What did Sheryl Crow, Andrea Bocelli, Leonard Cohen, Susan Boyle and Scatman John have in common? Unlike their contemporaries, they all got their big breaks late in life. In fact, the late Scatman John (John Paul Larkin) had been a prolific jazz pianist for decades…
“In 2019, somewhere in UP, someone spread a false message that a certain man was stealing/kidnapping children,” Shahzan Mujeeb tells me right at the beginning of our grim conversation. “Within 24 hours, 20 people were lynched. Can you imagine? Innocent human beings murdered because of…
At a time when real instruments are simulated on digital audio workstations with plugins, I've often wondered what electronic music would sound like if played on real instruments. Somewhere in the early 2010s, I chanced upon The Showhawk Duo, doing acoustic guitar covers of chartbusting…
Every so often, we're treated to music that seriously messes with our heads. We'd count Dogma by Pink Amphibians as one of them. With a track as calm as a breezy evening and Morcheeba by the sea married to lyrics that can only be described…
As a lifelong student of film, my first response when I hit play on Ankur Sabharwal’s Better Man was - ’It cannot be!’. I had to watch the video a few times over to spot the intricacies. As someone who has experimented with film stock for…
“I’d say we fall under no genre” Chennai Street Band frontman, Srihari Jagannathan asserts when I pose the question that I, myself, am always apprehensive about asking an artist. I heave a sigh of relief when he utters these words. Having listened to their latest…
“... Mukt karo bhay, aapona-maajhe shakti dharo nijere karo jay” On odd days, at precisely 8:25 am, the school assembly hall was filled with these very words sung at the tops of our voices. Our music instructor, a tall and skinny Bengali gentleman, spectacles nearly…
“Which is the best collaboration you’ve come across?” An acquaintance casually asked me a few weeks ago. What could I say? Great artists have collaborated with one another since, well, the beginning of time. In music, one of the oldest examples would be Hexaméron from…
Experience Rahul Dalal perform solo with his backing tracks and Guitar for the first time since the lockdown. Join us for this exciting live show, featuring Hindi Bollywood songs ranging from 50s melodies to the recent hit mashups with Rahul Dalal and his virtual band…
Just five minutes into my conversation with actor-singer-songwriter Alexx ONell, and I know this is going to be a masterclass of sorts... one with a bizarre title. Something along the lines of ‘Why I’m Ecstatic My Album Never Released, and Why It Never Will’. Yes,…