Tell us about your musical beginnings. Given the kind of musical lineage you have, music must have been by default for you?

Yes, blessed with music and I do believe God had already planned my destiny to be a vocalist even before i did. There’s no other way I can explain how I recorded with veteran composer, Ilaiyaraja at the age of 4 in Mani Ratnam’s national award winning classic film Anjali. But music was not a default profession.. My father was always particular that if I wanted to be a singer when I grew up, I should do atleast 8 hours of practice everyday! Which I even did.. So wouldn’t say it was easy.. Sweat, tears and hours of patience went into it. But I do feel blessed as I learnt Hindustani classical music from my own grandfather Pandit Pratap Narayan ji (elder brother of Padma Vibhushan – Pandit Jasraj ji)

So what was your contribution in the Hindi dub of Anjali? Was it as a dubbing artist or as a singer?

I sang in all the songs.. And I also dubbed for the little girl in the Hindi version of the film.. Basically both.

You have been part of ARR’s Jai Ho tour and his other concerts. How did that opportunity come about?

The tour was one of the best experiences of my life.. Working with AR Rahman is something you’d always cherish.. Standing on the same stage as him and performing his songs to an audience of almost 80 thousand people screaming at you.. That’s something that will always stay with me forever..

I did a TV show with him on the channel 9x called Mission Ustaad.. Quite a unique show and ahead of its time. It had Bollywood singers composing music and those songs were being judged by AR Rahman and Javed Akhtar.. Rahman sir spotted me on that show and asked to join him on his world tour.. It’s been a beautiful 4 years now and I have travelled with him to every corner of the world.

Though you have been part of his concerts you are yet to sing a song for ARR. Any movie projects coming up?

Now that’s a secret I cannot reveal.. Only time will tell

But in terms of work, I’ve had some good releases in Bollywood in 2011 with Yamla Pagla Deewana, Tell Me O Khuda, Angel, Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.. All the songs which I sang were hits so i can only thank God and my audience for all the love.. Even in Telugu I’ve had some amazing songs out with Panjaa, Bodyguard, Badrinath which has also just got me a nomination for best singer.. And yes I’d love to sing more tamil songs too.. Vettai has just released.

You are one of the few Bollywood singers to have made fair inroads into South Indian music scene. How did that start off? And how has the experience been? Did the languages present a major challenge?

Singing in languages comes naturally to me.. I started recording Sanskrit albums with Pandit Jasraj ji when I was only 14 years old.. And I was the lead singer in all those albums.. They are Mahalakshmi, Dashavatar, Sukh Samriddhi Suraksha & Ganesha (all released by Times Music). In fact, Mahalakshmi is one of the biggest albums in terms of sales and sells over 20 lac copies every year during Diwali, even today.

I won my first Filmfare award for a Telugu song – Nenani Neevani from Kotha Bangaru Lokam.. That’s a bigger reward for me than anything else as a singer coz it’s been given to me for a language I cant even speak.. My grand uncle Pandit Jasraj ji, told me that it is the biggest compliment for a vocalist to be acknowledged in a language not known to him/her.. And now i truly believe so.. Coz everytime I meet someone from South India they come up and tell me that they hear the song atleast 20 times a day.. Now that’s my biggest award. This adulation means the world to me. I am also nominated this year for my song for MM Kreem (a composer I regard as one of the greatest in our country) for a song Vasudhaara from Badrinath which is a duet with him as well.

Tell us about your sister and her role in your musical life.

My sister is my greatest inspiration. She taught me everything about film music that I know today. we both have the same training, but our sensibilities have a wide variation and our styles are very different. Our approaches to life and work are different too. She’s quieter than I am, but I am equally an introvert. we come from a very protected home and it wasn’t easy to break into an industry which is all about glamour and constantly talking about yourself.. I’ve technically been working here for 11 years (Mohabbatein was my first film, at age 12) but even today, I feel like I dont know anything. So it’s not a very simple industry to work in.. Trends and times change very soon here. But I believe if you work hard, people do acknowledge it sooner or later.

My sister has been my biggest strengths at all times and all phases of my career.. She has faced more detractors than I have, but she’s a power house of talent and I believe when you are blessed by God and have worked hard, you will surely make a mark with your work. She’s truly a woman of substance.

You also tried your hand at lyrics recently. Any more plans on those lines?

I write sometimes and that’s something I usually don’t share with anyone. Haha.

But yes, I did write my songs in HISS. I would love to write my own songs for my albums.

Though I believe my sister Shraddha is a better writer & composer than me. She’s incredibly talented and even AR Rahman sir said this in one the episodes of Mission Ustaad, where she won the competition for Best Composer. She’s now even writing lyrics for films and composing as well.

Any plans to start off composing yourself?

Not really for me.. My focus is more towards vocals.. But I do so, everytime I get a chance as composing music is a very fulfilling experience.

Tell us about your production company. What plans with that?

We do events, albums and studio work.. So new talents are always welcome to share their work.

We know that your tryst with percussion began at a very early age. But your site does not speak of who your teachers were. Could you tell us that?

I have never had a formal teacher, actually, being self-taught. Well, I started playing in school bands and such, basically ‘teaching’ myself as I went along. In those days ( we’re talking 1970′s ), you listened to tapes, vinyl, whatever you could get your hands on, and you went to see as many gigs as you could. You created a DIY academy where you are part student and part teacher to yourself. Some of the drummers I liked then were Steve Sequiera. He played with Louis Banks for a bit and I heard him in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar that Alyque Padamsee had put up. That was fantastic production,  and had a live band on stage with the actors playing all the songs and score. Brilliant. Also, Jerry D’ Moss. A killing drummer who’s now in Hamburg, driving cabs I heard. What a waste. He was the finest drummer around.,So you exposed yourself in as many ways as you could, and I suppose all the drummers you heard on tape and saw live, were all your teachers in some way. I got into Indian percussion much later on. I think I needed my drumming foundation to be solid before I got into anything else, although Indian music was in my house all along, my mother being the legendary dancer, Sitara Devi. I did become a student of the greatest of masters, Ustad Allarakha, when I was about 14, although I didn’t pursue my tabla studies too far. I was consumed by drums and he gave me his blessings to follow my heart, while instilling in me a deep sense for complex Indian poly rhythms. I currently draw inspiration from Sridhar Parthsarathy, a great mridangam player who plays with me often. He’s impacted quite a few western drum set players, all for the better. For me the teaching has come more in the way of an approach on the drums, rather than a literal translation of Indian rhythms on to the drum set.

