For those who think they know everything about Michael Jackson’s musical legacy, here’s a bit of a mind-blow sure to thrill. If it weren’t for MJ giving Chuck Wild a multi-faceted four-year programming gig on his epic HIStory album, the multi-talented composer/keyboardist may never have had the funds to release an album that would lay the foundation for Liquid Mind, one of new age/ambient music’s most popular, culturally and spiritually impactful series ever.
With the Valentine’s Day 2025 release of Liquid Mind XV: In the Love, that legacy now includes 18 albums (the main 15 and three tangential collections). As with all of his recordings over the past nine years, Wild co-produced the collection with Jonathan Marozik, who has helped the composer stay true to his journey and whose creative and technical input has helped make Liquid Mind even more soothing on recent albums.
Using funds he earned working for MJ, Wild met with new age icon Suzanne Doucet, who guided Wild’s early efforts to release the first few LM albums under his own label, Chuck Wild Records. Perhaps just as importantly, Jackson and his legendary late engineer producer, Wild’s mentor Bruce Swedien, encouraged the composer about continuing his project.
Though that good fortune allowed Wild to share Liquid Mind with the world, the concept emerged from a time some years earlier, in 1987, when he was working as a composer on ABC’s groundbreaking (at the time) Max Headroom series. Wild began having panic attacks, partially from working 20-hour days, seven days a week, sleep deprived and kept awake only by double cappuccinos.
Beyond the work stress, he was struggling to cope emotionally with the reality that more than 60 of his friends had by then died of AIDS. His only vision was self-healing and he reached out to anyone who might help, including support groups and counseling. The following year, when Wild was a staff songwriter at Warner/Chappell penning pop tunes in addition to his TV scoring work, one counselor suggested he write, Wild says, “the kind of music that represented the way I wanted to feel.”
“I struggled with that,” he adds, “as I was having trouble slowing down and everything I wrote was hyper. After many weeks of acupuncture treatments by Maoshing and Daoshing Ni (both 38th generation Taoist masters), one day while contemplating my musical future, I recalled a more peaceful time in my life, when as a teenager I would play quiet organ improvisations during meditation in our church services in Kansas City.”
Inspired by those fond memories, Wild started to record the first Liquid Mind piece, “Zero Degrees Zero,” a nearly 30-minute piece (which would appear on the debut LM album Ambience Minimus) that perfectly described how he felt at the time. He listened to it nonstop, made several hundred cassettes and gave them away to friends and family who were ill with AIDS or cancer. After a year or so, he finally began the slow process of healing from his grief and physical stress.
Once he began releasing his Liquid Mind recordings on Chuck Wild Records, the composer began receiving letters, then emails and still today several thousand messages, not only from fans of the music but from healthcare professionals and their patients, who shared direct feedback about the beneficial effects of slow, sedative “longer-form” music. With the help of Barb Else, the senior research advisor from the America Music Therapy Association, Wild conducted a content analysis of some of the early feedback, describing how people were using the music of Liquid Mind (These details are accessible at www.liquidmindmusic.com). This process made Wild realize that his music could be of service to others on a more widespread basis.
In my review of Wild’s previous album Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity, I included a quote from him that at first glance sounds ironic but actually reflects the entire point of the experience: “The ultimate compliment to me is that people fall asleep to my music. Liquid Mind is functional music, assisting us to be tranquil at those times when that may not be easy.” I added my own commentary which applies as well to deeply immersing in the soulfully soothing atmospheric transcendence of Liquid Mind XV: In the Love. I wrote, “While respecting the artist’s intentions, all of us who have been impacted by the music Wild has created can speak with gratitude of its multitude of effects that transcend mere shifts in brainwave patterns.” It’s especially relevant considering that the new album lands perfectly in the world’s post-pandemic reality where anxiety seems at a fever pitch and chaotic socio-political battles (in America and elsewhere) hold sway over our daily emotions.
