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Music comes first, says Anoushka Shankar

Updated on: 22 February,2009 07:15 AM IST  | 
Fashutana Patel |

The young sitarist reveals why the harmony comes before the lyrics for her

Music comes first, says Anoushka Shankar

The young sitarist reveals why the harmony comes before the lyrics for her




pic/bipin kokate




Anoushka was in Mumbai to perform with her band The Anoushka Shankar Project at Blue Frog. The band is an avenue to experiment beyond her classical roots. It comprises Shankar, Tanmoy Bose on tabla, Ravichandra Kulur on flute, Leo Dombecki on a variety of instruments, Barry Phillips on cello, Sanjeev Shankar on shahnai and Jesse Charnow on drums and percussions. Why another venture altogether? Because this is different from her classical performances, "When people hear just my name, they come to the concert expecting me on the sitar," she explains.

It is inevitable for her father, sitar legend, Pt Ravi Shankar's name to come up. Despite mingling with some of the music world's most beloved artistes, George Harrison for instance, who was a dear friend, Anoushka's agenda was "just to be normal." She could have easily opted to go to a private school, but instead went to a public one that thrived on arts (all things creative) and sports.

Four albums and living between England, USA and New Delhi later, she's seen and been seen a lot. We cover topics like Bollywood the last movie she saw was Taare Zameen Par why the terms 'fusion' and 'genre' are thrown about too easily, and how, because she's an instrumentalist, music matters over words "Once you have words, you have a language. Music is the first element, words brings in a second element and sometimes I don't agree with the words sung by musicians, they seem silly or trite."

As for her musical tastes, they go from contemporaries of her father, to Salim Sulaiman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy in Bollywood and Ali Fakaturi, Bju00f6rk to the Beastie Boys, internationally.

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