Matreya on Transcendence, Rhythm, and Remembering What It Means to “Be Love”
Photo Credit: Callum Shaw
Punk Head: You’ve described Be Love as a “carnival on a spaceship” — that’s such a vivid image. Can you unpack what that means for you on a spiritual and musical level?
MATREYA: When I first heard the song in my head, the only way I could describe what I was hearing was that it sounded like a carnival on a spaceship. It felt shamanic and celebratory, but also out of this world. I didn’t realise then that years later, releasing it would align with the comet 3I/Atlas coming into our orbit. I believe this ancient interstellar object is sending a message to our solar system to wake up to our truth. And so, with Be Love, I felt like I had to write a song that spoke about love in a transcendent way — simple on the surface, but with a depth beneath each line that could be excavated.
Global channeller Lee Harris, in his October 2025 Energy Update, said, “Allow yourself to love, and be love.” This felt like more than coincidence to me — it felt like a testament to what I heard three years ago: that we are vessels of universal fate.
Punk Head: This track feels like more than a comeback — it feels like a reintroduction. What shifted inside you between Mason Noise and Matreya?
MATREYA: Mason Noise was a persona — one that felt very attached to my childhood. Matreya felt like a rite of passage. A journey to name myself in a way that was aligned with my soul — with who I have always been and always will be. I didn’t know why I was being guided this way or why I felt so strongly about it, but what I do know now is that this reintroduction will not be predictable.
Punk Head: You talk about “Be Love” as an ancient message. Was there a specific experience or teaching that inspired that realization for you?
MATREYA: I had been reading the teachings of the Third Patriarch of Zen, and I was also reading a lot of Charles Bukowski. What I love about both of them is that they manage to wallop you with simple phrases — each line carrying its own treasure trove of depth and meaning. Be Love was my attempt at that.
Punk Head: Afrobeats, R&B, and cosmic soul are a powerful fusion. What draws you to rhythm as a way of communicating spiritual truths?
MATREYA: We have used rhythm — through the shamanic drum — to beat out our deep-seated traumas, ignite our life force, and dance in unison with the cosmos for thousands of years. Our body remembers. So if you create rhythm intentionally, it can awaken something in the body.
Punk Head: In chaotic times, love can feel like a radical act. What does being love look like for you on an ordinary day?
MATREYA: A great Indian saint, Ramana Maharshi, was once asked, “How do we help others?” to which he replied, “There are no others.” Another great saint of India was asked, “How do I become enlightened?” and he replied, “Feed people. Clothe people.”
These anecdotes, I believe, describe the energy I try to abide in, in a very ordinary sense. If you do not see someone as separate from yourself, what needs to happen naturally happens. You don’t have to try to do good — just as you don’t have to try to pull your hand off a hot stove. It’s a reflex. That is to say, you do not need to muster up a false sense of compassion, because love is the natural result of realising your connection to everything.