You got into Bollywood quite early on, in the 80s. How did that come about?

I got into films initially to stay out of college. It’s a long story, but let’s say my teachers during my first year science term weren’t convinced that I could split the atom. After much TV style drama, my mother and I came to an agreement that if I could show that my ‘infatuation’ with the drums wasn’t a passing phase and I could actually make a living doing it, then I didn’t need to get my a** back into college. The late Kalyan ji, of Kalyan ji / Anand ji fame, used to come over and have chai with my mother after his evening walk. On one such evening, when I was about 16, he heard me practicing and asked to meet me. On entering my room and seeing me on my own, he remarked, ” I thought there was more than one person playing in here”. He then invited me to my first recording session for a film called Professor Pyarelal. Funny, as I ended up playing a lot with Pyarelal of Laxmikant / Pyarelal fame. And so it began.

You have had a long fruitful relationship with ARR. How did you meet? How has it been working with the man?

I met ARR when he was still Dilip. He used to come to Bombay to do adverts and we shared the same studio. He also used my equipment while he was in town as it was pretty much the same setup he had in Chennai. We then met at an award ceremony and he called me down to work on the song Humma. Since then, I’ve worked on quite a few films with him, the last one being Rockstar. Playing that music at the live promotional gig was a blast.We’ve had a great working relationship, and more importantly, we remain very close friends with a deep love and mutual respect for one another. Even when it comes to our gear and sonic space, we share the same expectations. I have a my own great set-up in Mumbai, Nirvana Studio, which is my base, and the only other composer who regularly uses it is ARR. Its a great arrangement – I work days, he works nights:) Sometimes I’m part of the night shift along with him too.

John McLaughlin is another man you have of late been quite associated with, being part of his 4th Dimension tour et al. Tell us about the experience of working with one of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time.

I first met John ji at Ustad Zakir Hussain’s commemorative concert to his father on February 3rd, 2007. We had an impromptu jam and he cast me as the drummer on his album, ‘Floating Point’. There’s always been a desire to take that relationship forward. We then met in Raleigh, North Carolina in November last year as part of the New Universe Music Festival where both of us were performing. I remember walking back to the hotel with John ji, and he turned to me and said, ‘Sir, we have to play together, you know’. To which I replied, ‘Sir, you have my number, and acceptance, anytime you want’. He then called me early this year and I was part of The 4th Dimension Summer tour 2011. I’m off at the end of the month to record a new 4th Dimension album which will be followed by a 2012 Fall tour.I feel extremely blessed to be associated with both the masters, John McLaughlin and Ustad Zakir Hussain. I consider them both mentors, not only as far as music is concerned, but also role model human beings.

Bada Boom. Your debut full-fledged album. Your long-cherished dream, if I may call it that. And fittingly featuring a fabulous lineup of artists. So how long did you prepare for this one? And how did you go about it?

I think the desire to put something out was kindled while recording ‘Floating Point’ with John ji. It then turned into, and I quote a title of the first Mahavishnu Orchestra album, an Inner Mounting Flame which could only feed on the highest creative output I was capable of. I got through the next couple of years putting to bed all the commercial commitments I had undertaken. By late 2009, I started seriously composing and recording various artists all over the world. Once I’d receive their parts via the Internet, I would further tweak the arrangements to incorporate some shadow of an idea I was able to glean from their performances. Bada Boom was completed towards Sept-Oct of 2010, (when I was neck deep in the Commonwealth Games music score production!) and released late 2010. I’m very fortunate to have all those incredible musicians on it, and I’m very proud of it as well.

Coming to current matters, tell us about MTV Unplugged. How has the experience been? How much of a challenge was it, given the legacy that the brand Unplugged carries with it?

Let me state right at the onset that I have never been swayed by current trends, nor challenged by ‘legacies’. We as a nation react very differently to music and music plays a large part of our social consciousness. Unplugged is an international format belonging to MTV where popular artists perform their hits in an acoustic format. No electronics, amps or speakers. acoustic instruments only.This allows, in my opinion, a more intimate setting for the artist, aided largely by the fact that there is a live audience present. Now when I say acoustic, I don’t necessarily mean soft. If you’ve seen some Unplugged artists perform on the international version, it can get loud. We are a groove committed nation. Every aspect of our social life has rhythm embedded in it. Weddings, religious festivals, etc. You put a dhol in the mix, on stage, and you’ve got some serious celebration going on. So, I went into the series with an open mind, knowing that, as with everything else, India thinks differently. This is not to say that there were no quiet moments. There were plenty of those too. I think it was a great mix of artists, a killer house band that made my life very easy, a great channel that allowed me complete creative freedom and a production house that brought high standards of visual entertainment to the table. I have to say, at the end, that it was one of my most enjoyable experiences. It put me in touch with all these wonderful artists and singers who I may never had a chance to work with in the normal scheme of things. The spin that MTV has put on this show is allowing independent non-film music to be included into the show. As we all know, when you say ‘hit’ music in India, it’s predominantly film music, as it is the largest selling and the most listened to music in our country. If we were to limit the show to just that format, then I think it would have limited us and the artists to some degree. Including Indie music allowed us to explore non film artists, as well as bring on some folk artists and instrumentalists. This move has also given Indie music a huge platform. So, all in all, I’m very happy with the show and I’m truly grateful to have been a part of it. More power to MTV.

