It's All About The Music Bruce and Julie recorded their first jam session together on January 6th, 1993 in a church in Chicago. With Bruce playing an acoustic guitar and Julie on a 5gallon pail they discovered their desire to create music together out of anything and everything around them. That desire fueled their relationship as it grew out of this musical love they shared and keeps them grounded in the music they create still to this day. Punk Rock Meets Poetry Bruce Hecksel's primary instrument is acoustic guitar. In addition to intense study in many styles from fingerstlye, flamenco, classical, jazz, flat picking, and folk, he studied concert piano, choral compositions and plays bass guitar and percussion on stage. But Bruce started his guitar adventure in a punk rock band named Be Safe Be Seen. At a Canadian music festival in 1991 his electric guitar and amp were stolen and he was left with only his acoustic guitar, which he took as a sign and never played an electric guitar again. As lyricist and lead vocalist of Patchouli, Julie's background is in words. She began reciting poetry when she was seven. She walked around with her steno notepad and recorded all her observations of her young life. Dabbling in violin, drums, and trombone throughout school she worked many of her poems into acapella pieces that she and friends would perform. When she and Bruce met they put the poetry to music and Patchouli began. Julie now plays multiple instruments on and off stage 6& 12 string guitars, upright bass marimbas, flutes and hand drums. The Botany and Theology of Patchouli Bruce attended college and grad school for music and theology. Julie studied ethnobotany (the study of cultures and plants) and environmental science. Together they blend the idea of cultures, music, environment and theology into the positive vibrations of Patchouli music. The song Patchouli was the first instrumental piece they wrote together. It's 1 part ethnobotany, 1 part theology, 2-part harmony, 2-part guitar and a pinch of gypsy caravan. Patchouli's deeply rooted musical base combined with advanced studies in yoga, meditation and other healing disciplines work together to make music with a remarkable capacity to inspire and uplift the human spirit. Power of Two Being a duo has it's advantages. Two home bases for instance. Julie's originally from Chicago. Bruce is from Minneapolis. Patchouli maintains a loyal following and plays in both cities regularly in addition to their heavy touring around the rest of North America. Duets and both perspectives on their long road adventures and stories that become the songs they perform.