My musical role-model is Ustad Zakir Hussain. Everything from the way he presents himself musically onstage to the way he carries himself offstage offers a lesson to both musicians and non-musicians. Regarding your second question, working with big artists is a very humbling experience.
1. How did your journey as a musician begin? Tell us about your
background.
My journey as a musician began at a fairly young age. I first started learning Carnatic vocals from my mother, who is a singer, and later I started tabla lessons when I was ten years old. My parents used to drag me after school to concerts, and I was constantly exposed to music classes, rehearsals, or recordings either at home or someone’s place.
I also took keyboard lessons but stopped after three years. I learned that I could pick up songs by ear and was also primarily interested in tabla. I studied tabla under Shri Muthu Kumar, a student of Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain
In high school, I was exposed to a wide variety of music: Indian classical music, international crossover music like Shakti, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and others, and at school, my friends introduced me to bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc.
I joined a band where I was the keyboard player, while I also played tabla for other school events and competitions. I grew up listening to and playing a mixed bag of music and I still continue to do the same!
2. What is the significance of your family and friends in this journey of yours?
Like I said earlier my parents have played a huge role in giving me that initial exposure and in enrolling me in music lessons. Without their involvement, I’m not sure if music would be such a big part of my life.
With friends, music has been somewhat of an ice-breaker: each time I’ve met someone who grew up listening to something I hadn’t heard of, I’d eventually start listening to that band/artist and that would solidify the friendship between us. That said, I have always carried a headphone splitter in my bag wherever I traveled!
3. When and how did you become a part of the "Berklee Indian Ensemble"? How would you describe your experience so far?
It was the summer of 2016! I had traveled with them to Bangalore on a serendipitous last-minute arrangement and even ended up performing at the concert. That was definitely the first step.
But it was later that year that they needed a tabla player for the concert with Shankar Mahadevan. I auditioned and got in, and performed at that concert. Since then, it has been a very intoxicating musical experience – playing with internationally acclaimed artists, lots of learning, and making new friends.
4. Who are your musical role-models? What has the experience of working with legendary musicians like Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal, and Zakir Hussain been like?
My musical role-model is Ustad Zakir Hussain. Everything from the way he presents himself musically onstage to the way he carries himself offstage offers a lesson to both musicians and non-musicians. Regarding your second question, working with big artists is a very humbling experience.
At rehearsals, Zakir ji, Shankar ji, and Shreya ji treat all the musicians with a lot of respect and as their equals. That apart, they are all a lot of fun and they keep cracking jokes!
5. Do you think format training is necessary for a musician to excel or can one succeed purely based on self-training?
My answer may be biased since I was trained in Indian classical music where I believe self-training is nearly impossible unless you’re a child prodigy. There is also a lot of repertoires that one needs to learn in an organized manner.
I’m quite sure if you play many instruments or if you have a great ear, you can pick things up by yourself. Then again, prodigies are outliers. For the average individual, nothing comes close to a structured curriculum taught by a good teacher.
6. What are your other passions and interests?
I have to say economics because I have a Ph.D. in it and I work as an economic consultant. I enjoy learning new things. I’m passionate about some key questions in macroeconomics and development economics. I also enjoy reading, cooking, and nerding out over Marvel movies.
7. If you were to give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Try to be less judgmental about new genres or what you think is non-traditional music.
8. What can music-lovers expect from you in the future?
More independent music. More genre-agnostic exploration (bear with me, please!).
9. Do you read books? If yes, what is the one book that's closest to your heart and why?
I do read books, but not as much as I should. I don’t have a favorite book, but any of the Sherlock Holmes novels or short stories come pretty close.
Giridaran Subramaniam | Musician, Berklee Indian Ensemble
Interviewed By: Aparna Ponnaluri
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