Can we expect a next season for Unplugged? If you really look at the lineup from season 1, the only outfit that really qualifies as not-so-established from the Indie scene is Advaita. Do you think Unplugged should focus more on that segment?

I’m not sure what MTV’s plans are for the next round. I suppose there should be a follow up since the response to this season has been extremely positive. As I mentioned, Indie music got a boost with Unplugged and, yes, I think this is an area that needs all the support it can get, so fingers crossed that this trend continues.

Would you like to tell us about other current projects in progress/future projects in line?

Right now, I’m rehearsing and preparing for the Chivas Studio shows in Delhi and Mumbai.  I’m off at the end of the month to record a new 4th Dimension album with John ji, which will be followed by our tour in the Fall of 2012. There’s a tour of India with Ustad Zakir Hussain through Dec 2011 and Jan 2012. I’m also currently working on an album with Carnatic electric mandolin maestro U. Shrinivas ji. So, I’m fairly busy for a while.

Tell us more about Chivas Studio. What kind of music can we look forward to? There is apparently fashion, gourmet et al. The music will not be sidelined, hopefully? And is it just in Mumbai and Delhi or can we expect it in other cities as well?

Chivas studio, as I’m sure you’re aware, is a property where Chivas brings together many creative people to collaborate and present something new and unique. In this case, it is by way of theatre, painting and photography. It’s proving to be so much fun working with Rohan and all the artists involved. The music is the driving force, so no, it won’t be sidelined. There’s a concert in Delhi and then in Bombay. I hope they take it to more cities, but I suppose that’s a decision that the people at Chivas will have to take.

You have collaborated with almost every big name in the music world in the close to three decades that you have been around. But is there anything still left on that wish list?

Not really. I’m at a point where I want to study Indian classical music in all seriousness. It’s such a deep art form and one lifetime is not enough. I suppose one makes a wish list when one is a master and chooses to work with another master. I’m still a student, so…

Apart from being a percussionist, you have donned the hats of a composer, arranger, and producer. How do the three roles differ?

I think it’s like 3 sides of a triangle. Being a composer, arranger or producer has individual aspects to their execution but all have a meeting point at the end. One has to keep track of the other as one is working on a project. They are separate, yet connected. Makes sense?

If we were to ask you to choose your favorite role from the above four, which one would that be?

Ah, that is a difficult question, though when push comes to shove, playing for a live, well informed audience holds a special place in my heart. It is the most joy to share your music with people, one on one.

Not so long ago a lot of music aficionados were grooving to the tunes of No One Killed Jessica, particularly the one that opened with the tongue-twister-esque Da.Da.Da.Da.Da.Da.Dlli Dilli. The girl who sang this tongue twister, Aditi Singh Sharma has spent a major part of her career singing such attitude-loaded songs, both in Bollywood and off it, where she has part of rock bands and the like. We decided to catch up with the lady in between her madly hectic schedule and know more about her. And here is what we found.

Your repertoire so far is primarily comprised of western-flavored songs. And you seem to be naturally fluent with such songs. Has it to do with the training you might have received? Have you trained in Indian classical?

My mother got me trained in Hindustani classical when i was 4 years old. i dont remember much of it, but i had performed on stage in school etc when i was 5 and used to sing ‘raags’ (which i have no recollection of). when i was in 3rd grade we moved to Russia (Moscow) which is where i got my Pop influence from. also, listened to a lot of international music in general. all this mixed together is what has translated to my current work.

How did you end up in Bollywood? Tell us about your journey that got you here. Have you been part of some band before this?

I’ve been a front woman in a band called CRIMSON which was a Delhi-based Rock band. after which, I sang in a band called LEVEL 9 which was a Delhi – based Blues/Pop/Rock band with whom I performed at the GIR (Great Indian Rockshow). we opened day 2 & I’m one of the few lucky female rockers to have successfully set foot on the GIR stage. after which, currenly im with my Pop/Bollywood/Dance set-up GROOVE ADDA. It’s great to be performing my own film songs too =)

I never thought I would end up being a playback singer, when i came back from Russia i wasnt very fluent with Hindi & my singing always had a big big western influence. I worked on it gradually and am still working on it. I had met Ehsaan (SEL) at the JD Rock Awards 2007 if I remember, thats how I got my first trip & song in Mumbai called Chhoti Si (Highschool Musical 2) and was priveleged to have stepped foot in Mumbai & kickstarted by working with Shankar Ehsaan Loy.

At one of the Level9 gigs at Zenzi, Bandra, Amit Trivedi was there to watch us gig. I asked him if I could come over to his studio to play him my work .. which is how I landed up giving a shot to ‘Yahi Meri Zindagi Hai’ which pretty much changed my zindagi haha.

You have sung a fair number of songs for Amit Trivedi.

To tell you honestly, I still wait for a call from Amit to get a chance to work with him. I’m such a big fan of his work. Fair number of songs? Really?  Just Yahi Meri Zindagi Hai, Aali Re, Dilli & a small part in Meri Rooh (Admissions Open). I dont think these are enough =)

Many of your contemporaries have made inroads into other industries, primarily South. Have you got any offers?

I’ve been good with languages since I’ve been travelling so much. I went to kinder garten in Poland (Warsaw) then back to India then travelled a lot to Canada since my siblings live there, then lived in Moscow for 5 years. I’ve sung in French, Japanese, Spanish & Russian. in India, I’ve sung a rock song in Marathi which is yet to release and I’ve sung a few of my ads in 7 or 8 different languages. I’m still looking forward to getting a chance to sing in all other languages.

You were one of the singers in the recent Ram Sampath ad for Airtel. Tell us a bit about your ad side of things.

I travel a lot with Groove Adda and sadly many times I’m not in town when I’ve been called for work. That’s a battle for all singers who juggle between the stage & studio, but I’ve still managed to sing on a few ads. Airtel, Lotus Herbals Safesun, Ponds Dreamflower, Ponds no soap wash, Sunfeast cookies just to name a few.

