New Age guru set to rock

PREM Joshua gets top billing around the world as the New Age guru of fusion music.

Born in Italy, the sitarist’s interpretation of the musical traditions of India, and the East has excited music-lovers with its fresh perspective. His music has been used in concerts to clubs and, yes, even spas.
Music, he says, is rich and filled with variety. “Put your i-Pod on shuffle mode and you will be amazed what happens when you randomly move from listening to a Miles Davis track, then to some classical flute by Hariprasad, then to Deep Purple, then some Vivaldi.
“It is very important to keep traditional and classical music alive, but it is same importance I give to fusion music.”
He says his band’s music is rooted in ancient Indian raga music and its rhythms. “At the same time, it is very contemporary as our musical spectrum includes elements of jazz, funk, lounge, chill out and trance. This way, we create our unique ‘Indo-Global’ sound.”
Although he studied Indian classical music, “I was never interested in just copying it. Our passion and fun starts exactly at the point where Eastern and Western cultures meet — or even clash.”
Fusion music brings people together, he adds, and it opens their minds.
“I am absolutely convinced that any daring fusion project contributes more to classical music than any fearful bitter pundit can ever do in trying to preserve the ‘good old times’.”
In fact, he adds, Hindustani music is fusion music.
Prem Joshua and his band have been performing their brand of music for decades. He has won accolades in India, and last year his band gave a private concert for Britain’s Prince Edward at the Royal Palace in London.
Since he started fusing Indian musical traditions with Western ones about 30 years ago, many things have changed with music.
“But basically I stopped trying to define and squeeze music into certain terms. The most important matter is that as a composer I enjoy what I am doing, or better, what I am receiving.
“As a composer, it is more about being open to inspiration than about ‘doing a new song’. If you ‘do’ a song it will never be a good one. It might be commercially successful but musically it will never be.
“A good song is a gift from life.
“The other important point is that your music reaches to people, that your music touches them in a deeper way. Then it is real fusion music. Then it has a spiritual quality. And it doesn’t matter whether the listener comes from Malaysia or Italy...”
Joshua has performed in Malaysia several times, offering original works and showing virtuosity on his instrument.
How does he feel when his music is remixed? “Great! It mostly sounds awful — but sometimes a genius gets his hands on my tracks. And I am amazed that the same song can shine in a new and different light.”
When asked if there were any young artiste whose music has caught his attention, Joshua who was in Goa, India then says: “This morning there was this bird outside my window. I guess it was still quite a young artist! It whistled these absolutely amazing, creative and even humorous melodic changes. Each time with another variety, never the same! I started to whistle back, very clumsily! It seemed to answer to my whistling but it added so many more tongue-twisting melodies that I simply had to remain silent to enjoy the better artist.”
Was that a two-blink answer, or what? Bird it seems, but aside from that, Joshua mentions that he met Malaysian Tamil rapper Yogi B the last time he was in Malaysia, and thought he was cool.
A passionate “live” performer, Joshua says his concert in Malaysia will offer “an international fusion quintet playing unusual yet accessible world fusion music based on Indian raga”.