Greetings and salutations. Thank you for joining us. My name is Johnny Nadeau. Welcome to Embrace your Storm, and we’ve got an awesome episode for you. Before we get to that, don’t forget check out the website embracestormcom. You can send your emails to hello at embracestormcom. Don’t forget, there’s wonderful dashes in the domain name, because I’m cheap and I think that’s everything that we need to get to before we get to interview. So today we have on Shway G, and he is a blues musician coming from India, but he’s also a Berkeley graduate. So, shway, thanks for coming on today, man.
0:00:59 – Speaker 2
Oh, hey, john, it’s my pleasure man.
0:01:00 – Speaker 1
Thank you so much for having me on the podcast, thank you, thank you so much, so Shway. So, before we get to berkeley and all that fun stuff like how did you, how did you get involved in the playing music? How did you get bit by uh by playing musical instruments?
0:01:14 – Speaker 2
and so, like you know um so, I was always surrounded by music. At a very early age, at a very young age, uh, at the age of five, my dad got me, uh so, these two indian instruments, uh, sitar and harmonium. Nice, and so then I started my indian classical music journey. I was learning some rags, some alaps and all of those things you know um that you so stereotype in the american culture, right uh?
yeah, yeah, no, seriously yeah yeah, man, it’s like a the simpson thing, but uh, so I’m not gonna just get into that right now. Uh, so that’s, uh, your podcast of its own. But uh, yeah, man. So my dad got me all those uh like instruments and, uh, like he actually persuaded you, persuaded me to you take my music education super seriously. And then my parents, like they were into finance, like both my mom and dad, but they were artists by heart, so they would just, you know so, have art all around the house. You know they would have paintings, they would have books and they would have the cassette players you know of, like all the Indian musicians, like the great Indian musicians, like Ravi Shankar, jagjit Singh, kishore Kumar, you know, like some bollywood people too, but I was focused on the indian classical and I loved that music and, um, like it was just like inspiring me. You know it was inspiring me to learn that discipline now the sit, the sitar.
0:02:39 – Speaker 1
You sorry to cut you off, but so the sitar when you’re playing that, that’s more of like. It’s kind of like um, just I just want people of like. It’s kind of like I just want people to understand it. It’s kind of like playing a guitar but lying down-ish. Is that a good way to maybe explain it kind of.
0:02:52 – Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So your sitar is basically like your jumbo version of the guitar. It has like 21 strings.
0:02:59 – Speaker 1
Oh, I didn’t realize it had that many strings, wow.
0:03:02 – Speaker 2
Yeah, so it has 21 strings, but like you only play like four or five strings and the rest are sympathetic strings, so like, uh, so basically, like you play them through your vibration. So I don’t have to play all the strings like I. So I just play like five or six strings and then through the vibration of those five or six strings, like you can hear all those oh, that’s how it gets that tonal sound to it.
That makes sense now exactly that’s interesting so it’s called the sympathetic string, it’s called the sympathetic strings and uh, so that’s how, like you got um, you know, so you get that sound you know, yeah, that’s I never.
0:03:37 – Speaker 1
I never realized that’s interesting, okay, and so how about the, the harm, the harmonion, like what, what is? Uh, I don’t think I actually even know what that looks like.
0:03:47 – Speaker 2
To be honest with you, like I can’t yeah, uh, like, harmonium is basically like um, you’re so keyboard only, and it’s a german instrument actually okay, I think I have seen it now yeah, yeah, so it’s a german instrument and then it got so brought over to india through some european invasion and it’s basically like you know so, so you pump up some wind, you know, by so using your left hand, and then, like on the right hand, like you’re, you’re pressing the keys. You know so, you’re pressing the keys, so so it’s a fantastic instrument and then, like you just play all the rags and everything on it and it’s basically to improve your, your vocal, your singing, you know so to increase your, your vocal, uh, your singing, you know so uh your uh to increase your vocal range.
That makes sense so, like a lot of the indian artists, while they’re performing the rags and everything, they just uh, you play it on the harmonium. You know that’s cool, it’s pretty uh.
0:04:38 – Speaker 1
So knee-deep, you know, like into the indian culture I I I know, I know I’m jumping ahead, but I listen to your music and it’s cool that you have you can hear that influence of the melodic approach to like the scales that you have in your blues music.
0:04:57 – Speaker 2
It’s very cool yeah, so I basically you release the track. You know, I basically you release the track, like a month ago. It’s called 21, you 21 by 6 and that has your guitar harmonium. You know it’s no harmonium but your guitar and sitar on it. Yeah, you know, and like you can like hear, uh, the fusion of the west and the east like absolutely, yeah, absolutely so.
