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India Booked | Serenading Sound
82 Plays4 years ago
Bringing in the 12th episode of India Booked on a high note! Shantanu Datta, in his 30-year-long journalism career, has interviewed such global icons as Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Ian Anderson and Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Usha Uthap, Dilip Balakrishnan, and several, several more. He has written about it in the Speaking Tiger-published, Calling Elvis.
Host Ayushi Mona has an hour-long chat with Datta about this journey of seeing the consumption of western music change in India, his own relationship with music and musicians ("When I spoke to them, the names on vinyl records came alive," says Datta), how music reporting has changed and how its increased availability impacted how to write about it, his own introspection on what makes their tunes timeless, K-pop, and much, much more!
As a bonus, hear tunes from Datta's own CD collection of Indian rock from the 80s!
#purplepencilproject #indiabooked #indianrock #rockstars #pinkfloyd #jethrotull #direstraits #callingelvis #speakingtigerbooks
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Transcript
Introduction & Guest Welcome
00:00:11
Speaker
I'm your host Ayushi Mona and you're listening to India Booked, a podcast where we lean into the idea of India through its literature and we speak to authors who bring this to life.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello everyone, I am Ayushi Mona, your host on India Booked, a podcast where we lean into the idea of India through the voice of its author and literature. Today I am elated to have with me Shantanu Datta. Shantanu Datta has had a stellar career as a journalist. For much
Shantanu Datta's Career & Music Journalism
00:00:45
Speaker
of the past three decades, he has been at the forefront of reporting about music in India.
00:00:52
Speaker
This has given him unprecedented access to the greatest performers from around the world who played in the South Asian subcontinent. This book compiles for the first time, detailed interviews that he conducted with seminal artists like Roger Waters, Ian Anderson, Martin Barr, Mark Mofler and many others, including Carlos Santana, Dr. Elsevier Maniam,
00:01:20
Speaker
John McLaughlin's tinct among others. His standard and informed conversation with these legends give us a rare glimpse into the minds of those trailblazers who've influenced generations with their music. On this episode of India Book,
00:01:38
Speaker
We take a walk through memory and music lane with Shantanu Datta as his own life emerges throughout the book when he deftly weaves together his professional experience of reporting with the personally thorough shared threads of melody and song. Shantanu, welcome to the show and thank you for agreeing to do this. Thank you. Thank you, Aushree. It's lovely to be here and thank you for having me.
00:02:08
Speaker
So, Shantana, the thing is that I finished reading the book a week back, you know, but last night I went back, you know, and I looked at portions that I had highlighted and some of them were as simple as, say, recommendations. So, something like,
Western Music in India: Shifts Over Decades
00:02:26
Speaker
you know, an outro that you have of the handful of jazz albums that you've collected over the years or the section on Usha Uthab.
00:02:34
Speaker
or sections about Miles Davis. So I just went and reread them. But really, I think what you've done in terms of reporting music for around three decades now is phenomenal in itself. And you've literally seen the transformation of tastes in Western music
00:03:00
Speaker
you know, in India, I would like to actually throw the ball in your court and ask about how has this journey through speaking to all these legends? Yes. But also the experience of how Western music is consumed in India changed, you know, in these very many years. Well,
First Major Interview with Jethro Tull
00:03:23
Speaker
first, I am a music fan and being a journalist,
00:03:28
Speaker
One of the perks of the job is that you get to meet all kinds of people, extraordinary people. And when I started off, so music was always at the back of my mind. And whenever an opportunity came, I sort of latched onto it and tried to do something with it. So that's how it all began. And ever since I started, I just got hooked onto it. Because it's like, for me,
00:03:58
Speaker
having grown up listening to music as all of us do, various kinds of music. And there were these people I was sitting across who were just names on vinyl records. And it's as though those names came alive when I spoke to them and I discussed the songs, their songs that I heard on the record. And it was as simple as that. And it started off like that. And then, you know, I've been incredibly lucky
00:04:28
Speaker
to have been at the right place at the right time. So starting with the first gig of Jethro trial in Bombay way back in 1991, when I used to live in Calcutta, but we just went down there and sort of managed to meet the men and talk to him.
00:04:49
Speaker
and I was very lucky that my paper, I was a young cup reporter then and I just said that, you know, I wanted to go and cover this show and the Telegraph people said they were not interested to send me to Carecutter and spend money, this young little boy who, so I said I'd go on my own but and I'll write something if you like it, we'll take it if not, you know, but I was surprised when I wrote, did come out and it was, that's how it sort of started, you know, that just got me into it. Since then, I have been
00:05:19
Speaker
you know, at them and keeping an eye out for whenever musicians came to our country to perform and if I could sort of be there. And that's how I sort of managed to talk to them.
