story goes that this all happened when writing the song Salva Mea (Save me). Maxi was asked to write a song about frustration, something he knew a good deal about having been through a great number of frustrating situations in his life he didn't ever believe he could get through. What Maxi was writing about was about those that have no faith, no confidence and so the name Faithless was born.

In 2006 Maxi Jazz provided the vocals for the hit Tiësto track, Dance 4 Life. It was one of the biggest club hits of the year for Tiësto and the trance community.

He currently lives in West Norwood, in the London Borough of Lambeth.