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Since when have you been composing? 

I don’t compose, I simply improvise and the resulting sound depends on a place, time and the people around me. I started playing the Santoor three years ago but I’ve been playing music for 10 years now.

What do you seek when you compose your pieces?

Everybody who listens to my work hears something different. I try to be a channel of something cosmic and eternal, and if I can touch somebody’s heart with my music, then I’m satisfied.

What is your message?

There’s no message I wish to convey through my music. I want people to be able to connect with my music at some point in their lives.

Are you just combining styles?

I’m not trying to combine any styles. I rarely think while I’m working. The resulting music is whatever comes to me in a moment. Maybe there is some element of Indian Classical music in my music, maybe there are other styles as well. If you hear it in my music, it must be there!

What is your favourite Indian instrument?

That’s hard to say! I love the Rudra Veena much more than Sitar. But it really depends on the master playing it. Sometimes, a performer on the street with primitive instruments can play his music better than an ustad or pandit!

Is India inspiring to you and your music?

Yes of course! In many different ways.

How do you see music?
As a force that channels the deepest emotions of one’s mind and soul; the means of communicating with god, reality or the universe.

So is there music in everything?

When one feels completely connected to something, one hears music in everything. Music is everywhere but we give it the form we wish to experience. Music tomorrow may be in a very different form.

Of all the time you’ve spent in India, what do you treasure the most?

Everything is possible in India. I’ve had great days and horrible ones, pretty much like every other thing in our lives.

What goes through your mind when you perform in front of people who love your music?

If I see that my music is touching someone and somebody loves it, I feel grateful and that I’m not useless, that I’m not alone in my craziness.

Is there any musician you’d love to perform with one day

It’s always a great surprise to meet musicians that one can get together with to create something new and interesting.

Interviewed by: Surabhi Chowdhury