0:05:24 – Speaker 1
So so did you play the sitar and harmonium like ever since you were five, up until because I think you said you started playing guitar around 15.
0:05:31 – Speaker 2
So did you play those instruments for like five years, I mean 10 years of 10-11, you know, and then you know, and then I stopped the music education for a while. I wasn’t learning actively like a musical instrument, and then by 15-16, I picked up the blues guitar. But then everyone was so uh like enamored by the sitar that even when I was at berkeley did they uh kept on asking me to bring the sitar from india.
0:06:01 – Speaker 1
You know, yes, which was because they are, you know, uh like really like enamored by it, you know well, yeah, no, because I mean they, they want someone that to play it where it’s like their native instrument, right? So like they want to see someone shred on it.
0:06:14 – Speaker 2
You know what I’m saying exactly, dude, exactly so yeah, for me to do your, uh, so the same thing, and they know. So it’s like you sort of, like you’re stereotyping it, but then also at the same time it’s not because, like they’re really curious about it and they really want to right, yeah, the bottom of it absolutely curious, yeah, yeah uh. So I did that massive undertaking. I brought my sitar from india to the us all the way, and it was like a bitch carrying it on the fly I was good, I was just about to ask how, how?
0:06:39 – Speaker 1
big are those things, or how much do they weigh, or whatever.
0:06:42 – Speaker 2
If, like they, they’re a lot bigger than I imagine, then like, because you said they’re 21 strings, like they’re you know yeah, yeah, so it’s, uh, you’re like a lot bigger, but it’s not that heavier, to be honest with you, because, uh, like it’s you made out of, uh, hollowed out your pumpkin, oh, okay, okay. So, like the body of the sitar, like the bottom part of the sitar, it’s like a hollowed out your pumpkin. So it’s like pretty lightweight, okay, not even like as heavy as a fender stratocaster guitar. Oh, you know, okay, so, uh, so, yeah, so sitar, I was able to bring it on the flight, but I just had to get it you bubble wrapped at the airport and you know, so, do all of those things and pay the your heavy duty. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know the extra baggage and everything, and uh, then I was able to get it to the us and now it’s just lying in the us, you know, and now I don’t have it.
0:07:30 – Speaker 1
You know, so my, so half of my life I’m like just you’re shuffling between, uh, your instruments and clothes and you know, you know the records and the vinyls, so it’s pretty hilarious, man, you know so so with india like is it is the sitar kind of like piano over here when parents want their kids to learn an instrument at five, whatever they make them play the piano, Is the sitar that instrument over there that all the parents want their kids to play sitar?
0:07:58 – Speaker 2
I mean 10 years ago, 15 years ago, sure, Because they wanted the kid to be a part of the indian culture. Yeah, yeah, exactly the indian culture and, uh, the ethnic music here, but now it’s like you’re pretty, uh, westernized and globalized, so, like you know. So now I’m seeing the kids, uh, the young kids. I speak to them and they’re also learning guitar at the age of four, five or six.
0:08:19 – Speaker 1
Interesting, okay, okay like the culture.
0:08:21 – Speaker 2
yeah, so we are seeing like a shift in the culture. But then people, it also depends on your family to family, john, if your family has an Indian bent and if they really want the kids to be a part of the Indian culture, so all those things, then they would encourage the kids to pick up sitar or your vocal singing or Indian classical singing. And if you’re pretty Westernized and everything’re, the piano and the guitar just does the job in it hey, how’s the culture over there do, like, do.
0:08:54 – Speaker 1
Are there some indians like, like, say, are there some indians that go like, completely like, westernized, I guess let’s say, are they looked at or frowned upon to some of the indians? Are they like oh, you know, you turn your back on, like us and culture or whatever like is that? Is there kind of like that culture war?
0:09:11 – Speaker 2
kind of thing. Yeah, so we have like your pockets in india, you know. So we have like some pockets, so like how you have like a deep right wing pocket yeah, you know in the south, yeah, and like you know, so they don’t want the immigrants. Or like they don’t want you, so they want the guns so they want to preserve their culture right like they want to preserve their heritage.
So the same we have in india, like you know. So there are certain states you know, like in india, and there’s a certain you’re buried in india, you know so people travel through those belts. Uh, so they don’t want you’re that much of a western influence. Okay, you know okay, that makes sense yeah, but I would say, like india as a whole, like people as a whole, like people don’t care about that stuff. Man, you know, it’s just your group of you know, um, you’re extremist, you know yeah, you want to preserve the culture and they think that the only way to preserve the culture is by learning and behaving in our.