Wild’s goal from the beginning of the Liquid Mind phenomenon has been very simple – to bring the musical aesthetic to every person in the world that can benefit – and that includes sending the last few CDs to every member of the U.S. House and Senate, all 50 state governors and members of the Supreme Court, in the hopes that our leaders will spend some quiet contemplative time as they consider decisions that affect millions of fellow Americans. He’s also sent mp3s, cases of CDs and QR codes to veterans, healthcare workers, first responders. The composer freely gives his music away, making all the collections available on YouTube in full album format.
“I’m happy and grateful that Liquid Mind is of help to so many folks,” Wild says. “Going forward, my goal is to continue to help as many people as possible. For some, my music helps them achieve inner peace, and the goal that inspires me is, ‘World peace begins with inner peace.’”
And as he writes in his liner notes to the new project, “Liquid Mind XV: In the Love is no exception and addresses the very fabric that holds a healthy society together. In my experience, love can come from many places and in unexpected ways… through acts of kindness, meaningful relationships with family, family of choice and friends, being of service to others, finding peace within ourselves though meditation and prayer, self-introspection and examination, and through meaningful work in our careers. The list is endless if I open myself to expressing and receiving love.”
While Wild’s spacious, heart mind and soul expanding compositions are always best consumed as a seamless whole (whether on a single album or extended playlist), his simply yet purposeful titles are good guideposts as to the intentions of each track and project. He’s proud of the fact that as early as 1995, Michael Jackson told him he loved those titles. In general, they’re a reflection of his life journey and lessons learned along the way.
The titles of XV reflect elements of and reflections on his life, starting with the gentle, graceful opening track “Gratitude”: “As time goes on, I’m increasingly grateful for those who guide me and helped me, not only as a child and teenager, but also while I was in the Navy during Vietnam, and the subsequent years in the music industry. I start every day with gratitude, for a few minutes for family, friends and associates who have helped me along the way.” The piece is an excellent place for listeners to set their intention and create a positive mindset for the day.
The haunting, ethereal “Soul Whispers” opens up a spiritual dimension where he continues to hear the words of important people (like Bruce Swedien) who have passed on. “Sanctuary” takes Wild back to an innocent time where he learned and played organ in his church, where he first experienced meditational music. Gladys Combs, the organist, taught him to play very slow music during certain parts of the services, so this was a key to rediscovering quietness through music in the late 80s as he was healing. Listeners will connect with its spirit of nostalgia for easier times and longing for a safe space to breathe and regroup.
One of the shorter pieces, “A Willing Spirit” is a dreamy reflection on the importance for him – and by extension, us listeners – to change over time, and be open to make adjustments while still holding to important core values like good health, meaningful relationships and work, and sustainable income. The expansive caress of the title track finds Chuck striving as time goes on to find new ways of being of service to others via bringing healing, relaxing music to our world. It’s definitely a notion borne “In the Love.”
The final two pieces are equally personal and universal, starting with the struggle of “Forgiveness” in regard to terrible events like the AIDS crisis. As we listen, we should think about (and apply to our own lives) the way he drew upon counseling and meditation to help him move beyond the anger to focus on things he could change in his own life, and ways to be of service to the world. The final track, “Coming Home,” allows us multiple opportunities to relax, breathe deep and let our stresses go. It was inspired by a post-Covid trip back to visit family in Kansas City, where he saw a huge change from a population of 600K in the 60’s to 2.2M last year. While Wild was there, he went to his old church and was flooded with memories, some of which empowered him as he worked on the album.
“With so many options,” the composer says, “one need never be deprived of love. In an e-world that increasingly relies on electronic interconnectedness, it can be challenging for me to live my life in the love, as cultural and political differences of opinion often seem more extreme online; but in-person connection, seeing another person’s expressions and body language when we interact, can give me invaluable information and help me to avoid stereotyping others. Fortunately, in a free society we do have choices about how we spend our time. As life goes on, hopefully our memories are filled with experiences of love from those we touched and who touched us. The gifts we share, the love we express to others, love of self and of self-care, love of humanity, spiritual love, all can be passed on to others to help make our world a better place.”