Remember seeing your name at an unexpected place recently. As lyricist, that too Russian lyrics, for Darling from 7KM. Tell us about it. How did that come about?

Haha. Oh ya. I had worked with Clinton-Hitesh on a track earlier on & wrote a small Russian rap for it. It sounded way cool, so they thought of me while they were working on Darling since its based on the russian song ‘Kalinka’. I tried to write a small part for it, I think it sounds way cool !!

Do you do composing too, given your experience of having worked with various bands? Or were you just into vocals then?

I haven’t found much time for composing yet apart from the time that I’m at a studio and am working on a part either I’m writing or freestyling on. Right now, just happy travelling with Groove Adda & working on the various film songs, ads & getting to share stage with super artistes. i just opened for Mohit Chauhan in Australia & New Zealand. also, just played 2 shows with Agnee in Delhi & Mumbai. have had the awesome experience of sharing stage with Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Amit Trivedi, Parikrama, Them Clones etc. to name a few.

Upcoming projects? Private album plans?

I have had 11 film song releases this year. I feel very fortunate and blessed. Upcoming projects – nothing yet. But am still happy in my head with the 11 film songs this year & the few ads & the many stage shows & the insane travel.

Singing in movies, singing for ads, singing for your rock bands. Which would be your choice? And how would the three compare? Obviously there are differences? 

Singing in a studio & performing on stage are 2 totally different things. I always say that we singers, are actors too. singing for ads & film songs is always fun because there is so much to work on in terms of your texture and diction and pronunciation and style and I’ve been so fortunate that my listeners have liked all my work & some of them think I’m versatile and I’ve gotten great support & feedback for all my work.

Being on stage for me is an unexplainable feeling. I’ve been on stage for so long now & it really feels like home!! It’s comfort, madness, crazy, happy, and i LOVE the boys in Groove Adda. My best friend & super bassist Gaurav Balani totally gets me going on stage every time and the rest of the boys are CRAZY – Bhaskar Gurung (guitars), Vishal Mehta (drums), Prabir Sekhri (keys). You should come watch one of our gigs sometime soon =)

Raghu Dixit. The man has been in the habit of making waves from the time he released his debut album, something he got the illustrious Vishal-Shekhar to produce and launch as their debut venture. The composers did not miss, the hatke sort of tunes caught everyone’s attention, India and abroad – particularly in the UK. Before long Raghu and his boys were topping the iTunes World Music charts in UK and playing at Glastonbury and the like. In between he also forayed into film music, starting off with Kannada. The Bollywood debut had to wait, but it did finally happen a few days back. And a remarkable one there too, Dheaon Dheaon especially turning out to be a major hit. So we present to you an interview with the man. A big thank you to Bhairavi Jhaveri and Neysa Mendes of Little Big Noise for making this interview possible! Read on then.

Tell us a bit about your initial days, the musical beginnings.

I started my music career very late, at least compared to the young kids I see doing music these days. And I started at the absolute beginning, I learnt to play the guitar, my instrument of choice, only when I was 19 and then wrote my own songs because it was easier than trying to learn songs by all the bands I was listening to those days!

I come from a traditional Indian family and yes, my parents were definitely not thrilled at my musical inclination but if you look at it from their point of view, all they want is for you to be successful and they are trying to push you towards things they know. Now my Mum absolutely loves it that I am a musician!

The music was always in me! It just took that long to come out and make itself heard. In the meantime, life had taken me to Belgium where I was working as a microbiologist. It was there that one of my colleagues sent my song to a local radio station and looking at the fantastic response they got, convinced me to get back and follow my passion.

Never really a matter of great thought…which ever language comes first and sounds great in a particular melody, is used! No bias really! But singing in my own mother tongue ‘Kannada’ (spoken in Karnataka) has given me great joy simply because I find an inexplicable peace when I sing in Kannada and also suddenly I am singing to a wider audience than I ever imagined. I doubt if I would ever become this popular if I had sung in English! But no matter what language I sing in, I make it a point to explain each song before I perform…it’s very important for me to make my audience relate to what I am singing…in their joy lies my ecstasy!

The tour was a result of planning for almost a year now! We toured the UK in the summer of 2009 and that was when we got some very nice reviews and had Robert, Paul and the team from Jenral / Sound Advice come forward and offer to manage us. Over the year, we were in discussions about the management and future tours of the UK and Europe to start with and the rest of the world as we go along, and this is the first of such tours!

So you can say this was a very well planned and executed tour aimed at specifically increasing our audience base and catching the attention of the right people in the UK and Europe. In fact, after a very successful first leg, we have increased the number of bookings we have for the next leg in July and have received some very interesting offers for gigs during the rest of the year and also for next year.

Coming to your score for MFK, you debuted in Kannada films way back in 2008 and did some 3 soundtracks in between. Why did the Bollywood debut take so long (I am discounting the one song in QGM)?

Well, I was waiting for someone to ask , but seriously, the last couple of years I’ve been focusing on building a touring career outside India and playing a LOT of live shows, and I had not been seeking any work in Bollywood actively. So when Ashish Patil (Head of Y Films) called me for this project, the timing was perfect.

The situation demanded a light hearted and yet at the same time, a catchy, dance number and I think Dheaon Dheaon is the perfect combination of a melody that sticks in your head with some insane lyrics written by the amazing Anvita Dutt. When I made Vishal hear the scratch version of the song and showed him the lyrics, he loved it and it did not take long to finish that song.

I have also introduced the south Indian percussive dance and music form of tapanguchi in ‘Dheaon Dheaon’. I did this mainly because Bollywood’s association with dance music has also been as far as Bhangra or disco. So through this song, we are introducing a whole new form of dance music in Hindi film music. It was a way to showcase something about where I am from.

