Ehsaan Noorani depicts the new age Bollywood.  A trip to California changed this naturally talented guitar player, to becoming a complete popular Indian musician. His  tunes have become a part of some of the finest Bollywood music scores. As part of SHANKAR EHSAAN LOY and also as a solo Blues guitarist, Ehsaan has made Bollywood more appealing, not only to all ages, but also to all Geographies. Here we catch up with this talented “lifelong student of music.”

On growing up in Mumbai and attending a school like Cathedral and John Cannon, did it ever occur to you that you would be making music for Bollywood?

No, that world was very far from Bollywood. There the emphasis was more on academia and music was something I have enjoyed, even back then but the whole emphasis was more on regular school. Although I have been playing the guitar from a young age, it was more of a natural thing, as opposed to a career option

So how did that change?

After getting an initial training in music and guitar in Mumbai  by  Mr. Bismarck Rodrigues, the most defining moment for me was coming to the US, in California, in 1985 to study music. That changed the world for me and opened me to global music and sounds. On my return, advertising was becoming big in India, as was the music associated with the ads . The learning though continues and I consider myself a lifelong student of music

 How did Shankar Ehsaan Loy (SEL) come into being in Bollywood?

I had done stuff with Loy in the studios and knew Shankar too, during the advertising days. One day got a call from the late Mr Mukul Anand to compose for his movie DUS and I asked him if I could pick some team members and he was agreeable with it, so that is how SEL came into being in Bollywood

On the upcoming projects?

There is Zindagi Na Mile Dobara, Don 2, Aarakshan and some other stuff all ready to roll in the upcoming months

What jenre of music do you enjoy the most?

I am definitely a Blues guy and that has been the biggest influence for me.

THE ALTERNATIVE INDIAN ROCK GROUP CASSINI’S DIVISION

Given that the band came together in 2001, how has the journey been?

Cassini’s Division: The journey has been a long, and convoluted one. We were one of the first bands in the country to play full slots of exclusively original material (with a couple of covers of bands we enjoyed). Getting an audience hitherto unused to a desi band not playing popular covers was a challenge. But Rahul is a brilliant songwriter, and our material is melodic and catchy, and fortunately, everyone gets it. Then we’re from Kolkatta – and that has its own problems. Opportunities are few and far between. Most of the notable concerts and festivals happen in Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, etc. Event organizers are reluctant to bear logistical costs. Geographically, we’re disadvantaged on that count. There is also a preconception that Kolkatta is about Jazz music and great cover bands. It’s not inaccurate historically, but everything evolves and I can tell you that the City of Joy has some of the most remarkable musicians and bands, from every conceivable genre, in the country. But, for whatever reason, we’re kinda like the step-sibling of the Indian music scene. Nobody wants us. But it will change in time, I know. You can’t hide light.

Musically, the journey has been the best thing ever. Everyone in the Division comes with his own mental musical accoutrement – each vastly temperamentally different from the other. When it comes together, it’s always new and refreshing. Which answers a question we’re often asked – the band’s hybrid sound is incidental and not contrived. It often surprises us too. The release of our album Ringside View was a high point in our musical journey. It has placed us indelibly on record in the annals of Indian rock music history. It has also vindicated the belief in us that our fans have borne through the hard times. This one’s for them.

Talk about your upcoming tours and albums?

Cassini’s Division: Our label is talking to venues and event organizers. With the album out, we’re hoping to achieve momentum as far as gigs and tours are concerned. The band is also independently working out its own gigs. There are so many fans of the band in cities and towns across the country. Our online communities are flooded with messages asking “When are you guys playing at Bangalore?” and “When Cassini’s Division coming to Mumbai?”

We’ve begun work on the next two albums and we’re really excited about them both. The next release is going to be special for a lot of reasons, which I won’t get into. But it’s going to be super-special. Recording and releasing Ringside View was an education for us all. We (the band and the record company) are in a better position now to understand the workings of the market, and we hope to utilize that knowledge for the forthcoming releases.

The influence of Kolkata in the evolution of the band?

