Introduce the Band.
Fidel: Chester Pereira on guitars , Sudhakar Prabhu ( yes we also have a mallu ) on drums , Bharat Kumar on Keyboards, Jerome Mascarenhas on vocals/blues harps , Ian Castelino on Djembe/percussions and Dr Sangeetha Swaminathan on Carnatic Violin. I play the bass.
Chester: Bourbon Street is a band that plays music from different genres. We grew up listening to and liking many different kinds of music, and when we came together as a band, we decided to play music belonging to different styles rather than picking a genre. Our music is mostly improvisational in nature, and I’d say we are more of a ‘performing’ band as opposed to a ‘studio’ band.
Bharath: Exactly what Chester said. Contrary to what most bands do, we have very little interest in recording our music to produce commercial albums. Our idea of a great band is just to re-interpret our own songs at every show, thus making every show unique. And because of this improvisation hang-up that we have, we end up doing jazz-funk and carnatic numbers, which inherently allow for a large degree of improvisation
How did your Band come to be ?
Chester: We started off as a three-piece and recruited people as and when the opportunity arose. We are now a 7-piece band! Fidel: Our origins are from Chester , the guitarist , whom I met at a jam some years ago. We decided to jam out at the LiveGig that used to take place on Sundays at Indira Gandhi Museum. We emailed each other some tracks , one morning I arrived I met Sudhakar on stage and we just improvised. Eventually we met more musicians and we’ve always managed to accommodate a growing number of performers in the same floor area !
Bharath: Haha! I remember the day the three of them played at The Live Gig. I was the founder member of The Live Gig, and I saw these guy playing some funky jive-ass shit! I said to myself, “I have got to play with these bad-ass mofos!” Ian: I don’t know man. I was at home one day and some masked goons entered my house (one of them in the same shape and size as our drummer). I was gagged, stuffed into my djembe and taken to a studio. They said “Make some noise”. I did. They said, “Good, you are with us now, just pretend like you know some shit”.
What are each of your Influences ?
Chester: Phish, Roy Buchanan, Manitas De Plata, Gipsy Kings, Nadaka, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Slayer, The Police, Pink Floyd, Santana, Rush, King Crimson, Skunk Baxter, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai….the list is endless 🙂
Fidel: Bon Jovi , Santana , Jaco Pastorius, Dire Straits , Steely Dan , Dream Theater , Tool , Rush , Extreme, Roger Waters, Leonard Cohen.
Bharath: Chopin, Schubert, Mozart, Chick Corea, Thelonius Monk, Fats Waller, Bill Evans, B.B.King, Miles Davis, Richard Wright, Jean-Micheal Jarre, Keith Emerson, Dream Theater, Rush. And recently Deadmau5..
Sudhakar: Lots to name. But any kind of music or musician that dares to be new and stand out inspires me
Ian: Alcohol
Tell us about your Favorite Original. How did you go about composing it?
Chester: While jamming with Sangeetha, Fidel asked her “How does this raga Khamaj go? Can we do something with it?” and I suggested we try something in the 9/8 time signature as we hadn’t worked in that time signature. While putting things together, there was one part where I accidentally suggested something in a 10/8. It sounded good though, so we decided to keep it. We fit all the pieces together and the outcome was a number that we call ‘Serenity’.
Fidel: We have this one track called ‘When She Smiles’ played in a 5/4. When the song starts off with the guitar arpeggio, the mood immediately mellows into this nice, warm, comfortable zone. Personally I think we (re)compose it everytime we perform it because that’s the way we treat our music. You dont know how you’re going to end up treating the song and the solos everytime you play it.
Sudhakar: There is this jazz piece called Dust and then there is this one piece which we don’t play anymore. Can’t remember its name but I quite used to enjoy playing it.
How do you manage work and music?
Chester: With relative ease. Work takes precedence over music, but there is plenty of time for things beyond work – one just has to realize that.
Fidel: I would definitely love to be involved with more music than I currently am. But (sigh) work is work and play is play
Bharath: I do work as a musician. I’ve got a home studio, where I produce music for ads, games etc. I also build customized MIDI hardware. So its not really a work vs. music thing for me. They’re the same thing 🙂
Ian: Hey it’s easy man, at work I say I got a gig. At the gig I say I got work.
Sudhakar: HAHAHAHAHAHA!! You forgot to add family. I am the only married guy in the band and managing work, family and band….I sometimes wish I could Copy/Paste myself
What is Your philosophy on music?
Chester: Music is an art form that utilizes sound to instill emotions in people. Lyrics can be powerful but are secondary. If you want to present or compose a piece of music, realize what emotion or message you are trying to convey, and work towards it. It’s like narrating an incident – you wouldn’t talk in a drone-like tone throughout the story. You would change your tone depending on what you want to express; at times you would be soft and at times you would be loud; at times you would pick your pace and at times you would speed it up; you would choose your words and the sequence of events to drive your message through. That is what makes a good story, and similar ideas apply to making good music.
Fidel: All music to me , is story telling. Folk music, classical music, they all have different stories to tell. A background score for a film is also a story telling aid. Music is a tool, an expression, a medium to confess your sins , share your joys , wallow in pity , anything. It could be something personal or something you’ve learned or your bare thoughts. Spread the message. Whenever I write lyrics, there’s always a story immersed in the words. When you go up on stage, what’s yours?
Bharath: Well, the same thing has been running through my head for a while now. Contrary to what my fellow band-mates have to say, I think that music goes beyond just story-telling. (Maybe that’s a very guitarist way to look at it?) I think all of life is in music. Expressions and Descriptions are merely the tangible parts of the music. The music goes a lot deeper than that, in that it encompasses all the fine nuances of reality, without being bound to express-able emotions. Sometimes I can hear a joke in a phrase, or even a very indefinite sadness, not mournful, not resignedly sad, but just inexpressible sadness. Sometimes phrases even make self-contradictory statements, a la counter-logic. But in the end, what is important to remember that is that all music is contextual.
Ian: Any art form is a means for expression of the self. Music to me means the same. If I let loose I get as original as I can without sticking to conventions. Challenging though it is to shrug off popular influences and styles, it is a direction in which I would like to move.
Sudhakar: Music to me is the most natural thing any human can do. There is a pattern and rhythm in every aspect of nature making it the one language everyone speaks. Its what helps you make sense in chaos. Everything from the metronome of a beating heart to the rumble of the thunder there is a certain beauty in that sound. Its up to us as musicians and artists to make sense of those elements and communicate this to the ones who can’t.
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