The material for the second album is ready and being road tested right now. Its just that we’ve put over 12 years of effort into the first album and I would really like to ensure we have done all that we can to promote it tour with it before we put something new out there. That said, you can expect to hear some good news on the album front by the end of this year!

You can read our review of Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge here.

A lot of people would think you are European. But you were born in India. Mind telling us a bit about your family background?

My father first came to India in 1957 and I was born in South India, spending the first 6 years of my life in Chennai and Bangalore. My schooling and University was in New Zealand and I then moved to London were I began my career in music composition and production.

When did you decide to take up music as a career? What inspired you?

I used to drive my parents crazy tapping out rhythms on the dining room table so they bought me a drum set at 13. I moved on to guitar and piano around 15 and started composing songs at 16. I was influenced by great songwriters like Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Bill Withers. I always liked a mix of styles and appreciated well written songs from many different genres.

After completing music school, you had initially done some music production in London. What made you shift back to India?

India captures some people’s imaginations and I happen to be one of them. I had been thinking about living in India for many years before I finally decided to shift here. I wish I had come earlier.

Your first project in India was Lucky Ali’s Sunoh which was quite a hit. You have given music to a lot of ads and produced some fantastic music. Tell us more about your career.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to create music in many different styles. You never know when something is going to be successful. I wasn’t really aware of the success of ‘Sunoh’ while I was living in London. Getting into music for TV adverts has been great for my work ethic and musical mind. It’s perfect for a ‘jack of all trades master of none’ type composer like me.

The reason you are talk of the town today is “Khoya Khoya Chaand”. Tell us how you landed up with the job and about working with Prashant Pillai and Bejoy Nambiar.

I haven’t worked with Prashant, I’ve only met him once. Bejoy is a fantastic guy to work with, but I made Khoya Khoya Chand a year before Shaitan was made. Bejoy came over and listened to the songs from my album and he chose that song because it worked amazingly well with his gritty shootout sequence.

On to the album of the moment – The Bartender. Tell us about how you got the idea for such an ambitious project of reinventing 10 classics. Two of the songs are from your past works, one from the Coke ad. So were you working on this right when the ad happened, or did all that spur you on to this project?

The Coke ad with Imran and Kalki on the bus was my first reinvention of a Bollywood classic. Then I started listening to a lot of vintage Bollywood, in particular Geeta Dutt. My girlfriend encouraged me to make the album.

So how did you go about selecting the songs for the album?

Purely by listening, enjoying then playing around with chord progressions and grooves and bass lines. I chose songs that seduced me.

The inspiration behind choosing female voices for all songs, considering there are songs like Pukarta Chala Hoon Main which have male-specific lyrics?

Hearing females sing male songs can be refreshing, plus I think it makes the album sexier, at least for me.

Suman Sridhar is a terrific singer. And she seems to be your choice collaborator. Tell us more about your works with her. How did you first collaborate?

Our first song was that same Coke ad ‘Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho’. We work well together. I often record her with a very basic track and then change all the music after. She has a very striking voice, totally unique.

What current and future projects apart from the album? Any complete Bollywood soundtracks in the pipeline?

The album launch and the upcoming live gig have kept me busy along with TV ad music most days, plus I am working on a new Bartender album.

Have you had international collabs too, or have you just focused on the Indian scene?

I’m working on the songs for my own international film script. Other than that, I’m happily focused on music in India for now.

Shruti Pathak

Tell us a bit about your background. How did you land up in Bollywood?
I’m born and brought up in Ahmedabad. Music is all I wanted to do since childhood, so i finished my Masters with Psychology and moved to Mumbai, to pursue singing as a career.

Almost all your songs so far have been classical-based. How long have you been trained in Classical Music?
Yeah, most of my songs have been classical-based. Be it Paayaliya or Rasiya. And it comes naturally to me cause I’ve been training since I was 13.

Paayaliya is arguably one of the best songs from Dev.D. What’s the story behind the lyrics of Paayaliya? How did you end up writing the song? And how come you didn’t write any more lyrics after that?
Paayaliya is my favorite too. Amit (Trivedi) is a very dear friend for a long time. We used to jam up, write songs together. When he composed Paayaliya, he knew the song was for me and when he played it to me, I instantly fell in love with the song and I told him I wanted to write it too. And he let me, cause he could trust me with it. He knew, I felt the song as much as he did. We were on same page while writing the song, so it fell in place beautifully.
Would love to write for other composers as well. Shout-out to all…

I guess the biggest news at the moment for you would be Coke Studio. How was the experience – Leslie Lewis’ arrangement, the in-house band et al? Could you tell us a bit about the songs you have recorded? And how would you rate Coke Studio India versus Coke Studio the original Pakistani edition?
Ya, I’m very excited too. Coke Studio has set a benchmark for music shows and CS Pakistan is brand in itself. I’m glad, India edition has kick-started. Its a high being a part of such a brilliant show, doing some real good music and collaborating with different artists, which we don’t get to do in playback. I had a blast recording. And it gives me immense pleasure to share that, I’m the only one who’s featured in two episodes. The one with Shafqat (Amanat Ali Khan) was the most memorable experience. He is a fabulous artist and not just that he is one of the nicest people I know. Had a wonderful time recording with him, Kya haal sunawan from his first album. And second one was a folk song I did with Papon who’s again a brilliant artist. Was a very different experience. He sang an Assami folk song going into my song which was a Gujarati folk. Two different cultures, different kind of music all together, but the way Leslie (Lewis) produced it, was so mesmerizing. The blend was so smooth and flawless. It was a beautiful ambience on the sets while recording.
India can never go wrong when it comes to music. We have so many states, languages, cultures, traditions. And hence wide range of variety in music and lot many artists. India is full of talent. We have so much music and art to cater, only missing was the platform, but now we have Coke Studio, and trust me its gonna bring out some real GOOD stuff.