You know, uh, just learning and you’re behaving, uh, or like adopting things from our culture. But I think like that’s very ignorant. You know that’s very ignorant because, like you know, the more global you go, I think, the more you appreciate your culture. You know, I hear what you’re saying yeah, no, totally.
So it’s like yeah, but there are some pockets in India where they would encourage you to learn Indian classical and also address and behave in a certain way but like india as a whole is uh just globalizing you’re super hard man, you know like india is just uh succumbing up. So I think like we have like a good balance of the western and the indian culture, you know I hear western and the eastern culture, yeah, yeah, so.
0:10:40 – Speaker 1
so then at 15, then when you discovered blues guitar, like like kind of, walk us through that Did you hear a song and were you like oh my God, what in the world is this? Or whatever, like you know, or did you see a guitar and you’re like I need to play that. Like what, what kind of happened?
0:10:59 – Speaker 2
That’s a very good question, john. You know, yeah, I mean, like you know so, it was like basically an amalgamation of the west and the east at my household, you know. So I was like, yes, coming up with those counterculture values in early 2000 you’re already 2010s and I was just playing rock guitar all day long and blues guitar in my bedroom and my mom like really got worried for a second. It’s like so, so he’s behaving like an American right now. You know, he’s just uh, because I was listening to the clash, the who, and yeah, yeah, and, like you know, uh, you’re so let zeppelin and the queen and absolutely all those bands, man, you know, and you know so funny that you, you’re, so I say all those bands and I say american, but all those bands are british yeah, exactly, I was just about to say.
0:11:43 – Speaker 1
Those are actually all exactly, man. So all those bands?
0:11:45 – Speaker 2
are British. Yeah, exactly, I was just about to say those are actually all English. Exactly, man. So all of those are like English bands. And then we had the English invasion back in India, you know. So that’s also like a funny thing, you know, because we were colonized.
0:11:56 – Speaker 1
Yeah, I was going to say you literally had the English invasion.
0:12:00 – Speaker 2
Yeah exactly, you literally had the English invasion. Exactly, john. So you’re totally right about that. So we, um, you literally had the english invasion and, uh, it’s funny, it’s funny. So I was like adopting the culture but my parents were pretty like open-minded and they were like pursue that culture but then they would get you’re worried, you know, because, like anything which is alien to you, you know, absolutely. So if you come to india and if you become a yogi, you know parents like you know, so they would show a little bit of apprehension, you know. It’s like, so what is happening?
here, you know what is John trying to pursue? So the same happened to me so for like a year or two, like they were really worried. But then I had a teacher here who was just trying to calm down the situation at my household. You know, it’s like, like, so don’t think that he’s doing something wrong or because it’s alien to you. Yeah then, making it your career in it, you know.
0:12:54 – Speaker 1
So that’s like a whole another ballpark buddy, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, man, so, uh, so how, how was it? How was it like putting like bands together and stuff in india like rock bands or blues bands, like how, how was that like putting bands together there?
0:13:05 – Speaker 2
I mean you’re supporting bands, so back in the day, you know so. Back in the day, like you know so, back in the 90s and early 2000. So, like most of the bands, you know so. So we had a huge, uh, heavy metal no kidding your researchers. Yeah, yeah, it was all heavy metal. Your people were, you know so wearing t-shirts of uh spintera yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s funny all that you so that was like a huge thing.
And if you were in a band it was like an assumption that you were in a heavy metal band. Okay, you know. So, like heavy metal was like huge in my city. And there’s this, your architectural, your school, which is very famous in my city, it’s called SEP, and so SEP would do your weekly shows and they would just. You know so it was all heavy metal and it was like a little you mosh pit and your people were just living that culture, you know. So that sort of culture was prevalent back in India in the early 2000.
And then, just since you got into the band culture, you know, like early 2010,. You know, so that’s when I graduated high school. So people were more like, open, you know, to discovering your new stuff. So rock bands were popping up, you know, okay, blues bands were popping up and some folk band your singer, songwriter bands were popping up. So, yeah, so you know so, like the cultural, you know, so we could see like your shift in the cultural, your paradigm.
0:14:19 – Speaker 1
What was it like? What’s it like to kind of get musical instruments or, like you know a band needs to practice it. You know, somewhere are there like buildings that like let bands rent out spaces, or do people practice, like in you know, other people’s homes, like we do here in the States, like how, like, what does that look like?
0:14:35 – Speaker 2
Yeah, exactly, man, it’s like a combination of both, like, so, like in the suburbs of States, you know so, you have, like, the garages, yeah yeah, just get into a garage and, like you know so, you can just, uh, you belt your tunes all along and that’s fantastic. Uh, so you don’t have the culture here in the city because it’s all apartments, you know it’s like your new york city.
