Is there any international band or superstar musician with whom L. Shenkar has not played or collaborated with? Well, the answer would be, “None. Well, almost.”
The maverick musician, singer and composer has shared musical notes with the likes of Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jonathan Davis (Korn), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), The Pretenders, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Echo & the Bunnymen, Talking Heads, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Charly Garcia, Van Morrison, Stewart Copeland, Yoko Ono, John Waite, Steve Vai, Ginger Baker, Toto, Nils Lofgren, Mark O'Connor, Rodrigo y Gabriela and Sting… the list goes on.
Music comes naturally to Shenkar, as I find out during a chat where I discover a simple and straight forward man; no airs, no pretence. The Madras-born violin whiz hails from a family of musicians, mostly violinists - his father V. Lakshminarayana Iyer, brothers L. Vaidyanathan and L. Subramaniam, and his nephews and nieces. His father wanted him to become an engineer, and make music an alternative career. But music is what held Shenkar’s attention; it became his calling. “If you want to study the Vedas, you need to dedicate yourself to it. Look at artists such as Palghat Mani Iyer and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. They gave their life to music,” he says.
Shenkar himself was a trained vocalist and had also learnt to play the mridangam. He was particularly close to vidwan Palghat Mani Iyer, who accompanied the three brothers in many of their concerts. Recalls Shenkar, “Those days, even tape recorders were rare and there was no Internet. So, if one wanted to learn the nuances, one had to listen carefully to others to imbibe the nuances and details. And this meant complete dedication and commitment.”
Shenkar went to the Wesleyan University, Connecticut, U.S., to study Ethnomusicology, and find opportunities to work with musicians there. Those days, Western music was not too popular in India. But he was exposed to different musical genres by listening to the records and recordings which his father and brother Vaidyanathan collected.
Talking about genres and their impact, Shenkar says, “Indian classical music is one of the finest systems in the world. Yet, there are equally amazing systems in other genres too, each one as unique as the next. If you study as many musical systems as possible, it will help you become a stronger musician, aid your creative journey. Naturally, all this requires a great deal of patience, hard work, commitment and passion. If you serve music unconditionally, then music serves you eventually.”
After Wesleyan, Shenkar moved to New York City. During this period, he toured a lot. Twenty years later, he moved to California and settled there. As not many were familiar with Indian classical music back then, he would explain what he was going to sing/play during his shows. Often, there would be several well-known musicians in the audience. After the concert, they would meet and soon, he became friends with some of the biggest names from the rock, pop and jazz worlds, and began collaborating with many of them.
Says Shenkar, “International tours, performing at great venues, and being part of huge festivals… I have done it all for years now. I am indeed fortunate to have found such opportunities. When other artists enjoy and like your music, they go back to your previous work, be it solo or collaboration. Many of the musicians I have worked with love our music.” For instance, the rock band Metallica approached him a few years ago. Shenkar gave them some ragas, which they incorporated into their songs.
In 1990, Shenkar co-produced a one-hour film directed by H. O. Nazareth, which was later nominated for Best Documentary Film at the Cannes Film festival. His work for ‘Passion – Sources,’ one of the two music albums from Martin Scorsese’s film ‘The Last Temptation of Christ,’ won him a Grammy in 1994, while his album, ‘Raga Aberi,’ was nominated for the Grammy in 1996.
Shenkar's days are full, but only with music. He often works till 3.30 in the morning. He is a voracious reader who devours books on various religions and tries to understand their philosophy. That, along with his experience of meeting great people like the Kanchi sage, are reflected in his lyrics, which he himself sings.
Shenkar has composed in various genres such as classical, pop, rock, metal, symphony, and even film tracks.
“Many of my compositions have some kind of Indian influence, either lyrically or in terms of melody. For Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Last Temptation of Christ,’ where my voice was featured, I used many Indian sounds. Similar was my contribution for the films, Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”, “Queen of the Damn” and the hit TV show ‘Heroes’.”
On the current scene in Chennai, he wishes real talent was better appreciated in the city. He wonders why none of the music organisations are doing anything other than organising concerts.
Shenkar moved back to Chennai last December, though he keeps travelling a lot for concerts every few months. He is also involved with charity work; he is connected with Amnesty International, besides using music to fight human trafficking, particularly of children.
There were four occasions when the brothers were invited by Periyava of Kanchipuram to play for him. What would begin as a ten-minute session would go on for four hours. The sage has been a great inspiration for Shenkar. A few months ago, he presented a special concert at the sadabhishekam of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, when he was made the asthana vidwan of the Kanchi Mutt.
Any hobbies? None really, except for visiting a temple occasionally. It is music, and music.
Special violin
For his 1980 album ‘Who's To Know,’ Shenkar introduced a new sound, his invention -- the ten-string, stereophonic double violin. He recalls, . In the late 1970s, when Frank Zappa produced my solo album ‘Touch Me There’ for his label (I was the first artist for that label), I overdubbed the bass, cello, viola, violin and other instruments. While on tour, it was impossible to carry all these instruments. So Idesigned an instrument that would have the whole orchestral range and more. The result was the first original 10-string stereophonic double violin. I designed it and Ken Parker built it.Itwas first used for ‘Who's to Know,’ and in my friend Phil Collins’ debut album, ‘Face Value.’ . My first double violin is 35 years old now.”
Show time
Shenkar is touring India in November performing with his band in major cities along with guitarist Mike Albert, and his nieces Lalitha and Nandini. He will perform for The Hindu Friday Review November Fest in Kochi on November 7, and present a World Music concert for the Global Community of Indian Music at Mumbai’s Sri Shankmukhananda Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Auditorium on November 9.
