The Score Magazine February 2019 issue | Page 16

we all feel the same things and whatever makes us different can be celebrated while realizing that almost everything else about us is the same. I don't wave any national flag of any kind and I don't feel I represent any form of music per se. I just feel that if I can help someone feel a bit more connected to a larger world, I have perhaps done the job I was meant to. I used to make lots of music every day and just sit on most of it but nowadays I tend to just spend time on a piano composing and keeping my ideas in my head till I can hear where its going, then I’ll go to the studio. I don't feel the need to keep churning out music; I’d rather wait till the inspiration is strong to take it to completion. Have you experienced any miracles in your musical life? What do you expect out of your listeners? Miracles happen all the time. I wake up often in awe of the things I have been privileged to experience throughout my life. When I look back at all the amazing artists I have had the honor to work with and learn from, I can only see that as a miracle of sorts. I have always been a freelance artist which means much like actors, sometimes you don't have work. I still find it amazing that I have spent the past 20 years exclusively as a professional musician without having to do anything else. This is a very challenging and stressful life to choose, as many musicians will tell you, so for me the miracle is the fact that I’m still doing this after all these years. I think I am more concerned with what they expect out of me. I want to give them an experience and an opportunity to feel something profound when they listen. Im less inclined to make something because it appeals to the latest trend, I think my fans expect me to deliver something that transcends the last thing that I did. Tell us about some of the most significant choices you have made. I have made many choices that when I look back upon, I realize how significant they have been in mapping the trajectory of my career. The decision to study music at NYU and more so, to start my career in New York City was quite key in helping me see a musical landscape that didn't quite exist. Though I am a huge fan of artists like Zakir Hussain, Peter Gabriel, Sting, LTJ Bukem etc.....I didn't want to continue to do what they were doing. I decided to try and carve my own path and go deeper into unexplored spaces in music rather than follow any prescribed method. I have always been willing to morph into what I need to be for a particular project. Sometimes, I need to be more of a piano player and composer and sometimes a drummer or tabla player, sometimes a DJ etc.... I decided in my 20s that I was going to do all of these things simultaneously. I was not sure what the result would be, but as I look back I know that my instinct was correct to remain open and continuously learn new skills as I grow as an artist. Did you have an "a-ha" moment when you knew you would be making music for the rest of your life? In face, do you think you will be making music for the rest of your life? I knew since I was a child that music was my calling. I didn't exactly know what that meant and have taken many decades to figure that out but I always knew that music would be a big part of my life, if not my profession. I do get bored doing the same thing for too long so it’s nice to keep changing it up. Sometimes I am playing tabla with my fusion trio, sometimes singing and playing keys with the Collective or spending months in a studio composing a film score or sometimes doing a DJ tour. When I feel exhausted from too much of one thing, it is nice to be able to quickly switch gears. This, I hope gives me the ability to continue making music for the rest of my life in some capacity or another. What keeps you coming back to the studio? I don't really enter the studio unless I feel inspired to tell a story. 14 The Score Magazine highonscore.com Objectively, how do you think music adds value to the world? Music defines the times we live in and plays so many important roles in allowing us to go through different phases of our lives. Music, for many is their identity or a mirror for their own souls to be realized. From birth till death , music is as essential as food and air for us to survive . How do you know that you want to collaborate with a certain artist? Do you look for musical similarity, corresponding thematic ideas...? I hear the way other artists tell their stories through their instrument. If that works as a character in my story, I’ll ask an artist to collaborate. For me , making music is like making a film, different artists play different roles within the larger story. What has been occupying your time lately? As of late I’ve been scoring a few projects. I recently finished an eleven episode series called Smoke for EROS which is a drama series about the underground drug cartels of Goa. I also just recently completed the score for Zoya Akhtar's latest film Gullyboy. I will be starting the score a new TV show for Z as my first project of the year. I also recently worked on some Beatles covers with some great artists for an upcoming film project. Apart from scoring work I’ll also be recording a new album in the coming months to be released later in 2019. How would you like your music to affect your listeners? My music tends to have varying effects. Some people prefer the harder beat driven stuff where some like the more introspective cinematic stuff. As I said before, I want listeners to have the opportunity to see things differently, in a new light or from a different perspective. Why do you think you have remained invested in creating music? What does it do for you? Music is in my veins. I can't go through a day without listening to music and playing something even if its just to sing. Whether it remains my career path is left to chance but I know for sure I will require music to be a part of my life till the end. Music lifts my spirit and allows me to fly out of those dark spaces that our minds can sometimes bring us to. Music is medicine and essential for us as a species to have access too.