0:14:53 – Speaker 1
You know it’s yeah, yeah skyscrapers and everything yep, so.
0:14:57 – Speaker 2
So we have, uh, your rehearsal spaces, you know. So we have the rehearsal spaces that we can rent out. You buy the hour, you know, and like you, or if we, like you know, have a friend you know who has like an abandoned office space, or you know, uh, yeah, like his house, so he has a big enough house to accommodate the band and the drummers.
So, yeah, so we would do that. But uh, you’re putting together, you’re putting together like a band and uh, you’re renting out a space. Has become like a common thing now. You know, you’re back in the day, so it wasn’t a thing. Now it’s like every other band is doing that yeah, yeah, yeah, so all right.
0:15:30 – Speaker 1
So, like you’re playing guitar at 15, you know you’re I’m assuming you’re kind of in bands by 16 or 17 probably, or whatever you know jamming with people yeah so you graduate high school, I’m assuming at like 18 or whatever. Yeah, so then you’re like you know, not to be like. You know, like you’ve kind of mentioned this stereotypical thing and I think it’s kind of funny. So I’m going to keep going with it on you on this one.
So, in typical sort of Indian fashion, you’re like hey, yeah, I want to go to school, I want to be a musician. Oh, what’s the best school in the world? Oh, let’s go to berkeley.
0:16:07 – Speaker 2
so you decide to go there so pretty much, I mean, I was already a black sheep in the sense that you know. So I wasn’t being, uh, like an engineer or like a doctor or like a mba.
0:16:19 – Speaker 1
Well, right, but you, you weren’t doing that. It’s like you weren’t going to like harvard medical school but you’re like no, but I’ll have to go to berkeley instead. You know what I mean.
0:16:26 – Speaker 2
Like exactly, exactly you saw my eye, you saw the asian gene in me and the indian gene in me. He’s like if I’m gonna pursue music, then I’ll go to the best school for it yeah, exactly best college for it, and so at least my parents were, you know, like you know, so they weren’t so worried, you know it like. So at least he has a game plan and he wants to go pursue the music.
0:16:44 – Speaker 1
Yeah, but you little.
0:16:45 – Speaker 2
You didn’t know that you went to the best schools for music. You still have to hustle it out, man.
0:16:51 – Speaker 1
Yeah, absolutely.
0:16:52 – Speaker 2
So, so, after going to a school, it’s like you know, and just somebody who didn’t go to Berkeley, it’s like, so, you have like a hand, like I would say, like you have an upper hand, how to handle and how to cope up with the industry. Yeah, then it’s your music man. It’s like, uh, so if you are spending like a quarter of a million dollars into a graphic art or like a graphic design degree, you know, yeah, so it’s still gonna be a hustle because, like, the jobs are not gonna be high paid exactly, yeah, I mean yeah, like at the end of the day, even though you went to berkeley and all that, it’s like you still need to produce the actual music, like you know what I mean.
Like you still need to like make, make the actual music, or whatever yeah, exactly, man, exactly, and uh, just, you know, I mean the adult thing is, you know, so, when you realize so you just have to make money, you know like every month, you have to make enough money to pay your rent and your living expenses, and that can be done via anything you know.
So that doesn’t you have to be music, or like I don’t have to capitalize on my art, but being a professional, like musician. So you just have all these uh like questions with yourself, you know, like you’re questioning yourself and being an adult and being an artist, you know it’s like. So how do you balance both? And I’m pretty sure, like you have asked that question to yourself too, john oh yeah so.
So how do I do all the artistic things but at the same time, like you know, like how do I do other things, like corporate things, things that pay the bills easily?
0:18:20 – Speaker 1
yeah, no, I exactly like so, so. So when you, when you went Berkeley, like what did you kind of choose your major and what were some of the classes like? Was it like I’d imagine it must have been pretty intense, like at some points, like you know, like putting together maybe musical pieces or whatever, Like you know, like what was some of that like?
0:18:41 – Speaker 2
And so your Berkeley is a pretty intense school and so I was doing my bachelor’s, your degree, there. So it’s like a pretty good combination of your 60 to 70 credits, uh, so that would be your reserve for the music, and then 30 to 40 credits would be reserved for the liberal arts, where you learned your language and philosophy, and I took Spanish, and then you know so like the deep, uh, your like history of the south. You know so like I would take a elective like that, okay, that’s kind of funny.
0:19:08 – Speaker 1
They would make you take regular classes like that, still at a musical school, you know.
0:19:13 – Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, some large class because it’s a degree, right? Yeah, so it’s a degree, so like you have to have like a well-balanced course, but then in the music you know.