00:05:30
Speaker
And I think, you know, Rod Stewart said it best, right? Some guys have all their luck. And I'm sure a lot of Aficionados or Western music feel that way. But really, I want to go back to the second part of my question, Shantanu. Do you, what is the difference between, you know, from, say, those days, and then you spoke about your experience as a young reporter,
00:05:57
Speaker
Where has there been a change in how music is reported? There's obviously a change in taste perhaps and music like everything evolves. But since you've sort of kept an eagle eye on the scene for so many years, what do you think is different from then to now?
00:06:21
Speaker
One of the
Digital Transformation in Music Industry
00:06:22
Speaker
first things that's different is when I was younger and during the time I'm talking about, which is in the 90s when I just spoke about this legit total tour, music was on cassette and it was not as easily available as it is today. Today, almost anything, you could just get it on your phone. The availability of music has been a boon for us, but it's been sort of a nightmare for the musicians themselves because it's so easily available and they're not
00:06:50
Speaker
sort of being adequately compensated and remunerated for them. That's, of course, another story. So that's one. One thing is that, you know, it's easily available now. But in terms of listening, I think, yes, tastes grow and people become more mature.
00:07:10
Speaker
One of the fascinating things that I found in this book is that while doing this book, and one of the reasons I started doing this was that I came to ask myself that why is it that we keep going back to the music of these people, the Beatles, the Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Chet Rotal, and these guys are
00:07:33
Speaker
Some are not even alive anymore and some of them are there, they're in their 70s, they're grandads, rockstar grandads, still performing and still drawing crowds into the thousands. So there has to be something why we go back to this music which we have listened to so many number of times.
00:07:56
Speaker
And that's the question that got me. And that's what prompted me to go back to these old interviews and see if they made sense. This is 2020. And I realized that some of them did. Some of them did. Because the lyrics are extremely relevant in the context of where we are today, most of their songs.
00:08:25
Speaker
And there is a sophistication of thought which you, I and all of us as listeners when we are younger, we tend to miss and we sort of rediscover when we grow up. So that's what got me really into it. And you know, I must tell you, there was this concert in 2016 in the US at the desert, in California, it's called the Desert Trip.
00:08:50
Speaker
where the greats, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Rolling Stones all played over two weekends. And they played songs of their times. And I wasn't of course there, but I read about it and managed to see a few clips. And in that concert, the Rolling Stones played a Beatles song come together.
00:09:18
Speaker
Mick said on the mic that, you know, this is a song we'll do when it's done by this unknown beat group of some years yawns away and they had a blast. So, you know, the Stones doing a Beatles song so many years later and instantly reminding me of my short conversation with Keith Richards when he was in Bangalore and Bombay and Delhi to play.
00:09:47
Speaker
sometime in the year 2000 wherein I asked him about the Beatles and he said, you know, sometimes all of us would get together and we would joke and we would even say to us that, you know, guys, we should have all been in the same band. Now, that was a fantastic thing to say, you know, because back in the days, you know, we had a group of friends who are
00:10:10
Speaker
Beatle Diehards and then there are the others who are Rolling Stones Diehards. So to see all these guys together and so that was what just really made me
Generational Music Discovery
00:10:22
Speaker
go back to these interviews. And then I realized that the amazing thing was that these musicians were still playing, still touring and you know the Uwe is timeless.
00:10:33
Speaker
It's simply amazing that it, you know, sort of keeps on attracting us the way it did even before. And that's about rock music. And then, and here I was, this guy I brought, born and brought up in Calcutta, growing up in this milieu of diverse kinds of music from Ruvindra Shungit and, you know, our film songs and folk music and whatnot.
00:11:02
Speaker
We were drawn to rock and then later on I started listening to jazz like everybody does, you know, and then and so it sort of reinforces the idea of how secular our receptacles are. You know, we're so open to absorbing and listening to various strains of cultures and that that sort of come and reach us.
00:11:28
Speaker
So in that sense, so that was why I sort of got into it. And you asked me about tastes. Yes, I see young people, even my daughter, who introduced me to Korean pop, by the way. And before, this was about when she was a little younger and this was about four years ago. And they were into it and they were all having fun. And my daughter is in class sort of in class 10 now.
00:11:57
Speaker
So she and her friends are now listening to the Beatles and they're listening to Bob Dylan and they're listening to all Bruce Springsteen and sometimes going back on the old songs and the remixes that are available. So their music is all in their palms, you know, and going through this journey of discovering.