You happened to record for Karsh Kale’s new album Cinema also, one of the few people from Bollywood to feature in that work. How did you bag that one?
I guess I’ve been very lucky with all my projects. And Cinema is also one of them. Always wanted to work with Karsh Kale, and through Salim Merchant I met Karsh, and he gave me MAA. That’s my track on his latest album CINEMA. I totally love the track. Its about mother earth. Beautiful concept!! Must hear [And it truly is a beauty. Go listen to Maa here.]

Quite a few Bollywood singers have come out with private albums. Do you have any such plans?
I want to do my own music. Will happen soon. Hopefully!

There is a heavy influx of new singers into Bollywood from reality shows these days, though unfortunately not many make it big. What is your take on reality shows?

I’m not much in favor of reality shows. As you put it correctly, heavy influx of singers. So many shows, so many singers, so much competition, TRP, melodrama, fake hype, and in the bargain music suffers. But after all this, there are couple of good singers found too.

Every singer has his/her idol. Who would you consider your biggest influence?
Many. In fact, every musician I’ve heard has inspired me in some way or the other. Very difficult to name one.

Upcoming/ongoing projects – film or otherwise?
Yes! Some fun stuff coming up. RA-ONE being one of them. And the rest I won’t be able to speak about, right now. But I promise to reach out to all music lovers soon with more music

Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya. You are not brothers obviously. So what is the connection? How did Sachin-Jigar happen?

We basically met to share work load. Both of us were doing well in television, but needed support to fetch more work and perform better. There is this thing called coincidence. We naturally gelled; there was the Gujju connect, we complemented each others’ weaknesses etc. so it was destiny I guess.
Tell us a bit about your musical upbringing, classical training et al? We know that Sachin used to sing for movies as a child, when did being a composer occur to you in place of taking up singing professionally?

Oh yes I started learning hindustani classical vocals at the age of six. I really wanted to be a singer then, but I wasn’t enjoying it so much. Then came Roja and A R Rahman swept a whole lot of young guys like me off their feet. It revolutionised the flow of things. I loved music but singing wasn’t enough. After repeatedly listening to Roja I was sure that composing music, recording it and arranging it myself was all I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That’s when I picked up learning the keyboards.
From assisting the traditional-oriented Rajesh Roshan to working for Pritam to developing your own sound, you have seen a lot of transition in your musical career. So what have you adopted from your previous masters, and what have you tried to avoid from those days?

Yes its been quite a journey. Raju bhai and the Roshans gave us the feel of the level at which we had to raise ourselves, the big cinema 70mm sound. We also learned the lessons of how to develop a melody that can sustain itself in the hearts of audience and never leave. But our stint at Pritam sir was the real twist in the tale. He’s a master of the job. From composing to the final stage of mastering he has laid down a procedure and follows it faithfully. According to our skills he divided us in following up with different steps of the big procedure. We learnt lots about sound designing – how to undo dragging a song, how to understand a director, and how to produce the big fat commercial sound of Bollywood.

Both these institutions taught us so much and help us meet the who’s who of the musician and singer community. We developed a certain goodwill and met angels like Bombay Vikings fame Neeraj shridhar. He helped us at every step once we became independent.

When working as a duo, do you divide work as independent artists or collaborate on each and everything you work upon?

While one is sitting on the machine creating music the other sits quietly at the back. That’s a crucial place to be, because from the back you can see even more clearly. So you can give ideas or avoid disturbing. Once satisfied the first one gives way to the other to add on. So its purely collaboration. Even in live dubs and post production we need each other continuously. We’ve strong and weak areas individually, but together we are a comprehensive team. In fact we’ve so gelled that we’ve taken our company beyond the studio and work. We are a family now!

Did the controversy surrounding Teree Sang affect your working in any manner?

There was hardly any awareness till we finished composing for Teree Sang, Satishji and Sameer sir armoured us. We’ve worked for every one as arrangers including the gentleman involved in the controversy. We’re morally too strong to do a film that a senior has already worked on. But the facts were hidden from us and it only helped us do the job. We had nothing to lose so we gave it our best. Later we learnt the whole thing. But it was the kind words of Sameer sir that helped us deal with the shock. We’re proud of Teree Sang and the confidence was instilled in us by Satish Kaushikji
FALTU’s soundtrack must have been a challenge? 11 tracks across genres? How was the experience of working for it?

Faltu was more of a challenge because we were catering to ourselves and personally one is very choosy and doesn’t settle for any less. And that’s exactly what Remo told us, “Score for yourself, bring up songs that you can relate to and will never delete from your ipod”. We had the time luckily and Remo is a cool customer he doesn’t push delivery after briefing so you can churn your mind and beat your own self. We approached every song with bhalta ideas and that’s how we spread across genres. It was very challenging but very satisfying. And nothing beats success, so I feel like the junta approved of our ideas and that’s really encouraging.

Shor In The City has been receiving rave reviews all around on the movie front as well. But your previous three movies were unfortunately not so successful at the box office and therefore some wonderful songs went unnoticed. Ever feel that the music could have been better utilized elsewhere?

You can’t say that. You can’t say “yeh film nahi challi to hamara (kaam) waste ho gaya”. Every film has its family. You are part of the attempt. You have to accept failure as a team and move on. When a song does well you may feel it can be put it any script and make a hit there even more may be. But it doesn’t work like that. It’s a combined effort
You never know which part of the whole will work for the audience.

A lot of composers are into doing live shows of late. What do you think of that? Do you have such plans, considering both of you have proven your calibre as singers as well?

Yeah we’ll take that up sometime in the future. We’d been performing as a band until sometime back. We have dipped into the studio recordings and arrangements quite intensely. And I believe we need to stick here and do some serious work until we take the stage again.

Karma Is a Bitch has an Amit Trivedi-ish sound to it. In the past your Chhote Tere Bday Aaya (Krantiveer) reminded one of Pappu Cant Dance Saala. And right from Teree Sang you have displayed a flair for Sufi rock, making it sound like Pak rock in most cases. So do you get inspired by the sounds of contemporaries? Who do consider your inspirations?

