Grammy nominated producer and raver Jon Hopkins hit by Lunch with Maia Bilyk to chat about his experiences with meditation, nature and a psychedelia-inducing breathing method that shaped the making of his fifth studio album.

Jon Hopkins knew he would one day make an album called Singularity – a one hour story where abrasive techno and a full acoustic choir could exist together, with each song connecting to the next. That was 15 years ago. Last year, he finally figured out how to make it.

“With this one I decided to just really go for it with as much integrity as possible. Not thinking at all about trends, not thinking at all about how well it might do or who it might connect with. Just making exactly the record I felt in my heart I could make.”

Obsessed with the idea of connectivity, Hopkins wanted each sound to be linked like growing branches. Quickly he abandoned the hyper-technical process behind the thought and put all of his trust into a different songwriting process: instinct and improv. This set in motion a “crazy emotional” 2 year spiritual quest.

“I discovered that these big schemes you have in your head are kind of there to be explored and then really quickly discarded. I think discarding is generally a very important part of this process. You need to explore ideas to discover they don’t work. It always comes back to the same thing which is don’t plan anything and just see what sounds good.”

But if you ask Jon Hopkins what the most epic trip of his life has been, he’ll say the Cueva de los Tayos. Listen back above to hear about the expedition he was part of in the Amazonian rain forest plus his new cave inspired music (coming soon!).