Cassini’s Division: Let me increase the scope of your question to answer that – what is the influence of Bengal on the arts and allied industries in India. Films, music, theatre, writing, academia – you name it – you’re are bound to find Bengalis and Kolkata everywhere. It’s inescapable. Bengal, the arts, and revolutionary thought have been bedfellows for a long time now. In fact each feeds the other with creativity and intellect. As far as bands go, over 80% of bands in India have had at least 1 Bengali as part of the line-up. I think it has to do with having a rich musical lineage from as early as the 13th century –  and Rabindra sangeet, and Nazrulgeeti, and a host of incredible film singers from Kishore Kumar to Manna Dey. It has given birth to a genre of music – Bangla Rock. It is in our soil and in our blood. So then, having been born into this environment is bound to influence. If Music is an entity, she found Cassini’s Division to voice some part of her emotions. Our songs talk about life as we see it, as we live it. Life in Calcutta. Windows into life in India. The emotional range of the music on Ringside View is definitely urban – and at some level reflects the humdrum, chaotic, relentlessness of life in one of India’s largest metropolitan conglomerates.

Which has been your greatest hit composition?

Cassini’s Division: To us, all our songs are hits. It’s like asking a parent which their favorite child is.
The songs on Ringside View address such a variety of emotions that everybody listening to the album can find something subjective to their current state of mind/being. If an indicator is required, we find Rumble, Story of My Life, Caesar, Voivoid, Glowworm, Stay and Satyr9 are the most requested songs at performances.

On performing in Singapore?

Cassini’s Division: Singapore was our first experience of performing in a different country. The country itself is rather an experience. You gotta stand in little yellow boxes to smoke.
Sutasi had bands, soloists and songwriters from 13 Asian countries participating. To quote Rahul (Rapper bard and lyricist), “It was interesting to see how the musical trajectory and emotional narrative of rock music has evolved in such different ways in different countries. Chinese rock, for example, is wholly and vastly different from the sound and scene in India. It was less of a competition and more of a festival to take Asian Rock to an international audience. We were popular choice finalists from our region (South Asia) and we’d like to think of that as an achievement we’ll always be proud of, considering the fact that the quality of music from all the countries was simply superb.”

Any upcoming films, post the BONG CONNECTION?

Cassini’s Division: Not yet.

A school of thought believes that the West must be won over.
He has done that with his multiple Oscars.
A school of thought believes that East is best.
He has a plethora of Filmfare awards and Bollywood recognition to have put his flag there.
The purist school feels it is all about classical study.
He has his music credentials from Trinity.
The non conformists feel that music cannot be taught.
His improvisations have made him a cult figure amongst the rebels too.

What’s next now for this musical maverick?

The world is not enough! But the world will have to do. AR Rahman embarks on a Global journey, which starts from the US, goes on to Europe, comes back to the US, then the Far East.
For the viewers who saw the first set of shows in the East Coast of the US, their opinions varied, what did not, was the unanimous consent that, as Indian/Bollywood shows go, this one has a character, a grandeur and a razzmatazz, quite distinct from anything that has been seen before.
Here is a quick break with AR Rahman, as he readies for the next show on the agenda

When did the idea of the tour come about?

After the Oscars we were planning an album. During that time, we started to get a lot of inquiries for a tour. But I did not want to do just another show. We have done shows for the past few years but this time we wanted to attempt something new and more creative. So Sam, my agent in Hollywood suggested we team up with some of the best talent in Hollywood and brainstorm on the show content and form. Around this time, Deepak Gattani came to the rescue of spearheading the whole effort. He has been a television director for 13 years and was gracious enough to step into the role of a producer and help put this whole tour together. About five months ago, we synergized our creative energies, which in turn lead to a jamming session in LA. Thus the tour conceptualized. We had the first set of sellout performances  in New York, Atlantic City, DC and Chicago. We had planned to cover all the major metros across the US and Canada. Due to an unfortunate accident in Detroit, prior to the show, we had to postpone the remainder of the North American tour, to September 2010.  We are now ready to embark onto Europe.

Was there a specific need to connect with the people of North America, given that some of your greatest artistic recognitions have come from here (the US)?

