First names in the world of new age music, Deva Premal and her life partner Miten craft compositions outside the realm of pop, instead brushing against the sacred and the transcendent.
Since 1990, when singer Premal (born Jolantha Fries in Germany) met guitarist Miten (born Andy Desmond in the United Kingdom) at a meditation resort in India, the performers have become inseparable, releasing 18 albums together of meditation mantras, largely in Premal’s preferred Sanskrit language. Premal has released another 13 solo albums, including the Grammy-nominated 2018 release Deva.
The duo has performed for the Dalai Lama, and their fans range from Cher to Edward James Olmos, who credits Premal’s music for inspiring his character of Commander Adama on “Battlestar Galactica.”
Experiencing Premal and Miten perform live is a rare and special treat; having attended their 2018 performance in Miami, I can attest that there’s nothing like a roomful of people losing themselves amid the absorbing repetitions of Premal and Miten’s timeless mantras. On April 27, the duo will return to Miami, playing South Florida for the first time in seven years with a concert at the Moss Center. Premal and Miten were kind enough to answer a few questions from Boca magazine in advance of their appearance later this month.
How did you learn about mantras, and did you have a musical background prior to taking this direction with your music?
Deva: I grew up with mantras. My father was a dedicated practitioner, and one of my earliest memories is him chanting the Gayatri Mantra to me as a lullaby. It was a natural part of my upbringing, like the soundtrack to my childhood. Music was also present in my life from an early age, but it wasn’t until I met Miten that it became a path of expression and devotion.
Miten: My background was in rock and roll—I was a singer-songwriter in the ’70s, immersed in that world. But I reached a point where it no longer fulfilled me, and I walked away. My journey led me to India and to Osho’s ashram, where I rediscovered music—not as entertainment, but as a spiritual practice. That’s where Deva and I met, and we found that music and mantra were our shared language.
How is it that your compositions can have a healing effect, in the sense that a song can heal us emotionally, spiritually, and/or physically?
Deva: Mantras carry an ancient vibrational quality. Sanskrit is a language of energy, where the sound itself holds meaning beyond words. When we chant these mantras, we’re tapping into a deep well of wisdom that has been carried through generations. It’s not about belief—it’s about resonance. The body, mind, and spirit respond to these sounds in ways that go beyond intellectual understanding.
Miten: Music has always had the power to heal—it opens the heart, calms the mind, and connects us to something greater. When you combine that with the potency of mantras, it becomes a vehicle for transformation. We hear from people all the time who have experienced profound shifts just by listening or chanting along. That’s the real magic.
What’s the difference between listening (and chanting) to your music on record versus in a live setting in a theater full of people?
Deva: Listening to a recording is a beautiful, personal experience—you can drop into a deep space within yourself. But singing together in a room full of people is something else entirely. There’s a collective energy, a shared breath, a sense of unity that can’t be replicated.
Miten: In a live setting, we’re not just performers—we’re all part of the same meditation. When hundreds or thousands of voices merge into one, the energy lifts and expands. It’s a reminder that we’re not alone. That’s why we call our concerts “satsang meditation gatherings” rather than performances. We all create the experience together.
Do you know the English translation for everything you sing? And does that knowledge matter, for the song to still “work” on us?
Deva: Yes, we always tune into the meaning of the mantras we sing, but their real power isn’t in the translation—it’s in the vibration of the sound. You don’t need to intellectually understand a mantra for it to work. It’s like stepping into the ocean; you don’t have to analyze the waves to feel them.
Miten: Words can be limiting sometimes. Music and mantra go beyond language—they go straight to the heart. You can feel the shift even if you don’t know why it’s happening.
A lot of your listeners go into something like a trance state when listening to your music. For you as the performer, do you feel like the repetition of the mantras also creates something like a hypnosis?
Deva: I wouldn’t call it hypnosis, because mantra practice, just like any meditation practice, is about becoming more aware, conscious and more in to the moment. Mantras create that deep meditative state, and when we sing them night after night, we enter that space more and more easily. The repetition of the sounds allows the mind to quiet [down], and something deeper emerges.
Miten: It’s not hypnosis, but it is a letting go. When we chant, we step out of the thinking mind and into pure presence. The same happens for us as performers. Often, it feels like the music is singing us rather than the other way around.
Has your experience of singing these mantras changed over time; do you approach them in different or expanded ways than you used to?
Deva: Definitely. Mantras are alive—they reveal themselves in layers. A mantra we’ve sung for decades can still surprise us, taking on new meanings and depths as we evolve.
Miten: It’s like revisiting a sacred place—you see it differently each time, even though it’s the same. Our relationship with the mantras continues to grow, just as we do.
There has been much talk in new age and spiritual circles about the rise of the feminine in our world. Does that speak to your experience as well?
Deva: Yes, and I feel it strongly in the mantras we sing. The divine feminine is about receptivity, intuition and connection—all qualities that are so needed in the world today. I see it in the way people are drawn to these ancient chants, in the longing for something deeper and more heart-centered.
Miten: The balance is shifting. We’ve lived in a world dominated by masculine energy for so long—action, logic, structure. Now, we’re rediscovering the power of stillness, of nurturing, of surrender. It’s not about replacing one with the other, but about bringing them into harmony.
Has your experience recording and performing these mantras changed the way you think about the world?
Deva: My trust has deepened. When we see people from all walks of life, all cultures, coming together to sing, it reminds me that beyond all the divisions, we are one. Especially as we are chanting mantras.
Miten: We’re more connected than I realized. The music Deva and I make, and chanting mantras have dissolved the barriers I created during my day-to-day existence—identification towards countries, between religions, between “us” and “them.” All gone! This path of devotion has taught me that love is universal.
Premal and Miten perform at 4 p.m. April 27 at the Moss Center, 10950 S.W. 211th St., Cutler Bay. Tickets run $45-$108. Call 786/573-5300 or visit mosscenter.org.
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