About

There are numerous ways of exploring international culture, but few are as ubiquitous, communal and relevant as cuisine and music. What we eat and what we listen to define a large part of our personal, and collective, identity. Food and sound are important entry points to diving deeper into the societies, politics, arts and beliefs of other nations. With globalization occurring on numerous levels, we cannot only contemplate the media-heavy political and religious quarrels dividing a world. There is simply too much to explore to stifle ourselves due to false pretenses.

So goes the creation of InnerContinental. Founded by two industry professionals – one entrenched in the Natural Products Industry, the other a leading international music journalist and DJ – this site is dedicated to exploring and exposing trends in nutrition and music on a global level. Each story has to do with what we put inside of us. It is well known that what goes in is processed and transformed into what we put out. By offering important and timely information on the tastes and sounds of the planet, InnerContinental documents the future of these industries as they happen now.

Jill Ettinger is a well-respected member of the natural products industry. Starting out as a line cook in a food co-op at age 19, she has worked as a retail manager, natural products broker, manufacturer and consultant, helping companies innovate and become socially responsible forces within the natural products marketplace. Focusing on promoting healthy food choices, sustainability and cooperative work ethic, Jill is committed to making these significant values more available in our every day food options. She is a highly effective communicator and leader, bringing clarity and focus together with inspiration to companies in their efforts to enhance their triple bottom line performance.

Since 1999, Jill has worked closely with Golden Temple, makers of Peace Cereal and Yogi Tea. She was their east coast natural accounts manager for two years, and prior to that, spent five years as an account executive in their brokerage firm SGN, where she was exposed to the inner workings of dozens of forward thinking companies like Clif Bar, Organic Valley, Dagoba Chocolate and Guayaki. She is the Program Director for the Socially Responsible Business Awards, founded by Golden Temple in 1994. The award is considered one of the foremost industry distinctions, recognizing manufacturers for their commitment to harmonized, heart-centered business models.

Documenting the evolution of organic food as part of the critical move towards a sustainable future, Jill co-founded InnerContinental.org, a blogsite exploring consciousness as it develops in both our food supplies and cultural lexicons, like music. Jill is also a freelance journalist contributing regularly to the world music magazine Global Rhythm and various other publications.In 2001, Jill completed her yoga teacher certification from the Sivananda School of Hatha Yoga in upstate New York. In addition to patience and flexibility, Yoga offers her many philosophical perspectives she finds applicable to developing new business paradigms for the 21^st century, and beyond.

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Derek Beres is one of the leading figures in international music in America, working in numerous facets of the industry, from journalist and DJ to producer and presenter. He has written three books to date, contributing to dozens of magazines regarding the traditional and digital realms of global music. He has also toured internationally, playing alongside some of the most important figures in the scene today. Well versed in international music, he is equally adamant about world cultures, devoting his life to the path of yoga, Eastern philosophies and world mythology.

Alongside writer Dax-Devlon Ross he founded Outside the Box Publishing in 2005. Among their publications are Beres’ own Global Beat Fusion: The History of the Future of Music, his book about the modern mythology being created by global electronica, as well as Tangled Web: The Best Music Tour You Never Heard Of, about his photojournalistic voyage across America, and a book of essays co-written with Ross, A Staircase of Words: Volume 1, Essays. He has finished three other books: Sound Against Flame: The Process of Yoga and Atheism in America, his comparision of the theories behind yoga and atheism, will be publilshed in June, 2008; A Staircase of Words Vol Two: Novellas, co-written with Ross, will be published in Autumn, 2008; and Mysterious Distance, a novel, will be hitting shelves in early 2009.

As journalist, he has written for MTV Urge, The Village Voice, Paste, Remix, Conscious Choice, XLR8R, Urb, Relix, Tricycle, Afropop and more, reviewing hundreds of CDs and conducting over 450 artist interviews. He spent 2.5 years as Managing Editor of Global Rhythm where he helped usher new strains of world electronica, as well as paying homage to the traditional folk sounds of the planet. He was the Content Creator for Musica Fresca, a national tour featuring Yerba Buena, Voltio, Akwid and Radio Mundial, sponsored by Yahoo! Telemundo. He is currently the world music columnist for PopMatters, and is a regular contributor to Reality Sandwich, a progressive blogsite founded by author Daniel Pinchbeck. Regarding his work, kirtan master Krishna Das said, “Derek Beres is part reporter and part prophet standing in the middle of the eye of the World Music storm that is raining new musical genres on the Earth today, each one fused by the love of song and spirit.”

Beres is a Yoga Instructor, also certified in Thai Yoga Massage and the Budokon teacher’s program with Kancho Cameron Shayne. In 2008 he co-founded the Sacred Strength EarthRise Yoga School alongside Stephanie Culen, at Equinox Fitness. His focus on integrating the various spiritual traditions and mythologies of the world shines through in his physical classes, as well as writing, in which he points out underlying themes within the global search for meaning in life. He currently teaches thirteen weekly classes at Equinox Fitness and one at East West Yoga, as well as holding workshops at these locations, as well as at Exhale Spa. He launched a blog dedicated to exploring natural foods and global music with Jill Ettinger, InnerContinental, in January 2007, and another to highlight themes from his forthcoming book, Sound Against Flame, in December 2007. In the realm of lecturing, Beres is a powerful and animated speaker; his many appearances include both editions of the progressive Mythic Journeys conference in Atlanta, as well as colleges such as Harvard, the University of Alabama and NYU.

As DJ, Beres tours internationally with GlobeSonic Sound System alongside Fabian Alsultany (GlobeSonic Entertainment) and Bill Bragin (Director of Lincoln Center’s Summer Series). He recently produced the successful UFO’s Over Bamako: Vieux Farka Toure Remixed (Modiba), and released his first DJ-mixed CD, Moving Stillness, (One World Music) in 2005. Beres is a regular guest at the inimitable Turntables on the Hudson parties, and was a resident DJ of Kollektiv with Karsh Kale. In New York he has DJ’d at Irving Plaza, Cielo, SOB’s, Nublu, Joe’s Pub, Nokia Theater, Webster Hall, Kush and countless others. Over the years he has performed alongside Jamiroquai, Ojos De Brujo, Sidestepper, Brazilian Girls, Yerba Buena, Antibalas, Cheb i Sabbah and more.

In 2001 Beres co-founded EarthRise Arts alongside painter Craig Anthony Miller, and their Infusion parties are known to blur the lines between music venue, art gallery and theatrical performance. The pair recently relaunched their clothing line, focused on their unique I OM NY t-shirts. In the world of theater, his play Burning Trees was featured in 2002’s Hip-Hop Theater Festival, produced by Danny Hoch.

A 1997 graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Religion, Beres entwines the mythological with the modern, showing how digital music is the first true global folk music as artists everywhere employ computers in their sonic creations. Global Beat Fusion blurs the lines between sacred and profane, highlighting today’s ritual ceremonies within club context. As NPR stated, it “is not a book about music alone. It’s about a growing worldwide community that’s searching for shared experience without politics or corporate involvement. And it could fill many different slots on the bookshelf.”

Just as Beres is a syncretistic artist, his writing has been inspired by numerous sources. He is a fan of Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, Mircea Eliade and Carl Jung, as well as lyrical writers such as Jose Saramago, John Steinbeck, Haruki Murakami and Pablo Neruda. Global Beat Fusion further crosses lines between poetry and academia; pulling from a world of intellectual scholarship, Beres works his studies into daily life in an accessible, thorough and enjoyable manner. Knowing mind and body to be one and the same, his devoted yoga practice translates a wealth of experience onto page, approaching the physical and mental with meticulous care, discipline and fun.

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