Yes ! Also a lot of people here (US) were inquisitive about AR Rahman the person and his music. So these shows were a means to communicate with them. The content of the show is not genre specific. The audience will be treated to fresh shifts in content, during the course of the show, to keep it invigorating. It has been designed to have the cumulative look and feel of a rock, classical and dramatic performance.

US, Europe, where next?

If all goes per plan, towards the end of the year we travel to the Eastern hemisphere, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Middle East, etc.

As a performer what gives you a greater high, live performances or recordings?

I think both. When you are recording, you are almost non- existent, only your spirit exists, but while performing, your whole physical self needs to be present and you have to be spontaneous, so both are very challenging in their own ways.

Any forthcoming compositions that will debut in this tour?

Since the tour was planned 4-6 months ago, it will have very few new numbers but will have many of the classic and recent ones. The set of songs have been carefully selected, and the singers have been trained, keeping in mind the show in its entirety.

He was the voice behind ROCK MACHINE, which in it’s time had cult like success in India. They played across the nation and overseas. When ROCK MACHINE, then evolved into INDUS CREED, UDAY BENEGAL continued to be it’s “voice.” Then at the height of their prowess, the group disbanded, Uday went West.
Now he is back in Mumbai and India
A new group, but the same resonating voice, which we also heard in WAKE UP SID.

Over to Uday:

Talk a little about the return from New York, from a Music perspective, why back to India and why now?
The answer to that question is not music-related. I moved back to Bombay to try and make indie-style films. I’d written a couple of scripts (both based in India), one of which started to get some traction, so I moved back because the only way to get it done is to be present. The urge to get up on stage and make some music seems impossible to stanch for me, so I keep doing it.

Whirling Kalapas- what kind of music can we expect and where do you want to take the group?
Whirling Kalapas is what I consider my acoustic side project. Ok, so you’re going to ask me what my main project is now. I don’t know…yet But with WK I feel a deep sense of peace and fulfillment every time I get up on stage. To get into those quiet moments that we do…I’ve long aspired for that. A bit hard with electric bands. WK delves into those quiet spaces; we explore all kinds of tonalities through acoustic guitars, mandolin, violin, lush vocal harmonies. And every now and then we just funk it out. Where would I like to take the group? To planets heretofore undiscovered.

From being the recognizable Rock Machine and then Indus Creed, to struggling in New York with Alms For Shanti, struggling, cause the environment and the audience had changed, talk a little about the desire to move West in the first place and about your overall experience there (NY)?
The years with Rock Machine and Indus Creed were amazing. Also insane, bizarre and ulcer-causing. But in toto it was just a fantastic ride. At some point, though, some of us started to move in different directions musically. I wanted to move in a different direction geographically too—I was sick of living in Bombay by then. The city was getting more frustrating to be in, the music biz had changed in ways that we hated and I wanted to make a kind of music that India wasn’t, I believed, ready for. Rather than try and stuff it down an unwilling throat I chose to go in search of the audience for that sound. Jayesh Gandhi, also from Indus Creed, felt in much the same way, so we both decided to head for New York and start a new band with a new sound.
Our years in New York were fabulous. Like Bombay, NYC can be pretty unforgiving—you’ve got to have your shit together or it’s not going to work for you. Musically it was very fulfilling as we found a great bunch of musicians that become Alms For Shanti. With AFS we weren’t looking for stardom of any kind. Jayesh and I had set out to make the kind of music that we wanted to make, irrespective of the commercial implications. I have no regrets there. I loved New York; I still do. It’s as much home as Bombay—sometimes more. I loved the anonymity, the environment, the openness. I miss it often.

Desire to do playback for Bollywood?
I like to sing, period. I’m very open to doing Bollywood tunes but I’d prefer to do the kind of songs that I’m comfortable with. When Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy played me the scratch for “Life Is Crazy” from the film Wake Up Sid, the decision to do it was instant. I loved the song, they’re guys I’ve known for a long time and am very comfortable working with. When more Bollywood work comes along I hope it’s like that song—fresh, catchy and fun to do.

