I started listening to classic rock like Led Zeppelin, the Doors and the Stones and from then on I got more and more exposed and the more I listened the more I got curious about the influences behind these groups. Many of those influences were bluesmen and so, by natural progression, I got turned on to the blues.
When I was studying in the States, I got even more exposed to this fascinating genre, about songs so true-to-life and got far deeper into the blues.
So I think the age I really got into pure blues was around 16 or 17. It’s certainly a stress buster to play music and of course to listen to music and I think for me, personally for music... well, some people like shopping, some people like sports, to lift their spirits.
For me, that mood changer has always been music and I certainly think it helps in a profession like mine because music and also the lyrics are also responsible for my ideological dispositions. So many artistes like Bob Dylan or Jim Morrison have shaped my thinking not just musically but even politically.
The scenario of blues in India is certainly growing and evolving and there are a lot of exciting homegrown bands and talent. In some ways, Indian blues artistes are holding on to the original vision of the blues and not diluting things and are making blues into different sounds but trying to retain the rawness of the blues. Soulmate is the first band that comes to mind. While it’s not mainstream, it’s certainly vibrant.
Blues entered India in the ’50s without people consciously realising it. It spread almost organically when rock 'n roll came in. A lot of the Bollywood music themes were also inspired by that and some of the old Elvis films too. Especially the hairstyles! Jazz, in a sense, entered India around the same time through the Marshall Plan post WW2.
It travelled abroad with the American armed forces. It was also a conscious decision as the US government at the time wanted to export American culture and that involved sending the most high profile artistes of the time from Duke Ellington to Count Basie to different countries around the world.
They were here in Mumbai too where they influenced a whole genre of artistes to pick up Western instruments and play them. So the blues has been around in India for a long time. In fact when the Beatles craze hit India in the ’60s the bedrock for rock n' roll had already been laid by their predecessors.
When I practice, I don’t really have a particular song in mind beforehand. It depends what I’m practising on. If it’s an acoustic guitar I could be playing something bluesy and soloing, I could be doing country style.
If electric again some soloing or I'd turn up the distortion and play something more punk so there’s no fixed genre that I practice to or on. I just let my fingers run and see where it goes.
I don’t collaborate with others as often as I’d like to. I’ve had a few bands. One in Delhi called Tightrope and one in Mumbai called Third Degree and we did only a few gigs, all with professional musicians.
I wish I could do it more often. My schedule though is always erratic and it’s extremely disrespectful to professional musicians to commit to a time and then not be there. So I choose to do this when I have time to myself.
For me, one unforgettable experience was interacting with Buddy Guy and being invited to play with him onstage. It was quite a surreal moment for me because without a doubt Buddy Guy is the greatest blues man alive today. He is also one of the most influential bluesmen that has ever existed.
Changes I’d like to see in the Indian music industry... The influence of technology. I think a good result of the tech boom and people downloading music is that now artistes are earning revenue from touring and playing live rather from publishing. Ultimately you have to be able to play live to be a functioning artiste or group.
So it’s good that technology has got music full circle and artistes are now forced to be adroit and cogent enough to deliver a performance and play live in front of an audience and I would like that music should continue to be about playing live and encouraging more and more artistes.
While technology hasn’t made new musicians as rich as they did with people 20-30 years ago I think that’s a good thing for the consumer as well.
— Co-ordinated by Reagan Gavin Rasquinha
