When his classmates were neck-deep in studies for the Plus Two examination, Joe Johnson was busy shooting an episode for Music Mojo on Kappa TV, playing for the band Pathayam.
“In fact, I never thought I would clear the exam!,” says the youngster breaking into a laugh.
And if you ask him how he feels about playing for leading bands and musicians at live shows and music festivals, he says, “I don’t know how I reached this far… It’s all God’s grace.”
Having grown up in a family with music all around him, it was natural for Joe to fall into the groove. Rhythms used to fascinate him and he loved making music out of whatever he could lay his hands on, such as vessels and pots. “I decided to learn the tabla when I was five. But the teacher refused to teach, saying I was too young to handle the instrument! So I even tried to learn it on my own.”
Joe remembers with pride how he impressed veteran K.J. Yesudas with his tabla playing when the singer visited a house in his neighbourhood.
But soon the piano caught Joe’s attention and he moved to playing the keyboard. He has cleared Grade III from Trinity College London and he has also taken basic lessons in Carnatic music from his maternal grandmother, Esther, whom he considers his “first guru.”
The journey to becoming a sought-after keyboard artiste started once he began playing for bands at a hotel in Kovalam. “I had finished my Class Ten then and played at the hotel for over a year. From then on I started doing more shows and gigs in the city. The best part is that I used to move around with a lot of established musicians/instrumentalists, much senior to me. I was part of their friends’ circle and thus one thing led to the other and soon I was jamming with them,” he says.
That too when he had to juggle his studies with music. An alumnus of St Thomas School and Christ Nagar Higher Secondary School, he can’t thank enough his teachers and school management for encouraging him.
More opportunities came calling and he was soon playing for singers such as Job Kurian, Sayanora, and Naresh Iyer among others, in addition to playing for bands such as Pathayam, Kolam, Indo-Mauritian band DoDo Crew, Saptak… to name a few. When he was in high school he had already started recording music albums and have also worked in a couple of films, which didn’t do well at the marquee.
Having moved around with various bands, he enjoys being a freelance artiste.
“I find it challenging and exciting,” he says. So, what about his studies? Well, the 20-year-old is wedded to music to such an extent that he wants to better his grade in piano and work with veterans in the field. “As a young boy, I wanted to become an engineer, doctor, architect and what not. But once I got hooked to the piano and keyboard, I realised music is my calling. My family wasn’t surprised with my decision to concentrate on music. They wanted me to finish my Plus Two and then go ahead.”
And that is what he has done. Joe marches to different drummers and he wants to keep it that way.