So, like to answer your question, I chose my major like around the third year, the third semester, so in the second year, so around the second year, I chose my major and, like I, you pretty, you, uh so very well knew that I just wanted to play guitar, so I chose your performance as my major, okay, okay, so my degree is in your bachelor’s and, uh, with a specialization in guitar performance, so that’s my degree and that’s cool I would take classes, you know so, the level one to eight of guitar proficiencies, you know so, like every semester I would have like a your private guitar class, you know, with uh, you’re also guitar teacher of my choice and you know so.
So you would have like your half an hour to an hour, like during the week, and then you would just go and learn your guitar from them, or whatever doubts you have as a player, or you’re wherever you are in your life as a player, so they would answer all your questions. You know so that’s fantastic. And then, apart from the guitar and the practical classes, I would have theory classes, like uh, so harmony, you know yeah, yeah totally level one to four, you know.
So you learn music theory and you gotta learn your modes and all that exactly, man.
So learn your modes. You know like seven different modes. You learn some advanced modes. Uh, you learn some jazz scales. Um, then I would take some ear training, uh, your brother, so, which was like also a combination of both practical and theory, so you learn how to conduct and everything, and so you would you read some pieces out loud. You know some musical pieces, but, and you would also you hear some pieces and you’re also jot it down on a piece of paper. You know, oh, that’s, that’s pretty brutal, and yeah, so that’s a brutal class, and and yeah, and then, uh, like you know some. Uh, so as you you progress further, like into your like education, into the third or fourth year, you would have some advanced your jazz classes. You would have some, uh, you know.
So we can learn from, like a xylophone player or like a vibraphone player, and he’s teaching you how to transcribe, like his, your piece onto your instrument wow, that’d be crazy, I’m trying to think of right now like playing a xylophone piece on guitar.
0:21:25 – Speaker 1
That would drive me mad.
0:21:26 – Speaker 2
Oh man, yeah, so I would learn some pieces in the augmented mode or diminished modes. And also like so we would have classes like so okay, so learn how to write a piece using only diminished modes, only diminished. You know.
so no major minor, you know those are all lovely chords, those are lovely chords, and, and I have to write a piece on it. You know, those are all lovely chords, those are lovely chords, and, uh, and I have to write a piece on it, you know, but that’s, you’re pretty uh like intellectual in a way that you find your way, or you yeah, yeah, like your idea yeah, theoretical, your device, you know.
0:22:00 – Speaker 1
So that’s uh, you’re pretty uh did you have some pretty like, and did you have some pretty intense like guitar teachers like? Would they be like oh man, you suck, or whatever, like oh dude, yeah dude, you know. So I had to go just a pet matheny’s.
0:22:13 – Speaker 2
Your guitar teacher was my guitar teacher man no, no kidding yeah, dude, and he would just ride me all so long, it’s like. So, like if you don’t want to play guitar, it’s completely fine, and like you can go flip burgers oh my god, that would, that would drive me.
0:22:26 – Speaker 1
I’d be like I’d be like I’m terrible, I suck exactly so that.
0:22:30 – Speaker 2
But that made me like a better player, buddy, you know no, I hear you yeah, and it’s like your dad. Basically it’s like your dad, you know yeah, yeah, your dad just you’re trying to ride your ass and just be like you. Become a better human being, you know.
0:22:40 – Speaker 1
Become a better person, that’s fine, like we were talking about frank zappa earlier and I I remember I remember watching the interview with steve vi and he talked about the time that he came in to try out for frank zappa. This was the funniest like one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard anyone say so he was writing his ass yeah, yeah, steve.
I was like you know, frank. I came in and frank was like, oh, you know, here, play this. And steve, i’s like okay, and he plays it. And then then frank was like okay, now, now play that, but do it with like a, you know a reggae, like upbeat, and like seven, eight timing or whatever. And steve i’s like, uh, okay, and he does it. And then frank zap was like okay, now, now do that same thing. But then like, do this and this and like so he’s making it more difficult. As you know, time’s going on here and so by the time they get to the end, you know frank’s like okay, now you know, do this, this, this. And you know, then steve, I kind of takes a minute. And he’s like I look at frank and I go I got that’s impossible, you can’t do that. And frank zappa goes. I hear lita ford’s looking for a guitar player, like oh man, so frank would do that, you know yeah, yeah, you just, you just don’t tell him you can’t do that.
You know what I’m saying exactly so.
0:23:54 – Speaker 2
That’s a personality as a test, rather than an assessment on guitar or something. It’s like. So you never say no, yeah, any challenge in life, yeah, even if something is your so it can’t be done. But you, just you find a way to creatively do it somehow, absolutely. Your friend would just asking questions, like you know. So transcribe your telephone book, yeah, you know. It’s like how do you transcribe a telephone book on the guitar? And it’s like yeah, no, totally.
