Interview with Indian Ocean
Two hours before the concert, a pilates class is going on at Ashkenaz Hall, the venue for the Indian Ocean performance. Ashkenaz in itself is a very littlesque and quaint venue recognized for its non-profit and multi-cultural events. However there were no signs of the band, and yet it was already feeling like an exciting day. Here’s my account of the Berkeley gig of one of the most interesting, loved and sought after band from India, the genius which is Indian Ocean.
Ten minutes later, you can see Rahul Ram, Indian Ocean lead singer and bass player along with Sameer (the tour sound engineer) across the street looking at the venue trying to sum it up. Once inside the hall, Rahul sees the hall still occupied, steps out and calls up to find out where the rest of the band is. Once Sushmit Sen (lead guitars), Amit Kilam (drums and flute) and Ashim Chkravarthy (part vocals and also the tabla force behind Indian Ocean) arrive, you can see the mood setting up. There’s just under two hours remaining before the concert begins, with stage setup and sound check remaining. However you can get a sense of something good building up and there’s a peace and calm about the way they went around with their stage setup.
Staying calm and patient is how they grew during the initial years of bands formation too. For the first 6 years there was no Indian Ocean. Just, Sushmit, then a budding guitarist who had forged a firm friendship with Ashim and a slew of other musicians. Most notably Shaleen Sharma (drums), Indrajeet Dutta and Anirban (Bass). “They hung around for a little while and then left. In the mean while me and Ashim would just keep on practicing”, says Sushmit, remembering those formative years. “We officially formed Indian Ocean in 1990. Both of us (Sushmit and Ashim) had been playing together since 1984. Probably even before that. We had our first show in 1986. After that show our confidence level raised and I thought this could be going somewhere. I never thought I would become a professional musician. A conscious decision was taken in 1994 only when I gave up my job and professionally took up music. We did around five shows in the first six seven years, In contrast to almost seventy a year now”. Popularity rose to a new level with the soundtrack to the movie “Black Friday”. Fame and fan-base earned with such dedication and hard work somehow justifies the zeal with which the band protects its individuality and its music. “There was never a conscious decision to get into Bollywood. We kept playing for the love of music. Even when Anurag Kashyap (Director of Black Friday) approached us for Black Friday, we did it because he gave us the artistic liberty to compose the music our way. We had the creative freedom and that is what got us all the way through”
Anyone who has heard Indian Ocean before will instantly agree that much of the credit for their distinctive sound goes to Sushmit’s guitar work. Almost all the time during their live shows you will find Sushmit fixed at a spot, smiling and enthralling the audience with his axe-work. It’s a sound Sushmit can very well call his own creation. Sharp, silky and crisp. When asked about the creation of this sound and whether it was a deliberate effort to have this distinct sound, Sushmit both agrees and disagrees with the notion. “It just developed on its own over a period of time. There was a conscious effort too. I started learning the guitar mostly to play Indian classical music. So that sound just developed on me. More than the sound it is the style of playing. I play the same guitar as everybody else. It’s just the style that is different.” With almost 2 decades of live performances behind them there ought to be some memorable performances, which have a special place within the band. “There are so many performances that its hard to pinpoint on any single one. We have had some amazing collaborations with Japanese and Chinese Jazz bands. We also had a memorable collaborations with Shubha Mudgal and Kailash Kher”. As the show drew nearer I asked Sushmit about set-lists for each show and the nature and level of improvisations done during each show. “Songs do get eliminated as and when your catalog increases. Our songs are long and so we cannot have all the songs in one set list. We shortlist a bunch of songs for a tour and then we pick and play during each show. Plus improvisation is always there”, says Sushmit. When asked about the length of the songs, “Our songs are not extended jam sessions. Our compositions require it. They are very well structured. We keep on improvising till everyone is content with the output.”
One thing that anyone would vouch for, even with the near cult status that they now command in India, is the ease with which you can approach the band. Rahul looks like the Mr. Nice Guy in the band and will always accommodate you. Which explains how he came about joining the band too. Having a PHD in Environmental toxicology from Cornell University, Rahul returned to India and started working in the Narmada valley as a Narmada Bachao Adolan (NBA) activist. When asked about pursuing music in US while studying, he was quick to point out the lack of enthusiasm in doing so during the same time. “100% attitude and 0% competence” is how he described fellow student musicians at Cornell. “All they had was conceit. Everyone seemed to have a question ready for me. What do you call your style of playing? What would you say the genre of your music playing is? The only time I played at Cornell was when I went to a party and the bass player passed out. I stepped up and all they were playing were 12 bar blues. So that was simple. Rest of the time was spent practicing with an acoustic guitar.” On a break from his NBA duties, once back in Delhi, he met Sushmit. “Sushmit and I knew each other from school. I used to play at that time and Sushmit was just starting off. So this time when he came and said he has a band, I didn’t take it seriously. The next time I came back from the valley, Sushmit had left 3-4 messages asking for me. So I met him, heard the demo tapes, liked them and from there it was scheduling more and more practice and jam sessions”. I compliment Rahul over his amazing voice saying “It’s pure. It doesn’t thrust anything down on me. It doesn’t make me feel like its trying to teach me something. It is what it is, a pure singing voice.” To which he cheerfully replies “I don’t think I can teach anyone anything either” and lets out a small giggle.