I think people like to say something especially when they like it. That’s their job not ours. We did whatever we thought to achieve a certain sound for Karma. You follow your heart when you believe in something. Besides a comparison with the likes of Amit Trivedi is totally cool as we have been in the same peer group and we’ve looked up on him all through. We don’t have inspirations so that you copy from them. It’s about learning or acquiring. I love John Mayer, and Vishal Bhardwaj amongst Indian composers. But I doubt if our music sounds like theirs at all.

Live recording vs programming of songs – what are your views?

Yesterday we didn’t have technology to back us. But today we have it. It’d be foolish to waste time and energy in few areas of recording a song. But live recordings can add so much value. You have to cast well; you need a great musician and a good recordist to get a good live sample. But it’s worthwhile if it’s adding value. So its best to strike a balance. You can get a controlled cost and a unique sound by striking this balance.

And finally, what are the current projects you are working on? Movies or otherwise?

We’ve been doing Hum Tum Shabana since FALTU. That’s slated for an August release. Other than that I’ve plunged myself into theatre projects. I literally breathe theatre work. Its my first love, will always be. Other than that we are not rushing through too many offers now. Taking it nice n slow.

The Coke Studio fever hit us when were studying at IIM Lucknow, sometime in the second year. The show was on air in MTV Pakistan and it was one show that we music aficionados in India craved for. The idea was simple: get a bunch of talented musicians together, ask them to create awesome music and air the whole thing in a studio setting. Some of the best talent on the various instruments were the common factor while multiple lead artists shared stage.

The best part about the whole package was that it brought together the traditional and modern genres together brilliantly. Sufi music is traditional to Pakistan and has inspired many a band earlier (remember the classic Sayonee from the band Junoon?). In the Coke Studio format though, it gave the Sufi artists the opportunity to share the stage with new-age artists, thus enhancing the effect even more.

My favourites from this format are: Aik Alif and Alif Allah (youtube links provided below). Aik Alif was played so many times on our speakers that neighbours in our hostel blocks thought we had gone crazy.

Anyway, back to India now. Guess there was a huge pent up demand for such a show in our country. The comments on the youtube videos voiced this repeatedly. So, it was only time before the show took shape in here as well. And the folks at MTV have responded! Yes, the good news is that the show will be on air sometime next month on MTV at a prime slot. The clamouring of lakhs of Indians has finally been satisfied!

MTV was eager to get some fan following and publicity before the show and towards this had invited the press (ahem, some bloggers and tweeters essentially) to the recordings of the show so that they could generate some buzz. The Facebook page has already been a huge success and inching towards the 15000 fan mark! According to Nikhil Taneja (many thanks to him, more later), who handled the press (ahem, again) at the recording, all this has been a completely organic fan build up and they have not spent any major monies on this. Remarkable considering that the fan page has been up for a few weeks only now!

The Experience:

Finally, now to the actual experience at the MTV recording studio in Mumbai. The studio is in a rather remote setting, somewhere off Malad and getting there was quite a ride.

Once there, we were escorted to the actual set where the recording was being conducted. To see the lit-up Coke Studio background and the set with all the musical instruments stacked orderly was a visual treat. We had only seen the photos on Facebook and this was a real wow moment.

Completely unaware who was recording that day, we trudged along taking some random pics around the stage. The crew and artists were on a break and we used this time to look around the place. The set is truly well designed and reflects the spirit of music perfectly.A centre pedestal with couple of chairs flanked by a circular setting of instruments on either side. The Coke Studio symbol formed the background for the pedestal. The strings (read guitars and bass) along with the back-up vocals on the left; the percussion and the harmony vocals on the right. All this of course from the viewer’s perspective. Reverse the same for the artist’s perspective.  There are some nice musical instruments inlaid into the pictures on the walls with soft lighting in the back. Wonderfully done!

Soon we discovered that the artists of the day were none other than the legendary Colonial Cousins! The one and only Hariharan made a brief appearance before disappearing into the rehearsal area. We could hear him train the back-up vocalists and the harmony vocals to the smallest detail. The man is gifted with such a smooth voice! Though I have had the opportunity to hear him live, hearing him live (read without any mic / amps / speakers) was heavenly!

Leslie Lewis was moving around with his characteristic braid. Leslie also happens to be the music producer for the show (the equivalent of Rohail Hyatt). Leslie has also composed most of the originals that are on air. The other major artists were Benny Dayal, Suzanne (both famous post success of Slumdog) and the ever smiling Kavita Seth. Such an array of artists and we were waiting for the first take. Since this is a television show, there was as much emphasis on the video aspects as on the audio. A total of 8 cameras were operating in unison to create some exquisite transitions.

Back to the music: the composition was by Leslie and was set to a soft tune. The wordings were sprinkled with ‘Rama, Rama, Krishna, Krishna’ and reminded of the good old ‘Krishna nee’ rendering by the Colonial Cousins. The best part of the composition were the ‘swaras’, in true Carnatic style that were subtly interspersed with rest of the song. The fact that Hariharan was singing them in his brilliant soothing voice made it even better. The song transitioned between Hari, Leslie, Kavita, Benny and Suzanne smoothly and was lingering in my head a long time after I left the studio. The song was shot thrice with the third attempt being the final cut. To finish the day on a high-note (pun intended), we heard the third take direct from the mixer with some studio quality headphones. Boy-o-boy, that was one amazing experience! We could not help but close our eyes and enjoy the soulful music. The sparse audience heard with rapt attention. On completion of the song, the artists were given a standing ovation and it took some time before the applause subsided.

On a scale of musical awesomeness, this was second only to hearing AR Rahman live. Only this time it was in a closed environment with headphones on!