0:24:17 – Speaker 1
And, and you know, puts you down in the liner notes as Steve Vai who plays Impossible Guitar. I mean, that’s bragging rights, right there, that’s how you know you.
0:24:31 – Speaker 2
You made it in life.
0:24:32 – Speaker 1
Exactly.
0:24:32 – Speaker 2
You don’t even need to do anything else. And again you’re going back to Frank, then you know, like you just are inspiring me to go check out his discography and just listen to all the stuff that you know. Do it as a genius.
0:24:46 – Speaker 1
Everything from like the mid 70s on is all all this stuff. Frank is a genius. Everything from the mid-70s on is all my favorite stuff. I mean, I like everything before that too, but really for me the 74, 73 and on anything is just all amazing stuff. Yeah, man, you know, I don’t know where I was going with that, but I felt like I had to tell that steve by story just because it’s it’s so funny classes man.
0:25:10 – Speaker 2
You know so. It’s like uh, your classes. You know so. Steve also went to berkeley, you know so, steve yeah, yeah, no, yeah and then he dropped out, and then he dropped out to pursue your frank and, you know, like jose triani and all these great artists, but uh, it’s like, yeah, man, the class there, you know. So, like they pretty much taught me to be comfortable in any musical situation.
0:25:30 – Speaker 1
So, if you like, throw me in a rock band. Did they do a lot of, like, improvisational classes or whatever? Oh yeah, because it’s a jazz school buddy.
0:25:36 – Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, it’s a jazz school and, like you know so, every week we would also have an ensemble. You know so, like every week. So we would just go, like you know so. This is how so funny it is, you know so. I see some kids. You’re complaining that they have to go to a 9am or a 7am lecture. You’re right, but I never had that buddy, so I had like a 9am lecture and that lecture was like ensemble.
0:26:03 – Speaker 1
So it’s like get super high.
0:26:04 – Speaker 2
I would just get super, super high and I would just show up for my classes. And one of my teachers was like so if you don’t come to class high, then I don’t want you to play.
0:26:13 – Speaker 1
I’m like so is that a part of it?
0:26:15 – Speaker 2
You know. So any Berkeley teachers hearing that? You know I’m just totally kidding, but maybe I’m not kidding. You know, maybe I’m not kidding, but uh, yeah, man, so like. So, so just our jam, you know, just take our solos and just improvise stuff, just create stuff on the go.
0:26:30 – Speaker 1
That’s all. That’s like. That’s what I love about music. Me personally, the most is like when you’re when you’re kind of practicing with a band and you’re just like jamming out and like you’re just making stuff up on the fly that you maybe are never going to play again, like exactly that’s the moment I love being in.
0:26:47 – Speaker 2
So that’s the stream of consciousness. You know, I was just reading in a book.
0:26:50 – Speaker 1
Yeah.
0:26:51 – Speaker 2
It’s like just this ultimate stream of consciousness and you’re creating on the moment because, like even the songs that you have created, and you are the creator of that song or the songwriter of that song, but you’re playing the same song every single time, but then there are people who play the same song every single time, but then there are people who play the same song differently every single time, you know, including Frank Zappa, that’s what Frank would do. Yeah, and Richie Blackmore and even Steve Vai or even Hendrix, yeah.
You know so, like you take a new solo every single time or just try to do something. You try to add like your mood in that. You know so, your mood. So whatever you’re feeling in the moment, even if it’s a happy song, but if I’m feeling super sad then I’m gonna try to have some melancholy or, yeah, you know, like your bits of those things in it. So, yeah, it really changes the vibe.
And improvisation is huge for me and berkeley is a big improvisation, like a jazz school, yeah you know, yeah, so the foundation is a like a jazz school, but do they have about three, four hundred ensembles you?
0:27:43 – Speaker 1
know, so they? I was actually that’s funny, you said that I was just about to ask so do they have like like blues, you know, ensembles and stuff like okay, okay?
0:27:52 – Speaker 2
that’s cool blues ensemble. So any ensemble that you can think of, no, they have it and like so do they have like heavy metal jams and stuff?
0:27:59 – Speaker 1
oh yeah, so we have your. So uh, so we have like your faculty.
0:28:03 – Speaker 2
You know some of the faculty are like, so they are heavy metal your players, that’s funny and so they play in a heavy metal band and they like your spider jara, or you know.