00:12:21
Speaker
Whereas we discovered music with whatever records were there, our parents bought for us maybe were there in the house and some that they bought and we listened to the radio a lot. So I would say that the kids of today have got exposed to all kinds of music pretty early. It took us a lot more time. But you know, my experience tells me that they just sort of find their way and find the
00:12:50
Speaker
good stuff that's there all around, you know, and the good stuff is invariably the kind of music which we're talking about, you know.
00:13:00
Speaker
That's lovely. Shantanu, I want to ask you about the section in your book which a lot of listeners might not really know about. It is a gentleman named Dilip Balakrishnan and Hai which was you know this Indian rock group from Kolkata from the 70s and it pioneered Indian rock bands.
00:13:21
Speaker
And their music was obviously heavily influenced by British and American rock acts, etc. But what I, as a literature enthusiast, also find very interesting that in their discography, they have these thematic rock operas that are based or inspired by Lewis Carroll or J. Harar, Tolkien. Absolutely. Now, Dilip Galatrishnan was this, you know, he's an extraordinary person. Unfortunately, we lost him.
00:13:51
Speaker
But yes, he was a great musician. He used to read and write a lot. And you're absolutely right. So he's written these songs based on Lewis Carroll, imagining lyrics from there, some on the Tolkien suit. In fact, the Tolkien suit is one of their concerts I remember hearing as I was when I was in school and we had gone to hear.
00:14:14
Speaker
hear them play at Kalamandir basement, you know, it's a very famous auditorium in Calcutta. And it has two... Is Kalamandir on Elgin Road? Yes, it is. Yes. Okay, I'm very happy because I studied in Calcutta for three years. So now that I just wanted memory to serve me and hence I asked you, though of course I will drop this out of the podcast or maybe not when it goes live.
00:14:41
Speaker
It's on Theatre Road. It's called Shakespeare's Serenity. It's on Theatre Road at the beginning of the Theatre Road. And you know, it has two levels. There's a small auditorium in the basement and there's a larger one, you know, on top. So this was a small one. And that's where they premiered it. And I happen to be there. He played along with a gentleman by the name of Lou Hilt, who is in my book. Lou Hilt and he were great friends. And that's how they would do their music together. And, you know, they would go
00:15:10
Speaker
to a friend's bungalow at a place called Narendrapur and they would jam through the night, play music for two, three days and record stuff and come back with ideas and then have the band play with them. So it's really, Dilip's music is something which was, I mean, it so happened that they were in Calcutta. This music could have come from anywhere and you know, and it would have been
00:15:40
Speaker
instantly appreciated and the great thing about his music that you know he was influenced by Beatles by the Rolling Stones by the Grateful Dead, Hendrix they all have it but they were they were they were not copies no way they would and not even derivatives but but somewhere in the music you would find that you know oh there is this
00:16:07
Speaker
The soul of the tune could probably lay somewhere far, far deep behind in a Rolling Stone tune or somewhere. And not just the tune, the lyrics, the feel, the atmosphere. I'd like to play a song of theirs for you right now. Just see how it sounds.
00:16:44
Speaker
I'm gonna look up this morning, and I'm gonna go to bed. I was so drunk, and I don't have any hair. Sing, sing, sing for a bottle of wine. If you don't know, please save it all above.
00:17:16
Speaker
Singing on a chain in the pouring rain Singing on a song of freedom
00:17:22
Speaker
Sing, sing, sing, cara, cara, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
00:18:02
Speaker
That was absolutely lovely and you know Shandar typically towards the end of every podcast I would say asked
00:18:13
Speaker
you know, my guess to give like a reading recommendation. We were just at midpoint in today's conversation, but I am changing that question. I am going to ask for music recommendation. Yes, we will, we will, we will. As we go along and if people come up while discussing, we will try and play a little bit of their music. Let me tell you, this is from a CD, the only CD of their music that HMV brought out, you know, after
00:18:43
Speaker
till it passed. And these were sort of mastered from cassette tape recordings, pretty crude recordings, but they've done a fantastic job. And we have about nine or 10 songs in that CD. And, you know, it shares space in my little CD cabinet with the likes of what, Beatles, Stones, McLaughlin, Dr. Elsa, even everything.
00:19:11
Speaker
And it's it's there, you know, it's it's legitimately there. And if you'll always be there, and I'm sure it can think with with the people who have that CD and who have his music in whatever form, it's just there. So that that's the greatness of this guy. And and and, you know, I it it sort of never ceases to amaze me that, you know, and he's from our city, man.
00:19:34
Speaker
And it also makes me wonder that if he was here in the 2010s and the 2020s, instead of the 80s, he would have uploaded all of this on YouTube, and everyone everywhere would have had access to it. Correct. Correct. Correct. That's true. That's true. A lot of his music is still on YouTube. A lot of the lines are there. They are not very good recordings.
