“I am more of a culture junkie. I love to experiment with music and culture. The only challenge for me is to stay real, humble and always learn from my experiences,” says composer, producer and guitarist Dhruv Ghanekar.
The artiste was in the city recently to perform a quartet concert with reputed musicians Gino Banks, Sheldon D'Silva and Karan Joseph at the Jazz in the Garden held in VR Bangalore Mall. “Performing in Bangalore is always beyond what I imagine. The city has an amazing culture and it surprises me each and every time I visit. Every time I play here, there is a fantastic audience and an exceptional musical connect.” The Mumbai-based musician adds: “When I perform in the spotlight, I go through a nervous acceleration but, in Bangalore I am always overwhelmed by the response and equally surprised because jazz fusion is not commercial music and the crowd here loves it.”
Looking back, Dhruv recalls his musical journey. “I started learning music at a very young age with Hindustani classical. At that age I certainly didn’t know I would pursue a career in music. Later, I picked up the guitar and completely fell in love with it. After several performances I knew this was what I wanted to do in life.”
He adds: “I started composing music for commercials. I come from a family of filmmakers and filmmaking was always around the house. It was a bit challenging for me as I had to show up at the studio unaware about what to do that day and execute a piece of music. That is when I wore the composer’s hat. Advertising has helped me improvise my composition skills and keep an open mind.”
Known for his out-of-the-way experimentation with music, Dhruv say: “I want to show people what I feel through music. Having spent the last two years with African music, I came out with my album Voyage which reflects my journey, listening to various sounds that made me create something unique. I believe the audience would understand my music if they travel with me and get a glimpse of the places I travelled to and what music I have derived. If that is feasible, then I am successful.”
A guitarist with an amazing relationship with the strings, he shares: “My motivation is different every time. Sometimes it starts off as to what I wish to say lyrically or any musical idea pondering in my head and it becomes a demon sitting on my back telling me to get it out of my system. It cannot be one thing that drives me. For instance a song I composed for the band which we are going to perform in Pune started off with a political idea that I wanted to communicate through my music by rhythmically setting it to what’s happening in the country.”
Delivering his music on various stages, Dhruv says his experience in the Coke Studio was very different. “Everything is done with a magnifying glass as it is a televised performance. Everything is put into the right order. The advantage of live performances is that you get to take a lot more chances and risks and that satisfies the heavy expectations from the audience.”
On his song ‘Birha’, a Bhojpuri traditional song married with African music, he says: “This is a new combination and other Coke Studio singers haven’t gone to this phase. Merging something so parallel made it more interesting.”
On his personal relationship with music, Dhruv says: “I have learnt that music is a deep ocean. Every time you are receptive to a new sound, you venture into a new track and start from scratch. I always like sections in my music to be improvised so that the audience would be excited to see spontaneity channel through my music. I believe in creating something unique for that moment which can never be done again . My music is composed completely, yet there are windows of improvisation that make it exemplary.”