So all these, your bands, you know so I don’t, so I don’t know anything about, but like you know, like you know, so like a great deal about, yeah, yeah, so they would like encourage our students to play. You know our students who had like a heavy metal or like a heavy, or you’re like a hard rock band yeah, so they would choose them as their guitar teacher. You know, that’s cool, you’re for the proficiency.
0:28:35 – Speaker 1
So after you graduated you hung out for a little while like you lived in New York and stuff. So what was that like being hanging out in New York graduating Berkeley, like you know, I’m assuming you kind of dove in head first trying to do like the full time musician thing, so like how did that go?
0:28:50 – Speaker 2
Oh man, it was the best time of my life in New York City. I was having, I mean, like the blast of my life, you know, like the time of my life. And also I had, like you know, made some connections while I was at Berkeley.
0:29:00 – Speaker 1
That’s cool.
0:29:00 – Speaker 2
Because I would just you keep going to New York City on the weekends for some gigs and everything.
0:29:03 – Speaker 1
Yeah.
0:29:04 – Speaker 2
So I made some connections, I made some of your network and some of my peers were there and also, like you know, my sister was there. Oh, that’s cool, yeah. And then so I had like an ultimate blast. You know, I was just, you know, to dive in your head first into the music, you know. So that’s your true, like you know. So, living like a life of a musician.
0:29:23 – Speaker 1
You know of a musician, you know. So that was the time I was living. Yeah, did you have a blues band then? Is that, when you put together like your blues band, no, no, no, no okay, so the blues thing, it all happened after covert and uh like oh, okay, okay you’re in india, you know.
0:29:36 – Speaker 2
So all that happened, okay, while I was in india. But in new york city I was pretty much, uh, just playing all sorts of different bands, man, you know. So, like so anybody, anybody who would hire me, you know, you have to be a guitar player in the band, so I would just try to serve them as a musician. Yeah, man. So it was basically like doing some session work as a musician in New York City. Yeah, yeah, you know.
0:29:57 – Speaker 1
So did you do any like studio work, or was it more like live stuff you were doing?
0:30:01 – Speaker 2
So I would do both. Man, I would do both. I would do some studio stuff. So people would call me for some studio gigs. It’s like, uh, like this one friend of mine she was, you’re putting out her your record with about 17 songs, so she asked me to, uh, you perform, uh on like 15 of those. You know 15 out of 17. That’s cool, like hit the studios with her.
I would go to the studios with her and the whole band. You know, like this beautiful studio at green point avenue in brooklyn. You know uh, like overlooking the, you see. You know, yeah, and it was like, you know, so we would just be locked into the studio for like 48 hours or you know 50 hours, and uh, we were living with the band and you know so it reminded me, you know, uh, so back in the day and I still also miss that, you know here because, like, the music recording scenario has changed so much now you can record like five albums in your home yeah, no, seriously, if you got a decent laptop like anyone can record, now you know it’s crazy exactly, but then they miss out on the human element, like it’s like if you are, you’re recording it with five, six different humans and you’re making some errors.
So you said that’s what I missed the most, you know. So, like early 2016 it was still there, but now you know you’re 2024. It’s like nobody you records. You’re also in a recording studio. You know, like only bands where you signed are doing good or they have some finances, right, right, you’re booked on the studio and so, yeah, man, so all those, uh, these sort of things. So in, like in new york, I would do both, man. You know, um session work and live work, and I was in like four or five different live bands. So I would do some genres like R&B and hip hop and, you know, just some rock and some blues.
0:31:33 – Speaker 1
That’s funny.
0:31:35 – Speaker 2
And some jazz too. You know, like I was hanging out with some jazz cats and I was trying to play jazz to save my life, you know, you know how the New York jazz scene is I love.
0:31:48 – Speaker 1
You know, you know how to make up, yes, a jazz scene is, you know, I, I love, I love, love, love listening to jazz. I love crazy time signatures, which is why I love frank zappa, but I, I love jazz because of the crazy time signatures and stuff. I could never, I could not play it to save my life probably but I love listening to it, you know man, yeah, that’s the stuff, man you know.
0:32:05 – Speaker 2
So zappa is like a perfect example. It’s like so, uh. So I just wanna, you know, uh, study his music more and then have a podcast on that buddy dude, absolutely man.
0:32:15 – Speaker 1
Anytime you want to dive in and come back on and we’ll do a zappa podcast.
0:32:19 – Speaker 2
I would do that any day of the week, like dude, like you’ll, you’ll have to be my teacher for that, you know. So you have to teach me. So what?
0:32:25 – Speaker 1
uh, yeah, dude, I’ll listen to we’ll, we’ll connect after this, like through email or whatever, and I’ll say I’ll either make a playlist or I’ll send you, like you know, here are the you know 20 as zappa albums you need to listen to, or whatever that’s very, that’s incredibly.
