French jazz trumpeter Erik Truffaz whose music bears elements of hip-hop, rock and roll and dance music calls his compositions collages.
Having collaborated with the likes of Patrick Muller, Marcello Giuliani and Mark Erbetta over a three-decade music career spanning various genres and albums, the musician was in town teaming up with the ambient electronic artiste Riatsu (also known as Shadaab Kadri) for the annual event Bonjour India, aimed at fostering rich friendships between India and France.
The two spoke on music before entertaining a packed audience at Phoenix Arena.
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Truffaz’s fondness for India was evident as he spoke of the similarities between the country and France. “Indian and French audiences love jazz, and musicians from the two countries also love playing together,” he points out to Riatsu and his counterparts Anand Bhagat and Neil Gomes. “We have many common traits, understand music the same way and are also open minded human beings. When you get along with each other as humans, you probably also get along musically,” he adds.
The musician wanted to make a career in music when he was a kid and stuck to his decision when he was asked about his career as a teenager too. As he looks back, he considers the ups and downs of his music stint, a good journey. Many artistes find it difficult to grapple with the monotony of making music, travelling and performing despite the highs of the profession.
Truffaz gives a different spin to it, “Travelling allows me to learn and question myself, so there’s never any monotony,” he says. With India, he liked the intensity among crowds and confesses Hyderabad to be a great example of it.
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He doesn’t always chase his musical notes, Truffaz’s world feels complete only with his frequent walks, learning and discovering art forms, precisely painting and literature and enjoys the time he spends with friends.
Riatsu meanwhile comes from a diverse background, being a performer himself, he has managed artistes from the indie-band scribes, besides helping organise music festivals (the latest being India’s first synthesizer festival Synthfest) straddling television and the digital medium too.
He christened his stage name after the Japanese anime Bleach to which he was addicted as a child. “It means spiritual pressure and vibes, they are the most important things in life,” he states. Being an artiste manager helped him gain good clarity about the management side to music, which helps him pay more attention to the non-creative aspects of his profession.
When asked about the necessity of musicians to be performers and not mere singers to find work today, he prefers to be diplomatic. “It depends on what you want to do with your musical career, whether you enjoy performing live or are just happy making music from home or from a studio. Television can do little to help musicians, unless you’re a Bollywood musician.” He has seen rosier times and better financial opportunities with commercial music, but given his exclusive choice to be an ambient electronic artist, “There are hardly any avenues to generate revenue,” he signs off.