In the mean while Ashim sets up his array of tablas for sound check. Traditionally, the tabla player performs sitting down. However, due to the absence of a raised platform on the stage, Ashim decides to go for a standing performance. He sets it up and mentions “This would be the second time I will play standing up in my entire career”. When asked about the old struggling days he always looks back at those days and asserts “Fate! I am a strong believer in fate. Fate, along with hard work. We never started off with an ambition to make it real big. For us it was always the joy of playing music. During those initial few years, Sushmit always had a hunch that what we had was pretty good. I never thought about how far we would make it. Its just amazing that we have been playing for these many years.” Many people don’t know that Ashim had collaborated with Peete Seeger back in 90’s when Mr. Seeger made a pit stop in Delhi for his world tour. “It was back in 1995. I just happened to meet him at my friend Sushmit Bose’s farmhouse. There we spent around 4-5 hours talking about music. The next thing I know is that he asked me to perform with him in his Delhi shows. I was stunned. Here’s a world-renowned artist whom I met a few hours back and here he is asking me to collaborate with him. So I went and met him at the International Sheraton where he was staying the next day and practiced for a few numbers. The greatest moment for me came when he said to me: Ashim, I know you have a band and you are an upcoming ‘great’ musician. So instead of you just coming as a part of the band, let me introduce you during the concert before our number is played. And during the concert he did introduce me with some amazing gracious words. That just stunned my friends in the audience. They were just dumbstruck”. Ashim is the only tabla player in the world who can sing whilst playing. And to his credit he has an amazing voice that deserves an audience. When I question the folk roots in his singing he says “Coming from a family of musicians, my inclination towards folk music comes more from my mother. She was a folk singer. Plus I have always personally been interested in folk singing too.”
A huge applause erupts as the band members come on stage. As the band assembles itself below a portrait of Che Guevara and very apt revolutionary remarks, Rahul who does most of the talking on stage starts talking about trying new songs. And from there they dive into “Bula raha hai” a new composition for the movie Bhoomi. From there on they put on a super charged, jam heavy show for two and a half hours that managed to combine tracks of the instrumental heavy “Desert Rain” and the key tracks of “Kandisa” and “Jhini”. “Bula raha hai” promises to be the next sing along song from Indian Ocean exploding in Bollywood. Hearing it for the first time, I was already hooked to it and wanted sing along every time they chanted “Paon zameen par, aasman pe nazar”. “Bula raha hai” was followed by “Leaving Home” (great guitar duels) and “Melancholy ecstasy”. The band then introduced “Darte ho”, a dark which they have composed for an upcoming Amir Khan production. Lyrics for the song have been penned by the great Urdu poet Noon Meen Rashid. They closed the first set with “Jhini” and an amazing rendition of “Hille le” (Watch the video below. Here the crowd joins in for the sing-along with the band early on) during which it was hard to miss the excitement with which the crowd jumped in the air singing along to the catchy lines of the song.
From the onset there was a heavy demand for “Bandeh” and it was performed in all its acoustic glory immediately after the encore. “The break helps the venue sell more beer” is how Rahul described the break. Sushmeet did an inspired acoustic take on the guitar lead in the original song. (jump to 4:40 below if you want to see an inspired take of Bandeh by Sushmit).
Indian Ocean considers itself primarily a Live Band. And so do the fans. They swear by the bands live performance. And if you have been to one, you will know that the music is pitch perfect, note by note. The epitome of that performance reaches when they break into the very popular “Bhor”. Ashim always requests the crowd to abstain from making any noise during the intro to “Bhor”. Many musicians would do so out of the need of preventing their concentration from failing them. Not Indian Ocean. When asked about why Ashim calls for some quiet during “Bhor” he mentions, “We are a live band. We enjoy audience participation. We would never ask them to curb their enthusiasm. Its primarily because the intro of Bhor is so melodious and we want that melody to be felt by the audience.”
They close the night with their staple live numbers “Boll Wevill”, “Ma Rewa” and “Kandisa”. The crowd is reluctant to let them go. The concert might have ended, but the night carried on when the band, after almost 3 hours of amazing music, willingly mixes with the crowd for CD/DVD signing and photographs.
Although Sushmit did leave me with a tip which would completely be a fan’s delight. A new documentary portraying the energy and the story that is Indian Ocean, will soon hit the screens. There have been a couple of them out already. Check out Leaving Home which was screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles last year and also Beware Dogs (check out the video below) which was shown at a couple of film festivals in 2008.
P.S: At the time of publishing of this interview, Ashim had a heart attack during the bands trip back from the US and is in coma in Doha, Qatar. Here’s hoping and praying a speedy recovery for him from all his fans at LiveIsBetter.com and around the world.