And as for the inevitable comparison to the Pakistani version, there is no doubt that this is going to be equally good. The line up of artists is equally good, the accompanying artists are up there too. The studio set is well designed and the music production team has some great names. The show itself is produced by Idiotbox, the television arm of Red Chillies, another big name. There is no doubt that this is going to be a revelation for the music audience in India.

PS: A special thank to Nikhil Taneja from Viacom who organised the whole event and organised for quick photo shoots. A couple of them have been uploaded for a real-life feel of the studio!

(The author is a good friend and batchmate from IIML, currently working with Mahindra and Mahindra. You can visit his blog here, and he is available on twitter as @nagendra_s)

Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae 1975-1976: The photographs of Kim Gottlieb-Walker (Commentary by Cameron Crowe, Roger Steffens and Jeff Walker)

I must admit I approached this book with considerable apprehension – the cover photo and the title promised me a journey into reggae culture and Bob Marley that would reveal what reggae was during its peak in the mid-70s. I would have thought that this was a hard task, an impossible task, simply because even though- to mutilate a phrase of Goethe’s- photographs are frozen music, there are some forms of life that cannot be expressed through a single frame. Bob Marley, it seemed to me, was certainly one of those forms of life.

First of all, the enormity of the task should be acknowledged by the reader- one cannot possibly expect to convey the beauty, the impact of a movement on a generation -in this case, reggae and Marley- through a medium that is static. However, this applies only if the photographer is not a skilled one. In this case however, we have more than a skilled photographer. Kim Gottlieb-Walker has successfully done, or come close to doing what is more than an impossble task- to decipher Bob Marley over the course of two years. Two years are hardly enough to showcase the best of one of the great entertainers of the past century, but this is precisely what Gottlieb-Walker has done.

It helps that one of the persons who writes the commentary is Cameron Crowe (The spouse of the photographer- Jeff Walker, and Roger Steffens are the other two). His opening lines in the book capture the feel of the age perfectly: “I was just a kid, but the emotions and the music and the spirit in the air never left me. Its all part of that emotional heartbeat we develop early on, and we either forget it and move on”

I am not of that generation, so I did not expect a photographic record to do much to emotions as regards that generation- but it did. Therein lies the inherent beauty of images – a single image, if well taken, has the power to transport to you to the time and place of the photograph. Gottlieb-Walker does so not merely by the quality of her images- they are top-class no doubt- but by the mood she conveys through them.

When I look at the Carribean of the 1970s (or 1980s) there is only one thing I can think of – besides reggae- and that is cricket. On the cricket field, the great West Indian cricketers exhibited a natural flair- a love, a feel for life (and the game) that has been absent before or since, but which one could sense in this book Marley’s (and  Peter Tosh’s, and Bunny Wailer’s and everyone else’s) gentle, yet arrogant, laughter.

There are numerous brilliant photographs interspersed among the pages of this tome, yet it feels unjust to pick just a few favourites- but this is exactly what I propose to do – with the help of only five photographs.

On page 23 lies the image that first brought a smile to my face- though tinged with a strange sadness- it is a shot of George Harrison with Marley, and they have just been introduced by Jeff Walker. The Silent Beatle meeting someone who in many ways was an antithesis of his- the image screams at you to observe how these two geniuses differed from each other yet entranced millions- and in a way, it seems a complete picture. Harrison plays his part well – silent, brooding, a man with his legend already established. Marley on the other hand, looks delighted to meet a kindred soul, someone who understands the madness, a master who’s been through it all.

After forcefully pushing myself through, I reached page 43 – probably my favourite- and see Marley looking away, his left hand on his hair, the look of a thoughtful visionary on his face.  Underneath, an extract from a 1975 issue of People Magazine reads “We’re not talking about burning or looting material goods and things. We only wanna burn capitalistic illusions”

I was particularly struck by an image from the famous Dream Concert of 1975 (page 85) featuring Marley holding up a large picture of Emperor Haile Selassie, the Rasta God. His eyes are closed, and there is a look of peace on his face- there is an utter lack of emotion that we see in the rest of the photographs- there is just something on his face that can only be called peace. The most famous follower of a failed cult holding up its God at the height of its craze.

A photograph of Bunny Wailer (page 136) says more of the man with its caption than through the image- no disrespect to the photo. Gottlieb-Walker relates to us a tale of how Wailer refused a photographer to take his photo with these words: “I don’t let dead men take my pictcha”.

A few weeks later, the photographer was dead.

All we see of Wailer is his silhouette – and an eye- he is staring into the heavens. One almost gets the feeling that he is reading the stars- such his gaze, such is the man’s body language.

Bob Miller, a close associate of Marley’s, makes an appearance on Page 153, and his presence makes for one of the great shots of this book. He is caught in a half-smile, his eyes betraying his mischievous heart, looking up at the camera. The commentary soberly notes that he was supposed to tour with Marley in Brazil, except for a slight mishap- Miller died of a car accident in 1980.

Yet one has to look beyond all these photos and reach the last three photos- to acknowledge the sober end Marley and the reggae movement met with. They show Marley wearing a beret, and as the caption does not fail to remind us, he resembles Che Guevera in  a way. Che, the other great rebel of the Latin American conscience. Yet, the caption notes, “Bob never shot anybody… not even a sheriff”

I shall close this by borrowing a few lines from the PS which i feel would do more justice to the book than any of my words: “(Marley’s death) unquestionably ended the Golden Age of reggae… [but] the music itself is still vibrant.. and as vibrant and powerful as ever. But the vast array of talent, personalities and great music that defined the brief period covered in this book has never been even remotely equaled”

One cannot help but agree wholeheartedly.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

1 being an eyesore, 2 being passable, 3 being pleasant, 4 being very good and 5 being a sight for sore eyes.

You can buy the book here, at the Titan Books official page.

The author – by lineage of noble affiliation, by qualities quite comprehensively the opposite – blogs here when not busy working or traipsing across to some part of the country to attend, and in many cases win, some quiz. You can find him on twitter as theBFP