State of the music industry when you left India, to where we are now?
Worse in some ways, better in others. The worst part of the music scene in India today is the absence of dedicated music channels. It’s hard for a band to get their music out there. But in other ways it’s easier. Now there’s MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and the like. Technology has made it easier to record at home. But the onus lies on the bands to market themselves, a task most musicians suck at. Which is the reason for record companies to exist. But the labels here suck as much, if not more, at that function, so it’s all a bit of a mess. The live scene has improved in many ways. There are a bunch of live music clubs—and still growing—all across the country. And they all want bands to come and play their own music. That’s progress to me.

Throwing up the Hotel Mgmt for a music career, any regrets looking back, anything you would do different?
Ha ha ha, no regrets at all on kicking the “bright future” in hospitality. The 10 days I spent working as a hotel trainee after I graduated from hotel school made that decision much, much easier. And I was already in Rock Machine, so the choice was obvious. No regrets, man. A full-time musician is what I was meant to be and I’m only grateful that I’ve been able to do that. And all the experiences that followed from that decision have been great, even the times when things weren’t going so well. Because that’s what life is—sometimes it goes according to plan and sometimes it doesn’t (though I suspect it’s all part of the plan, really). Life’s experiences—good and bad—are all good. Everything teaches…if you let it.

Additionally feel free to add anything else you want to communicate to the readers.
Um, not much more to add to that. I’m lucky for the life I’ve had and the life I still have. Everyone should feel that way

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This is indeed the age of the Indian American /Anglo Indian, musician. While across the pond called the Atlantic, Jay Sean is making waves, on this side, we have Jason Joseph, whose singles, One Man and Just Move, are quickly moving this one man, into the upper echelons of the American music scene. If it hadn’t been the case of getting bored doing his desk time, as a Computer Engineer, Jason might have been coding for a living, instead he chose to pursue his “other scholarship,” and IT’s loss was music’s gain. More power to that. Here we catch up with Jason, in Los Angeles (Jason’s music can be heard on his website at http://www.jasonjoseph.com/)

How did music happen?

I started singing at a very young age, like probably 2-3 years old. I guess cause my dad has always been a music lover, not that they are musicians. The radio and records formed a part of our growing up experience.  That was regurgitating in my ears when I was growing up and my parents encouraged on. Then I was singing for community and church events, so that’s how it all started.

So now the college experience, you enroll in Computer Science, this is prior to the dot com bust, a steady paycheck coming your way, and you decide to throw it away for music?

You know I barely worked like two months, I could feel the life getting sucked out of me. The thing that I enjoyed about programming and engineering, is the creative solutions to the problem, but beyond that in an everyday kind of situation it was very tedious for me. So I decided to go back into music, for which I had a pre existing scholarship in college.

So now that you are relatively successful, going on to further success, during this journey, during the initial struggle, anytime, did the thought occur, “that maybe I should not have taken this path?”

LA is an interesting place, in that there is a lot of glitz and glamour on the outside, but when you truly come here, I think it’s a hard place to start. Like in NY, it is very much in your face, people will tell you off. Here it is like, “you know that sounds good,” so you can’t really gauge from other people, where you are going. So when I first came here, my expectation compared to the feedback I was getting, was not in synch and this was definitely confusing. Like , “it sounds great” but I wasn’t really working. So the first year or two took a lot out of me, I did so many different things.  I was trying to break into studio stuff, to promoting live events, working with other bands playing with them live, as well as writing, basically I overcame that struggle by doing anything that I could.

So why LA, why not New York or London?

I was in school in Boston, I was going back and forth to New York. My original intention was to go to NY. Then in my last couple of months in Boston, I got a call from a music producer, here in LA. So I come here to do some work with him and instantly I fell in love with Southern California. Especially the weather.  Cause I grew up in Florida and coming from there, this weather was perfect. Also the vibe of the West Coast, which to me has the similarity to the South.  The way of life and everyone’s kind of laid back.  That won me over.

So now that you have your music up in the charts, how have things changed for you and when did it occur to you that, “I’m getting successful in this?”

