Frankko Vivo
Episode Description:
In this intimate conversation, Pedram sits down with Frankko Vivo, a musician and ceremony guide who transformed from a basketball player into a guardian of sacred space. Frankko shares how an 82-year-old violinist named Sol changed his life’s trajectory with a single gift, leading him to carve a temple into a Brazilian mountainside over 13 years. Through stories of water infiltrations that forced him to listen to the mountain’s wisdom and ceremonies where improvisation trumps performance, Frankko reveals how voice activation, deep breathing, and authentic frequency work can reconnect us to our spiritual power. This is about research as a personal practice, music as a living goddess, and the courage to follow an unconventional calling.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here or on your favorite podcast platform and check out the Urban Monk Academy here.
Podcast show notes:
[00:00:00] Introduction
- Meeting Frankko Vivo in Austin’s overly air-conditioned studio
- Why most shamans are fakers, but Frankko is the real deal
- From basketball scholarship to backpacking the world
[00:02:00] The Journey Begins
- Knee surgery ends basketball dreams, opens new path
- Six months of travel leads to a year and a half in Africa
- Traveling with a donkey and a clown through African tribes
[00:04:00] Musical Awakening
- Learning didgeridoo, guitar, and juggling on a six-month Mexico-to-Panama road trip
- Discovering improvisation: “I’m not a performer, I’m not a showman”
- Seven years of backpacking and learning six languages
[00:06:00] Building the Temple
- Finding a special place in a Brazilian national park
- Buying land to create a “laboratory of permaculture and art”
- The temple reveals itself through the building process
- Crossing rivers and climbing mountains just to reach the site
[00:09:00] The Retreat House Vision
- True meaning of “retreat”: facing yourself, not being led
- Digging rooms into the mountainside
- Creating a megaphone cone carved into the mountain for natural amplification
[00:12:00] Listening to the Mountain
- Watching the sculpture collapse during a 40-day fast
- Water infiltrations teaching the need for bigger spaces
- Permaculture principles forcing their way into the cave work
- Adapting to the mountain rather than fighting it
[00:16:00] Music as a Living Entity
- Music as one of Frankko’s greatest teachers
- The goddess of music: recognizing music as divine, not just art
- Why Krishna, Shiva, and Ganesha all carry instruments
- Singing worth “three times” – expanding frequency fields
[00:19:00] Ceremony as Research
- Moving beyond the “drug-centric” view of ceremony
- The pillars: singing and dancing together
- Finding your strength, not just relying on the medicine’s strength
- Activating your own power through voice and movement
[00:25:00] The Gift from Sol
- Meeting an 82-year-old violinist named Sol
- Receiving medicine as a gift: “I have to hand you this, I had a dream”
- An angel encounter that handed Frankko his life’s mission
- Facing the unknown with courage
[00:28:00] Bridging Two Worlds
- Coming to Austin for art installations to fund the temple work
- The tethering between high-velocity urban life and slow mountain work
- Why Frankko’s paintings are “frequency portals,” not decoration
- Building the bridge between what’s good “there” and what’s good “here”
[00:33:00] Voice Activation for Children
- Pedram’s realization about his children needing this work
- Voice as connection to spirit, not just musical ability
- Standing in your being through resonant frequency
- Moving beyond superficial throat breathing to deep air
[00:36:00] The Recording Studio Dream
- Why traditional studio recording doesn’t work for Frankko
- Needing a personal laboratory to discover “a new sound”
- The crowdfunding campaign to build a proper recording studio
- Learning to manifest abundance in fun, light ways
[00:41:00] Faith Over Worry
- Launching the vision with vulnerability
- The gap between wanting support and receiving it
- Building community across continents
- Invitation to visit the temple in Brazil
[00:43:00] Closing
- Links to support Frankko’s temple and recording studio project
- Invitation to visit the community in Brazil
Support Frankko Vivo’s Work: Help build the recording studio and retreat house at the mountain temple: https://templovivo.eco.br/support
This episode is for educational purposes only and not intended as medical advice. Consult with qualified healthcare practitioners for personalized guidance.
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