Pasāda

Justin DeHart

Pasāda is the Pali word for clarity and serene confidence. It is the quality of mind that allows one to move confidently towards the goal without restlessness and anxiety. Imagine a clear, calm lake…

This project began during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020, when we were all searching for new ways to engage with music outside of the concert hall. I was inspired to use the time to go “inside” and explore the essential sounds of some of my instruments. I was interested in finding repertoire that fostered a sense of intimacy and was healing. I sought a mode of music-making where I could immerse myself in the sounds and examine their timeless aspects up close. This search naturally led me to pieces that were minimal in construction, relatively quiet, largely ambient, and possessed of a “floating” quality—compositions that allowed the instruments to tell their own story, or at least act as a significant collaborator in the creative process.

Justin DeHart, May 2025

Performed, produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Justin DeHart
Design by UnkleFranc
Printed by Studio Q

Released: 12 June 2025
Catalogue: RAT-D156

From Sacramento, California, Justin is a GRAMMY-nominated performer of contemporary musical styles from classical to pop and from world to electronic. He was a member of the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet (LAPQ) from 2009 to 2022, and his musical resume includes performances with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, LA Phil New Music Group, I.C.E., red fish blue fish, and pop legends Stewart Copeland and Cheap Trick. Justin was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for percussion studies in India, and his talents have been featured at concerts around the globe.

Justin appears on over 100 solo, chamber and contemporary releases on MCA, Sony, Mode, Innova, Sono Luminus, Albany, New World, HatHut, Rattle, Populist, Bridge, Sub Pop, and Skunk Records. His debut solo album entitled Strange Paths on Innova Recordings (works by Brian Ferneyhough, Iannis Xenakis, Michael Gordon and Stuart Saunders Smith) was lauded as “mesmerizing” by Percussive Notes for his “palette of sounds and intricate weaving of lines.” The Complete Early Percussion Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen on MODE Records won the Deutscheschallplattenkritikpreis for the best new music release in 2015. Justin was a finalist for Te Kaipuoro Inamata Toa | Best Classical Artist Aotearoa Music Award for his 2021 Rattle debut, L andfall: New Zealand Percussion Volume 1.

Justin holds a B.M. degree from CSU Sacramento, an M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts, and a D.M.A. from UC San Diego. An Associate Professor of Music at the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ), Justin is a YAMAHA Performing Artist and an endorser of Black Swamp Percussion, REMO, Sabian, and Innovative Percussion Inc.