00:20:04
Speaker
His son Tejan, who lives in the UK, is sort of putting all that music together. And he's trying to compile. And they have some ideas about what to do with the music. And this is just a small sample of 10 songs that he's done. He's done, as you said, the Tolkien suit, the Lewis Carroll songs. And he's done a lot of work. Hopefully, someday, we will see more of his music coming out in a better format and properly
00:20:34
Speaker
But it's up to his son, Kajan, and some of their friends to decide and do that. But I do hope that his music is heard widely. And this was done in the 70s, in late 70s. And we heard this is 2020, and it sounds so fresh. It's still so today. It's classical. It's classic rock. It's still so today, which is just amazing. That goes to show how enriching his music
00:21:04
Speaker
is to people like us who listen. True. And another aspect that, you know, that I find very enduring in the book is mentions of say, Rhythm House or Melody, you know, because again, understand the concept of a record store or a music store, right? Because as you said, music is on your phone or something that Alexa plays for you or something on your laptop or whatever, right? It's on the device.
00:21:33
Speaker
It doesn't have a sanctuary assigned to it. And the nostalgia of stores that's in your book, I thought was very refreshing. I moved to Mumbai around the
00:21:48
Speaker
time that Rhythm House shut and of course there was an outpouring of nostalgia but obviously at the same time nobody could really save it in a business sense. Then I do also remember there used to be on Park Street a similar store which was very close to actually Flurries and near the Park Street police station and I can't even now remember the name.
00:22:15
Speaker
That was called Music World. And then there's, of course, Melody, which is this record store where young musicians in Calcutta also meet. It becomes a community space. Music sort of signposts our lives in many ways. And the physical manifestation of that soundposts were these stores. And there was a store called, which was in Newmark, there was a store called
00:22:44
Speaker
and there are many of them and none of them is still around except for Melody. Melody, there's Melody yes and you know there's another interesting store which is called Braganza's. That's the store where every young and old musician goes to when you sort of when you're young and you want to become a musician and before you realize that it's just not in you when you buy your first guitar and you go to
00:23:13
Speaker
sort of buy the piano lesson books. So that's the go to Braganza's and they rent out pianos, you know. And in fact, the one we have at home is from there. So that's another store which is just sort of steeped in all kinds of history. And that store is still there. In fact, there are two of them now. They've sort of opened another larger modern looking air conditioner store. The first one wasn't like
00:23:41
Speaker
And they have everything. It's called Braganza's Everything Musical. And it's wonderful from violins to guitars to drums. In fact, my first drum set was hired from that store. So there is a bit about them in my book too. In fact, if I'm not wrong, your book also mentions that everyone from like a George Harrison to an Ian Anderson visit Braganza to buy Indian instruments.
00:24:08
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. So if they were in Calcutta, when George Harrison was in Calcutta, he, I'm told, had visited many of these shops. I don't know whether he visited Braganza's, but I know he visited many of these shops to buy Indian musical instruments. And any visiting musician, for that matter, who come to Calcutta would visit Braganza's for sure. And there is a row of music shops in near in the Lausi, near
00:24:39
Speaker
just behind Lal Bazar, which is the police headquarters, where they make harmonium, sitars, and all kinds of things, and it's still there. They're not doing too well, but they're still there. To Calcutta's connection with music, that's one other thing. It's a very deep connection, and it sort of spans all kinds of genres. We still have a Duval Lane Music Conference every winter,
00:25:07
Speaker
We're in the local greats from all over the country, make it a point to come and play. And we have jazz concerts at, in a very small way nowadays, because they used to be much bigger ones earlier. And we
Calcutta's 70s Music Scene
00:25:22
Speaker
have jazz concerts every winter at the Laos Institute, which is my club, DI. And all the other clubs have some kind of the other musical shows every evening. Before all this, before we sort of shut down,
00:25:37
Speaker
lives to the pandemic. So sometimes, and it's difficult to say whether I would have been able to write this book if I were living somewhere else. Of course, not Bombay. Bombay, too, has very, very rich musical history and legacy. But Calcutta is different. It's different in the way music sort of appeals to people and the way
00:26:04
Speaker
A lot of that has how the number of bands that have sort of come up and I also speak of this old Bangla rock band called Mohinir Khuraguli. They were around the same time as I was playing western music. So you had Mohinir Khuraguli playing rock music in Bangla and
00:26:26
Speaker
In fact, I will play a song of this and then I'll tell you a little bit about it. This is a Bhagla song, it's called Hai Bhallubasha, Love and Despair.
00:26:56
Speaker
Hallelujah, she trusts my gosh, for me, she'll teach. Hallelujah, she trusts my gosh, for me, she'll teach. Hallelujah, she trusts my gosh, for me, she trusts me. Hallelujah, she trusts my gosh, for me, she trusts me.