The two songs that kind of stuck out were Just Move and One Man. Just Move, stylistically when I was recording it, all the tracks were in my head and I laid them down in probably thirty to forty minutes and while doing so, it felt really good , very different, it had a lot of my individuality on it. So I was like this is definitely going to resonate with some people. One Man, was written months before the Obama election.  And even now when I play it, it is exactly right, the chords flow from one to another, when the lyrics flow it is almost a perfect song. When we wrote it we knew we had created something special.

Where do you go from here, now that you have “arrived?”

It’s a journey, so the next thing is more writing. The journey has kind of brought me to this place, where I do a Monday night event weekly and it has allowed me to play with some of the best musicians here in town.  That has lead to this next phase where we are building this studio. For me expanding into music production with my own label and studio, would be the next phase of the journey, expanding the horizons of the people involved with me and also pushing myself in all frontiers of music. All the music that you write is a snapshot of where you are in life, so I look back and say “that was really relevant to where I was, now I find myself in a different political and social environment.”

Being South Asian American, any challenges that you faced in the music business, in the US?

It ties into when I first came here to LA, being an Indian I had to deal with unfamiliarity and ignorance.  People would not know what box to put you in, “you’re not white, you’re not black and in a lot of musical people’s thinking those are the two boxes.” That’s what I had to deal with. Some people would hear me and say, “dude you’re black.” Then I’d start doing the rock thing and the black people would say, “dude we thought you were black?” For me it has allowed me to take the best of all, I grew up in both black music and rock music. Being South Asian I tried to embrace it and at the same time be true to myself regardless of what I am and not necessarily trying to make it an ethnic thing. Just assimilating the sounds of the things I have heard growing up.  Part of that is definitely Indian music cause I grew up with that.

So if an offer from the Indian film industry came your way? In English?

I would absolutely love to do that. I’ve actually been fortunate enough to have acted in a few things here. I was in the Warner Bros film, Poseidon, done some TV and was in a Sprite commercial, that is going to be in India, had to speak in Hindi, was a very interesting process. My Hindi sounds like trash!!! If I was to leave LA, the three places I would go to would be New York, London or Mumbai.  It would have to be the right thing though.

The balance between art and commerce?

Is hard, it’s a constant struggle. As an artist, people want to see you bleed, see that vulnerability. When you are an artist writing from that place and emoting from that place, it’s very hard to be objective.  To think of it from a business point of view, you have to be completely objective. To be completely objective is very rare for an artist. I think I’m ok at it although I’m not very good at it. The key is to have people around you that you trust and people whose opinion matters, who know you, because of the time and relationship. Just who can give you an objective view.  Ideally people who are involved in the industry and have some gauge. But then being a great artist is also about not giving a F*** about what everyone else thinks.  So it’s almost as if the two forces are diametrically opposing. So when being an artist, behave like one, but when done, get the objective view of people you trust.

When people descend on a city to make their life, whether it is coming to Mumbai to eke out a living or to Silicon Valley in the US, most come with some dreams and aspirations, then life takes over. The day to day battle of making a living consumes and becomes all important. It is very few, very determined, very passionate individuals who are able to strike a balance between their job and their passion. It takes a lot out of one and it asks for some supreme sacrifices. Giju John is one such individual, who while becoming a successful engineer in Intel, has also, along the way, managed to keep that flame of Salsa burning within and then taken that flame and given it a concrete form, to become a full fledged artist. Here is more about this talented artist.

1. Latin –Indian pop a genre not many have ventured into. What inspired you?

I’ve been a performing artist for many years and I always wanted to do “my own thing”, if you will, in the music and entertainment field. Although my basic training has been in Carnatic music and Bharat Natyam (a popular south Indian classical dance), I was always inclined towards doing something in the pop music genre. After I moved to US, in 1998, I took upon salsa dancing. Few months into the learning phase, I was completely hooked to the flavor of Latin music and dances, as a dancer as well as a musician. I was also part of an Indian music band at that time. Singing Indian songs and dancing salsa and cha cha cha – it didn’t take long for my creative side to kick in and explore the possibility of combining the two. That’s how this new genre got conceptualized; it was back in 2004. Since then I’ve released my first Latin Indian cross over album – Rang Rangeeli Yeh Duniya, launched Beyond Dreamz Entertainment, produced three music videos including the very first Indian-salsa and Indian-Cha-Cha-Cha videos, and done numerous dance productions in the Latin-Indian genre.

