Leading World Fusion act Prem Joshua and Band are all set to perform in Mumbai with two new members in the group
Artiste Prem Joshua has been around for over two decades, enthralling audiences across the world with some of the best fusion of traditional Hindustani and Western music. The artiste and his group act, Prem Joshua and Band, are now set for another soulful musical evening at the Hard Rock Café (HRC), today.
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Artiste Prem Joshua
Born and brought up in Germany, Joshua, has made India his second home since he arrived here in 1991, collaborating with artistes across genres — from Jazz, Rock to Trance, EDM and Folk — and cultures. “I always experimented with music. I was never satisfied and I was looking for something new. When I came to India, I found certain amount of nourishment in Indian Classical music. I was also very familiar with Western music as I started playing at a young age. So, the mix (of Indian Classical and Western) came quite naturally to me. It was not constructed. It was instant connection from the very beginning. I just continued in this direction,” he says.
But learning Indian Classical music was very difficult, and so was the actual process of combining the two culturally different music styles together. “Creating Fusion music is quite difficult. It’s not like you put the two together, and make a cocktail out of it. You have to understand both worlds, before you can actually bring them together. And to study Indian Classical music is even more difficult,” he adds.
One may expect a popular Fusion artiste like Joshua to be open to all genres of music, but the German artiste has a strong liking and disliking to what he listens to. He spells it out, “I enjoy very diverse kind of music. But I am very picky. I usually rely on friends who make me listen to some music, or when I hear something I ask about it. I also go to YouTube and follow certain artistes. Our music too has influences of Jazz, Trance, EDM, Rock, etc, but as an artiste, I may not like all of them. Like, I find Trance too monotonous. I miss the soul in it. Most of it, to my ears, is actually noise.”
The band’s line-up at HRC will feature two new members — Runa Rizvi and Robin Muttack, and the band is expected to play music that would most likely be a hint towards their new album releasing sometime in mid 2014, their first album since 2010, when they released Luminous Secrets.
When asked about the delay, Joshua replies, “We do most of the writing in around two months in a year, when we don’t tour as rest of the year is usually very tense. We are ready with our next album. Now, it depends on the record company on when they want to release it. But most likely, it should be out by mid 2014.”
On: Today, 8.30 pm onwards
At: Hard Rock Cafe, Bombay Dyeing Mills, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Worli.
Call: 24382888
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