00:27:48
Speaker
No, no, no, no.
00:27:53
Speaker
On the day to do it. Oh, so far I don't know what you can do. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
00:28:25
Speaker
This was a song which was written by Bapida. I call him Bapida. And he is the one, the founder of this band, Monida, Gautam Chatapagdai. He's pastor.
00:28:40
Speaker
So this was Bapi. He was 19 years old when he wrote this song. And I'll tell you what this song talks about. It talks about how it's a 45 RPM record, by the way, one of the first ones to sort of get pressed in India of a modern Bengali rock band. So
00:29:03
Speaker
They wrote this song. He wrote this song because on a river and while they were coming back with Monida, there's a background to it. I'm not going to tell you the whole story. It's there in my book, but it's he and Monida were coming back to the 70s, turbulent 70s in Calcutta. And while coming back and they were on a boat on a river. And that's when he wrote this song about, you know, love and despair.
00:29:33
Speaker
And one of the abiding themes of the song is how we all like so many things. It says, I will read out the lyrics for all of us, and then we will sort of, you will understand. It says, Bhalobashi means I love. Bhalobashi kaso bhunovel dante, Beatles, Dylan, Arbitovin, Shunte. Robishankar, Aliyagbar, Shune. Bhalo labye bhore kuasai gharepitte.
00:30:10
Speaker
So I am this person who loves Picasso, Bonovel, Dante, Beatles, Dylan, Ravishankar, Edward. But well, there is something, some little thing missing somewhere in my life when I come home, come back home. Obviously a reflection of the times and what they sort of went into.
00:30:31
Speaker
And Bapida has his own band now. And he plays this song with youngsters. And I happen to have heard them again. And they all sang this song together. And the name of the band, by the way, is called Mohinir Gharamali, which means the Flying Horseman. And I will read out a little section from my book.
00:31:03
Speaker
I heard them play a year later when Mohin Akon or Bandura were performing at what looked like a makeshift hall with a tin shed for roof at Lake Town on the northern fringes of Calcutta. It was to celebrate the band's eights and the current lineup's third anniversary. A host of young musicians, all well-known names, had gathered there to celebrate Mohinir Goraguli and their music. The finale was Haya Balabashi.
00:31:32
Speaker
The audience joined in for what has now come to be regarded as the national anthem for Bangla Banks. Mobile flashlights were turned on, the crowd swaying to the opening riffs of the song that has been front loaded with a sharp guitar lick. Bapida was seated, joining in at chorus, while Shuman Chatterjee sang lead vocals, ably accompanied by Prashindjit Pal on synthesizer, Bhai Chatterjee on bass, and Neil Roy Choudhary on drums.
00:32:02
Speaker
Shodip Naag's guitar dutifully receded to the background on cue, and we all sang along. Bhaalubashi pikaso bhunaweldante, Beatles dhillan ar bhithovan shunde, chankor ar aliyag bharshune, bhaalulagi bhore, bhaalulagi bhore kuashaay khore pitte. We love pikaso bhunaweldante. We love listening to the Beatles, dhillan, bhithovan, bhishankarand aliyag,
Cultural Impact of Classic Music
00:32:30
Speaker
and then perhaps return home early in the morning amidst the fog and mist. The full-throated rendition left behind the melancholy of Mohin's original. Bapida had answered his calling, singing with a bunch of youngsters who weren't even born when he wrote that song. A bridge had been built. They were singing about the same joys and yearnings, but with a renewed sense of confidence, with a bit of head banging no less. Could they be singing about hope
00:33:00
Speaker
How could they even dare? After all, it was 2019, the year of NRC, National Register of Citizens, and CAA, Citizenship Amendment Act, that seek to determine how Indian we are. Yet, if anyone could, it had to be them.
00:33:18
Speaker
Since then, whenever I hear their songs, I think about those flying horsemen who showed the way, about the rainbow of emotions that binds us to the music of the Beatles, Dylan, and Ravi Shankar. This country of ours must find a way to make it worthwhile for our 19-year-olds. A Bapi who could pen a song like Ay Balovashi must be loved, nurtured, and respected so that he and the others like him who follow
00:33:46
Speaker
can continue doing what they do best. That song yearns for good days. It says, calling out to a future when we can all go back to liking, loving, and respecting everyone and everything together. So I think that is a sentiment that is
00:34:15
Speaker
hugely challenged these days, but, and it has, there's a time, the time has come for us to sort of reiterate that, you know, we're in sort of, are allowed to like, love and live as we all want to do. This song written in the seventies, when this boy was 19 years old, brings it out so well.
