What is the history to your taking up Music ? How did it come into being...your journey?
"Well music is all around us, on the TV, on the radio, even on the streets. I was always captivated by the sounds around me. The journey for me started seriously, when I first heard a few bands that used to broadcast on my local cable channel (I still find it hard to digest!). They used to play bands like Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, all the big names. My hero was Jon Bon Jovi, I would make excuses to my mother so I could play truant and to watch my hero slay the arena. I was 9 at the time.
I was 13 when my parents bought me my first guitar. Always a shy, introvert kid, not having very many friends, playing an instrument made a very serious impact on my personality, I grew both personally and spiritually. Growing up, trying to be a guitar player, I admired the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Vinnie Moore, Paul Gilbert and several other greats. I imbibed several technical aspects of taming my instrument from their playing, although I never composed music that was influenced by them. They moulded me, carved the initial path and made me understand the broad aspects of the instrument that is guitar.
As I grew up I heard Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan. That was the game changing experience, then on discovering artists like Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Joe Louis Walker, Albert King and the likes I found out that this music was more expressible to me as a player and a listener. So it was an instant decision that this was the music I wanted to play, and the song writing, arrangement, phrasing, everything seemed to come really natural, really grateful for the fact that it did.
Then it was decided whatever it takes, I'll form a blues band."
So who are your favorites / icons / Role Models in the field of Music?
"Off the top of my head I could start with Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore and so on or would you rather we do this alphabetically? Bands like The Beach Boys, Doobie Brothers, and Queen amongst several others are my personal favourites."
How do rejuvenate your creative insights to get the Adrenalin going?
"Of course music makes up for most of that, just listening or watching a performance could do most of the work. But yeah, the disappointments, frustration, also the good things and happy thoughts could prove to be the adrenaline required to keep the work going. Which is all natural."
Does your Music carry a message /a theme or a story..if so can you share more on it.
"Till now, most of the music I have written is about this one girl that I thought I was in love with. It didn't work out, so most of it is the sad, minor sounding blues rock music, you know, haha (Smiling). Apart from that, I'm an agnostic, so a few track tend to revolve around that topic as well. I am quite affected by current issues the more I see what the world has turned into the more I feel the need to express. There are a couple of tracks that carry philosophical insights about our own demise and similar thoughts."
Of all the performances you've given ,which is your favorite one and why?
"The best would have to be the second day of Mahindra Blues Festival, great crowd, great sound and great energy. I have been attending the festival quite regularly for the past couple of years, this was before I started composing for my band, so I was more than familiar with the intensity of the platform. Playing at the festival was something I could not fathom, but it happened, and it was great."
Do you have any interesting fan stories to tell?
"We performed at a small place once, in Madhya Pradesh. We finished the set and were going back, when suddenly a couple of guys came and started off about how they loved our performance and everything, and they wanted to click a picture with us, I said okay, but the catch was that they wanted to click a picture with the guitar in my hands, I was absolutely exhausted so I politely declined a few times.
One of the guys insisted several times even after I said no politely, after a few times I could see his anger gradually increasing through the tone of his drunken voice. At one point in the middle of this conversation I looked around and saw he had a gun tucked into his pants.
It took me two seconds to take out my guitar and pose with him for a picture while I put on the widest smile ever."
Of all the music you've created which is your favorite one and why?
"I would say the tracks I have written about my personal experiences are the closest to my heart, Out Of The Blue and Eyes On You. Both these tracks are going to be features in the EP that we'll be releasing shortly. Other than that there are a few tracks that are really fun to play like One Thing (To Say to You) and Hope and Pray."
Can you share about some funny incident that happend on stage/during performance /with you or the other artist /stage members.
"There are quite a few, but the most weirdly funny would be the time we played a college gig once, last year. So, we were in the middle of this song performing for a thousand people or so and I look back for some reason and I find a random guy on stage clicking a selfie with his arm around Gaurav’s, (the drummer) shoulder in the middle of the song! Gaurav was barely avoiding poking him in the eye. That's when Gaurav and I started laughing hysterically on stage."
How was the musical journey been so far for you and what are you looking forward to
"It has been great till now but a lot is to be done, in the field of art, any kind, you grow every day. So both in terms of composing and performing, every artist strives to be better than he was yesterday, which I would say is the case with us too. We'll be releasing an EP soon, it's all DIY without any support, so it takes time to put on your best work. Following that, looking forward to perform a lot, as much as we could."
Do you have any words of advice for youngsters who are thinking of getting into this line?
"I would say, just do it for the love of it, nothing else. To be honest, I'm 21 right now, trying to make it professional myself. But yes I have faith that I'll reach where I want to, as I couldn't care less about anything else to be fair. And a lot of good things are happening.
Don't think about making money, fame or whatever a lot of people strive for and everything will fall into place because you'll get all of that only if you don't care about it. If you're in this just for all of that, you have failed art itself."
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