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Concert opportunities were not easily coming to me: Shankar Tucker
Updated on: 12 February, 2015 12:07 PM IST |
Anokha Artist of the month Shankar Tucker is a clarinetist and music composer. He is the winner of Radio City Freedom Awards 2013 for &39;Best Folk Fusion Artist&39;. He launched his debut album &39;The ShrutiBox&39; featuring cover version several popular Indian songs on YouTube in 2011. That album went on to get over 10 million hits in a very short span of time. In a tete-a-tete with the American indie artist, Team RadioCity learns about his influences and his fondness towards Indian classical music.
Here are excerpts from the interview..
Q. You grew up in Massachusetts, yet you are named after an Indian God. How did that happen?
A. My family has been involved with spiritual guru Mata Amritanandamayi. She happened to give me that name when I was a little kid. My sister too, has an Indian name.
Q. You sang a Hindi song at the YouTube fan fest even though you don’t speak the language. Why was that?
A. I was contemplating for another singer to sing that particular song but, he kept not showing up to the sessions. Therefore, I took charge and went for it.
Q. Being an American, sometimes you use Hindi songs in your cover, why and how do you go about it?
A. I was randomly collaborating with my musician friends and was looking for something new. I asked if they could help me with anything different that I could work on. They suggested me some Indian music with classical elements which I liked and decided to jam and see what would work.
Q. How do you chose the singers you feature in your songs and videos?
A. Music scene is a small community and everybody knows one another through common links. Hence, the people I work with were recommended to me.
Q. What musical influences have you had?
A. One of my first inspirations was ‘Remember Shakti’. Indian classical music inspires me to a great extent too. Also, I look upto A.R. Rahman.
Q. Are you trained in classical music?
A. I studied Indian classical music for a year in Mumbai under Hariprasad Chaurasiya.
Q. Why did you decide to experiment with YouTube for ‘The ShrutiBox’
A. Concert opportunities were not easily coming to me in India or U.S. doing Indian music being an American. Therefore, I thought of digital space as my alternative route since I couldn’t find a way to fit in.
Q. You do covers mostly, but is original music on your mind?
A. Currently, I am in India for the execution of 10-12 original music that I have prepared. I am in the process of their final recordings.
Q. Who is your favorite in the independent music scene as of today?
A. Raghu Dixit and Maatibani are doing great and I love their music.
Q. Are you working on any projects lately?
A. I was working on a movie down South and have almost finished with the music. Hopefully, people will get to hear it by 2015.
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