00:34:42
Speaker
Thank you so much for sharing this, Shantanu. I have a bunch of questions and I want to ask you. So what I'm going to do is, and because time is sometimes slipping through our fingers, but I could honestly sit here for the rest of time and just listen to everything you put on.
00:35:07
Speaker
I think I'll quickly head into the next question which I wanted to ask, which is around, you know, the whole piece of, I think it's chapter 11, where you talk about cricket, Beatles, and Dilip Doshi's intervention. And so
Mick Jagger, Dilip Doshi & Rolling Stones in India
00:35:28
Speaker
how did this whole marriage of cricket and music happen?
00:35:32
Speaker
I want to ask you about that. I also want to ask you about Shiva Mani. And I also, you know, have a ton of other questions. But I think, first of all, let's talk a bit about Mr. Jagger and Mr. Doshi. Well, Mr. Jagger and Dilip Doshi, I found out then were great friends. And, you know, I was in Bangalore during that time. And when I heard from Mr. Venkat Vardhan, who's the
00:36:01
Speaker
you know, who's the boss of DNA Networks who were hanging the band. He said that Dilip Doshi is the man who sort of convinced them to come and play in India. So then I spoke to Dilip and later on we found out Dilip and they shared, Mick shares, Mick is very fond of cricket. He plays cricket himself. And so there's such good friends that they've sort of played together at times when they've practiced.
00:36:26
Speaker
And so that's what's happened. It's very simple. And Dilip was the man who got them together and convinced them that they should come and play in India. So it was as simple as that. So Rolling Stones came, and they played in Bombay too, I remember. But I was living in Bangalore then, and that's where I heard them. And at the middle of the gig, I still remember, it started to rain.
00:36:56
Speaker
and we were all sort of getting wet. And the band was of course on stage and they had a stage extension which sort of protruded right into the audience and there was no roof above that. So just to sort of show their oneness with us, Keith and Mick Jagger Wildsking came out on that protrusion. We all got wet together singing Start Me Up.
00:37:22
Speaker
which was quite fascinating, quite something. And so I had to write about the concert and then that's, I still remember. I'll never forget that that's one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen and to think that it happened in India. I think you've mentioned that one of your first assignments is somewhere on 96, 95, where you go to interview Shivamani.
00:37:51
Speaker
and I must confess I had just come into Delhi then from Calcutta and you know in Delhi I was working for the Indian Express and Sivamani was playing with a band where even Louis Banks was there they were playing at a jazz little thing and I heard the music and then I was asked to come back next morning at 8 o'clock to meet him and I was not familiar with his music until that time so when I heard the band
00:38:19
Speaker
the evening prior to this conversation, I was just simply blown away. I had no idea that the drums could be played in that fashion. And the way it was a sort of rollicking affair. And those classical jazz, yes, you know, that's Louis Banks in a very quintessential jazz man. But then in his in his own way, the little solos and the things that he did was just simply mind blowing. And that's where I
00:38:48
Speaker
went back the next day and he was he was very affectionate and he realized I was pretty nervous so he sort of took me in and and we had a long conversation about his music and about how he would practice you know with his mom's utensils and and then he would be banned from making a racket at home and but he would still do it and things like that. In the same context Ranjit Bharat one of our another greatest great drummers who's a Bombay boy
00:39:16
Speaker
I had heard Ranjit first in Calcutta. He had come to Calcutta to play with his band and again completely blown away. We were in college then and it was a day long rock sort of rock festival and their band came in sometime early evening. The sun was still out, but I remember hearing him for the first time and being completely blown away, you know, and that was the time he used to listen to Jet Hotel a lot and the
00:39:45
Speaker
Jatutal has this fabulous drummer called Pari Mo Balu and I remember hearing Ranjit Bharat play with his own band and they were playing their own music and I was reminded when I said this is unbelievable. So it took me a long time to get to him and Ranjit came to Calcutta. Now Ranjit Bharat is a musical manager with Air Rayman and he plays with John McLaughlin in his band and he had come
00:40:14
Speaker
about two, three years ago to Calcutta to play and that's when I got in touch with him and we spoke about those days. And you know, he comes from a classical music family. Again, this amazing synthesis of various cultures happening in a family that is deeply Indian classical, rooted to the Indian classical traditions, shows us how open our roots are, how open we are to
00:40:44
Speaker
accepting and imbibing the various genres of music and cultures of the world and there's a lovely time he told me about how he would sit with his mother and he would play western classical and discuss with his mother who's a Sitara Devi by the way and they would discuss the nuances of western music and Indian music together and I think that's that
00:41:11
Speaker
That's just so wonderful. I mean, that's who we are, you know, that's who we are. And that's also, Saju, it's a very wonderful expression of taste and culture and just the kind of, I think,
00:41:30
Speaker
heterogeneity that I think something like music and art brings. And I was I was kind of exposed to this way in a very strange way, you know, and then it's a different band. It was this we were in school and you've had this band called OC Bisa. They're a UK band of African migrants, very famous in our times. You might you look up to music, super music and you can't you will not be able to sit. Their music is so catchy, infectious.
