Every wonder who or what inspired your favorite guitarists in India to pick up the guitar? Are you curious to know what guitar-playing techniques these musical masters learned along the way? Well, there’s no need to keep wondering…
Gibson India caught up with many of India’s top axemen, who discussed their biggest musical inspirations – from fathers and uncles to Eric Clapton and Joe Satriani – as well as the techniques they borrowed from their guitar heroes. Find out who influenced the likes of Swarathma’s Varun Murali, Dualist Inquiry’s Sahej Bakshi, and Motherjane’s Deepu Sasidharan and Santhosh Chandran.
For Part I, click here.
For Part II, click here.
Varun Murali, Swarathma
Inspiration: “My inspiration to pick up the guitar was the sound of the instrument. When I heard a friend of mine play it, I was blown by the sight of watching someone play a guitar in front of me. I immediately decided to learn. However, along the way different guitar players/bands continued to inspire me. I consider Joe Satriani as my guitar god. I heard Joe Satriani for the first time after the day he performed in Bangalore, India. I didn’t make it for the gig because I really didn’t know who he was. The next day I went to a friend’s place and he was listening to Joe Satriani’s songs and I was like hey who is this guy ? And, he says he is Satch, the guy who performed in Bangalore last night. Till date it has been a moment I repent, that I missed seeing him live. Ever since then I have been a big fan of him. What I loved about him is the smoothness in his playing, melodic riffs and great songwriting.”
Technique: “Joe Satriani uses a technique called legato which I have been fond of ever since I started digging more about his playing. It just makes the notes sound so much more smooth, as compared to shredding technique which is done otherwise by a lot of guitar players. I have always been a sucker for melodic lines and great sounding riffs.”
Guitars Played: “I play a lot of Gibson guitars because I totally love the defined sound it produces and helps express so much more in my playing. I believe for every guitarist, tone is the most important thing and without a good tone, it doesn’t feel like one can express themselves well. Guitars I use include a Gibson Les Paul Classic 1960 reissue, Gibson ES-339 Custom Shop, Gibson SG Zoot Suit, and Gibson Flying V. Recently my band Swarathma recorded an album titled Topiwalleh … and I mainly used my Gibson Les Paul Classic for that for almost all tracks and also landed up using the ES-339 for a few lighter tracks. Also, played the J-45 for all my acoustic stuff and used an Epiphone banjo and mandolin for a few parts on the album.”
Nikhil D’Souza, musician and vocalist
Inspiration: “I think one of my earliest guitar heroes was Eric Clapton, and, to a lesser extent, Tuck Andress. Clapton’s greatest ability was to make the guitar ‘sing’; solos made perfect sense, not some obligatory portion of the song where the lead guitarist takes over. He was exceptional with the acoustic guitar, too. I was also quite taken up by Tuck Andress’s ability and skill: he was essentially a one-man band.”
Technique: “I wouldn’t say there was a specific technique, but for me timing and expression was important. Playing within limits keeping in mind the requirements of the song is a virtue that's worth more than all the flashy technique in the world.”
Guitars Played: “Gibson 355. I’m starting to really like the tone and think I might replace a lot of the acoustic songs with this one.”
Deepu Sasidharan, Motherjane
Inspiration: “I've been inspired by David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Baiju Dharmajan, Steve Vai, etc. I love the way David Gilmour plays and make melodies, and the feel of his solos and I love Pink Floyd. Mark Knopfler, one of my favorite musicians! I love all his songs for its simple, soothing melodies – his style of playing is unique. Baiju was the one who inspired a lot of Indian guitarists for again his style of raga rock solos. Steve Vai is a guitar hero for his versatile playing of the rock guitars, and for his simple and famous song intros and arrangements. Mark Knopfler’s fingerstyle playing and simple comps have influenced me and Baiju’s Carnatic raga rock solos, and Steve Vaj’s techniques and playing skills.”
Santhosh Chandran, Motherjane
Inspiration: “My father is my sole inspiration in both music and life. He is the one who initiated me into the world of music. My father bought me my first guitar when I was around five and then it was like part of my system. There are countless players who have inspired me all through these years. The names that come to my mind now are Paco de Lucia, Julian Breme, George Benson and Eric Johnson.”
Sahej Bakshi, Dualist Inquiry
Inspiration: “I picked up the guitar in 1996, when I was nine years old and was greatly inspired by my guitar teacher and some of the older guitarists in my high school. I was also inspired by guitarists like Slash from Guns N’ Roses and Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. I was offered a spot in the school rock band when I was 11 years old, and that was especially crazy because I was six-seven years younger than the rest of the band. That really motivated me to develop my skills at an early age. We used to play the occasional concert at school, and the feeling of playing in front of an audience was a high like I’d never known before.”
Technique: “‘Shred’ guitar-playing was really huge at the time, and guitarists used to love to show off how many notes per second they can play with or without the guitar behind their head. I was definitely into that style of playing for a long time as a result. When I discovered Green Day, though, I discovered the magic of punk rock power chords, and something changed in the way I played.”
Guitars Played: “I will play a Gibson-335 soon. I’ve also owned an Epiphone Les Paul.”
Nandini Srikar, musician and vocalist
Inspiration: “My uncle Raghu Nathan, who is a guitar player himself, inspired me to pick up the guitar and taught me my first few chords. Every summer we used to jam together with him on the guitar and me singing. Watching him I wanted to sing and play the guitar like he did and, subsequently, like Jimmy Page and Ian Anderson. He gifted me the first guitar of my life.”
Technique: “I naturally picked up the plucking style and I particularly liked the sound and feel of open strings. Then I learnt to play on my own by trying to figure out Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull). And I developed some more techniques when I tried to figure out how to play Beatles’ songs complete with the chords and the basslines at the same time. Having said this, I don’t consider myself a great guitar player. I think I just play what I know and I can.”
Manek D’Silva, Slain
Inspiration: “I was always quite fascinated with rock and the sounds involved, and at home there were plenty acoustic guitars which I’d tried my hand at. But, the first musical piece that just called out to me was ‘Song For Life’ by Eric Johnson, an acoustic passage. It was a hard place to start, but I did everything I could to learn it, and from there learned about other guitar legends like John Petrucci and Steve Morse, picked up the electric guitar and continued the journey. That song just spoke to me like nothing else – husky wooden tones, so much strong melody, I couldn’t resist.”
Technique: “Because it was a classical piece, it sort of defined how I approach the guitar – all my right hand fingers started working well, which I automatically use when playing electric guitar, hybrid picking they call it, using both a plectrum as well as your fingers, in rock music, as well. The rigid plectrum attach is great in conjunction with the soft tones your fingers can produce.”