2.Do u have a formal training in singing?

Yes, I was trained in Carnatic music (classical music branch in the southern part of india) from the age of 9 through 15. In the recent times, I’ve restarted my training – this time in Hindustani music (classical music branch in the northern part of india) from a highly accomplished master – Sri Mahesh Kale.

3. You are a world ranked salsa dancer. What attracted an Intel engineer to this form of dancing?

Flavor ( ‘sabor’ as they call it in Spanish). Just like millions of salseros and salseras out there, I got attracted or rather addicted J to its wonderfully infectious flavor. As a trained dancer I also appreciated the good balance between the difficulty in techniques and the creative freedom it allows.

4. It sure must have been one challenging and difficult journey. What keeps Giju ticking?

What keeps me ticking is my passion towards music and dance. Also the prospect of popularizing this unique, vibrant music genre of Latin-Indian fusion, as well as the highly encouraging responses I’ve been getting from my listeners and audience.

5. Salsa is catching up in India too. What is your take on it?

Salsa, along with the other Latin dance forms like Cha Cha, Bachata and Meringue, are getting hugely popular in India. As a matter of fact, for my cha cha cha music video – Dhoondun Tujhe – I’d roped in some of the best dancers from different cities to be the main as well as supporting cast. There are numerous schools across the country with hundreds of thousands of students and I’ve worked with two of the original dance schools over there – LVDS (Banglore) and Salsa-India (Mumbai). They are doing a spectacular job with the spreading of this wonderful dance form. Actually two of my good friends – Richard and Sneha – got to the finals of India’s got Talent and almost clinched the title with their salsa shows. From what I’ve seen so far, the dancers over there are progressing at a really high pace towards the world class level. And I’m very much looking forward to working with them on more projects.

6. The music video ‘dil ko kiya’ is very beautifully shot. Tell us about its making?

Yes, it came out great. ‘Dil Ko Kiya’ was the first song that was composed and it has been very close to my heart. When my CD was released, along with the latin fusion tracks – rang rangeeli yeh duniya and dhoondun tujhe – this song also became very popular. So I started thinking about some ideas. The initial one was to go an exotic location like Brazil (the director of my first video had close ties with some technicians over there). But then budget became a major constraint. Couple of my other ideas also didn’t pan out and so I started focusing more on ‘Dhoondun Tujhe’. During one of my trips to india, my good old friend Sandeep Mohan – who is a noted writer and upcoming director in Mumbai – floated (no pun intended ) the idea of making a music video for Dil Ko Kiya with the backwaters of kerala as the backdrop. He was also very confident of doing it within a limited budget that I had in mind, which he ended up fulfilling as well. We started brainstorming for the story line and he started coming up with these wonderfully crazy ideas like floating bathtub, wearing suit in rain, musical chess board etc. So I pretty much went along with complete trust in his vision and ability. And has he delivered or what..!! All those ‘crazy’ ideas were pulled off with such élan without losing the emotional connect in the story. Hats off to you Sandy..!!:-)
I was also very lucky to have another great director on board – Pradipto Nandi – for my cha cha cha music video Dhoondun Tujhe. From the concept to the final product, he had clear artistic as well as directorial vision for every single detail. It was his idea to do an Indian take on the classic ‘Dirty Dancing’. Showcasing the dance form without losing the grip on storytelling was a major feat accomplished in this video. Much props to you, Prody.:-)

7. What are your upcoming projects?

I’m currently working on two Bollywood projects. Doing the choreography for one movie and in the second one, I’ll be producing and singing two songs and will be debuting as an actor as well.
With my dance company, I’m preparing the team for the 2009 San Francisco Salsa Congress. I’ve also recently launched “Tiranga Productions” partnering with my friend Kamal Shah from the east coast, with the primary focus of investing in Bollywood projects.

Few other details about me:
My website – www.gijujohn.com
My videos page – www.gijujohn.com/videos
Direct youtube links:

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