00:41:58
Speaker
So they came and they did a tour of India. And they came and they played in Calcutta. And we all went. And we were at the 501 row at the back. And you know, we were all kids standing on the chairs trying to get a glimpse of them. And you know what the song they started with, the concert? They played Raghupati Rave Rajara. Why don't I play it for you? It's an amazing. A UK band.
00:42:27
Speaker
a UK band of African immigrants in India, in Calcutta, singing Bapu song.
00:43:13
Speaker
That is so smart! That is so smart!
00:43:33
Speaker
Oh
00:43:59
Speaker
Oh,
00:44:46
Speaker
They called it the joy of Om. I think that was fantastic.
00:44:51
Speaker
And they brought out an album, the HMV, which was in Calcutta. Then the studios were at Dam Dam. The recording was made up. There's a 33-bit. It's an LP, which I have, of course. And this was, of course, played from a 45. I didn't know. I just discovered it while preparing for this podcast, that there was a 45 single brought out of the song. Oscar, playing Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram in India, 1981. It's quite amazing.
00:45:21
Speaker
You know, I am loving this episode because there's a certain, I mean, there's of course a lot of trivia and a lot of your personal experience, right? But it's also quiet and I think referring to what we were discussing, right? That music
00:45:42
Speaker
more than anything else binds us. And I was speaking to another author a couple of weeks back and he said that, Aayushi, you know, there's nothing like Indian literature. We are like Europe, right? We're so heterogeneous that you can't pin something as Indian literature. And I think that holds true for music, right? You can't pin something as Indian music. There is literature of India and there's music of India.
00:46:09
Speaker
But in so many ways, music binds us. And I had an elective course during college on music, which was taught by Avinash Mudaliar. And he had this really fun section at the beginning of his class. And he would ask us, what's your favorite song? And me, a North Indian who's never been to any Southern state,
00:46:36
Speaker
at that point of time, tells him very non-challengingly, Avinash, my favourite song is Kangalir Indal. And I don't know if I can pronounce it correctly, but he was so impressed and he was so happy. And you know, of course, everyone in the class had different favourite songs, right? Some were chartbusters, some were these very nostalgic numbers, some were western, some were Indian.
00:47:04
Speaker
But it was funny how all of us felt that every single song that we spoke about was impressive. And even though there was nothing in common in terms of the language, the composition, even the school of music, and that has really stayed with me. And of course, some of it is down to my personal taste as well. I had a friend who's
00:47:32
Speaker
who was a Tamilian Brahmin and her family had always lived in Mumbai. But when I went to their place once, her family played M.S. Subha Lakshmi's Venkatesh Shru Prabhadam and now I'm addicted to listening to it in the morning and I think it really sets the tone for the day.
00:47:53
Speaker
And when I played that in college, a lot of my neighbors would like always look at me as dance because this girl who normally would be playing random Punjabi Bhangra music that you would dance to the evening is suddenly belting our fanatic music and that too not at very low volumes.
00:48:13
Speaker
from her room in the morning. But that is the beauty of music from India. And just like there is no Indian literature, there is no Indian music as well. And I think Western music and everyone from Dillon to the Stones are very much part of the Indian consciousness, right? I mean, they're not Indian. Of course, a lot of people like to always talk about Freddie Mercury as if he was still living in Gujarat.
00:48:43
Speaker
Actually, it's like this, you know, if things touch us deeply, I believe this, you know, if things touch us deeply and I think they should be recorded. So if things touch us deeply, they should be recorded. And that's the reason why I wrote it, wrote this book. And if I mean, it's an incredible sense of joy for a fan to come face to face with his heroes. That's one aspect.
00:49:09
Speaker
And the other aspect of this large the other aspect is this larger than life thing that I discovered while writing this book and which I was talking about. You know, this all encompassing aspect of music is, you know, that is something which which I came upon me much more consciously than ever before. And it and I realize and I and the examples and the instances
00:49:37
Speaker
I never realized the instances were so near. I just thought they're personal because I grew up with so many records at home and there was ventures playing in the morning and then in the evening there would be in the afternoon a bit of Rovindashangir and then in the evening some Ravi Shankar.
Music's Influence on Identity
00:49:56
Speaker
But it now comes to pass that this is who we are and while writing this book, this is what sort of
00:50:06
Speaker
happened to me that, you know, looking back on these old conversations and there was one aspect of the fanboy and the other aspect was this larger thing that sort of I got reminded of again, that, you know, signposts of music in our lives are so deeply embedded that, you know, it's something and that's what keeps us going, you know, that in the end keeps us going. That's what keeps us going.
00:50:34
Speaker
I actually wanted to ask Shantanu which is and because I think even in your interview with Sting right, you discussed say how interview with a vampire was a literary influence etc. But I wanted to turn that around and ask
00:50:53
Speaker
Are there other books about music or featuring music that you particularly love? For me, An Equal Music by Vikram Seth is a great favourite. But I haven't really read a lot of books that feature music very prominently as a theme.
00:51:10
Speaker
Perhaps because it can be experienced, right? People prefer making music as opposed to writing about it. But you would be the best person to recommend for the listeners on the podcast. And in general, if there is a fiction or a nonfiction book or even a biography or a memoir that really resonated with you. This is a small book which I picked up in Delhi, and I think it's fantastic. It's called Music for Life. It's by Fiona Maddox.
00:51:40
Speaker
It talks about 100 works, 100 classical music pieces down the edges and with little brief introductions to each one of them and tells us why they are the great pieces of music as they were. And it was an education for me and some of them are very common and yet this is a lovely book but this is a book which deals directly with music.
00:52:07
Speaker
Of course, there's this book called Kind of Blue. It's by Ashley. Kind of Blue is actually always on my desk. It's about the making of this seminal album of Miles Davis by the same name. And that's something which I always sort of keep beside me and sometimes see. Robbie Robertson's biography was out early in the last year or maybe this year. It's a fantastic
00:52:37
Speaker
It talks about his journey with the band and Bob Dylan. And similarly, even Levon Helm, who was part of the band, a very integral part of the band, the drummer, he has his own book. It's called This Bitch on Fire. So if you read these books and if you are a fan of Dylan and especially the band, one of the
00:53:02
Speaker
seminal band music groups of our culture. You will find that they talk about how they grew up and their influences. And Robbie Robertson was this Canadian guy who at 16 left home, took a train and came down to the United States to play music. And then he sort of teamed up with the rest. And it's an incredible story. It just goes to show that if you have it in you, nobody can stop you. You just sort of go on.
00:53:32
Speaker
And of course there's another book, it's a pretty, I don't know, it's just, it's a book of Bob Dylan's lyrics of his songs and lyrics. That is, it's just a compilation of all his songs and lyrics. It has his picture on the cover. It's called Bob Dylan, it's called Bob Dylan lyrics 1962 to 1985. There's nothing else in it. It's just the songs and the lyrics by album. It's a wonderful read, I am assuring you. You know, you could just sort of take it
00:54:03
Speaker
to bed before sleeping and read one song and read it as a poem. It's another experience. Reading Dylan. Reading Dylan. Yes. Since we are talking about Dylan, I will play three lines of one of my favorite tracks.
00:54:21
Speaker
Yes, I was just going to say that that perhaps, you know, as an end note, we wrap up with this. And I can't think of like a better end to our lovely conversation. So thank you, Aushi. And, you know, it was wonderful talking to you. Thank you for reading my book. I definitely think a lot more people should read Calling Elvis. To me, it was an education. And perhaps because I am
00:54:50
Speaker
not very knowledgeable or a music aficionado. But to me, it was absolutely instructive and wonderful to read. And hence, to everybody listening to this podcast, please go and buy Calling Elvis. It's a phenomenal book. It's available on Amazon, on Flipkart, at independent bookstores near you. It's published by Speaking Tiger.
00:55:18
Speaker
And Shantanu has literally compiled years of knowledge, of anecdotes, interviews into it. So I actually think if you have the littlest bit of interest in music, the books are keeper. So please do go and buy that book. And thank you, Shantanu, for doing this.
00:55:38
Speaker
Thank you for saying those wonderful words. Thank you so much. This is a song that I will play and we will end with is a phenomenal song and it serves as the epigraph of my book. And I've just taken two lines from the song. I will read that out and then I will play the song.
00:55:59
Speaker
Someday everything is going to be smooth like a Rhapsody when I paint my masterpiece. Let's mob the little. And now this is the band singing this wonderful song.
00:56:27
Speaker
Over the streets of Rome are filled with rumble. Each of the fun friends are everywhere. You can almost think that you're seeing the ball.
00:56:50
Speaker
For a full dark night on the Stranded Stairs Gotta hurry on back to my hotel room Here I got me a bed with a pretty little girl from Greece She promised she'd be there with me
00:57:19
Speaker
My pain, my masterpiece Oh, the hours been spare
00:57:53
Speaker
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