0:32:41 – Speaker 2
Uh, you’re sweet and kind of you, john.
0:32:43 – Speaker 1
Yeah, dude, no, anything you should do that anything to get someone hooked more on zappa for sure. Um so, so, like when you’re doing the session, stuff like what do you do? You bring your own guitar and amp? Are you using the stuff there? Like, what do you have for a guitar, what do you have for like an amp that you use like I? I need to know that stuff because I’m a gearhead myself.
0:33:03 – Speaker 2
So you’re back in new york city or you’re so in new york city like what were you jamming on the guitars and stuff back in new york city like?
0:33:10 – Speaker 1
yeah, so whenever I would go to a jam session, you know so they would always have the guitars or the studio would always have the guitar amps, so so they they already kind of had like an idea of what sound they wanted you to.
0:33:22 – Speaker 2
Yeah, exactly, okay, okay okay my preferred, uh so guitar amp. If you ask me, it’s like your vox ac15, which is hand wired, and vox ac30 nice classic, your blues rock guitar, absolutely, you know, uh, it’s a guitar amp. And then my your main acts is this uh, your fender, uh, steve ray vaughan signature, uh, nice, shadow caster. That’s cool, heavily as a relic, you know. So if I were to send you a picture of my, your guitar, it’s like you’re so relic, like you know, somebody would say that it’s from the 50s or the 60s yeah, yeah, does it have like the, the steve ray vaughn like hot rod, like single coil pickups and stuff?
exactly yeah yeah, so you got the vibe right.
0:33:58 – Speaker 1
So you know your your gears man oh yeah, you know what you’re talking about.
0:34:01 – Speaker 2
Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely like the steve ray one, like you know. So, like the texas special, your coil, yep, and the coil has about 800, uh, your windings on it, you know so, yeah, so it’s like your so hand bound about 800 times. So I guess I would say like about four, five hundred times more than the usual. Wow, strat, yeah it’s like really hot man. So even if I’m not plugged into an amp and if I just go directly into a di box, it’s already distorted, yeah it’s already distorted and it’s so hot that, uh like the speakers can’t take it, man.
0:34:32 – Speaker 1
So that’s cool and yeah, those voxes are pretty nasty too. Those ac30s, those, those are no joke?
0:34:41 – Speaker 2
oh yes, they are no jokes. And if you also mic it with the and uh, you know. So, sm58, you know and yeah yeah, yes, in 57, actually sorry, sm57, yep. So if you just, uh, you do an sm57 and uh you’re like, uh, your box, I think you’re good to go, man, you don’t need anything else, you know, so obviously so what do you use now?
0:34:59 – Speaker 1
then in india, like, what do you have? Do you sell the steve rayvon guitar?
0:35:03 – Speaker 2
yeah, yeah, so I still have a steve rayvon guitar like yeah, yeah, so I still have the Steve Ray Vaughan guitar, like in India. So I have like a box, like a modeling amp at my place, but now you know. So you know how it is.
0:35:14 – Speaker 1
Dude, I love modeling amps Like. I’m a huge fan of them. There’s probably a lot of guitar players that hate them or whatever, but I personally, even since the mid nineties, I the the not the first amp I own, but the first like real amp I own was a Rocktron Chameleon preamp and this thing yeah, dude, that thing predated like amp modeling, but that it was like the first kind of attempt at it, and so I’ve been playing digital amps kind of like my whole life really.
so I’m a huge fan of of the digital amps, for sure oh, wow, wow man.
0:35:55 – Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, I mean the digital lamps. And now, uh like, with the onset of the ir, like you, know exactly you know.
So you just got a stormbox and that’s your amp. Yeah, you know, and it’s gonna you carry, like the signature sound and it’s gonna have a sound. Uh, you’re so like a printout of your sound, like your digital, your footprint of your sound, captured on a device you know. Uh, so like ir changes the game and ir changes everything, and I think irs are pretty efficient and it’s the, so you don’t have to lug your amp around, you know yeah, no exactly so easy on the guitar players.
But people like you and I, john, like we prefer the analog right if I’m not mistaken. What’s that? So people like you and I, we prefer the more analog.
0:36:35 – Speaker 1
Yeah, well, I mean I mean, yeah, definitely like the blues and stuff, like everyone wants the more kind of tube amp and everything. But I I like I said I I’ve just been a fan of the more amp modeling and digital stuff. My whole kind of career. I’ve always just kind of leaned more towards that for whatever reason. As a musician I actually did a podcast talking about how that’s affected my guitar playing. Because I realized you know, look, when you’re playing like a you know Mesa Boogie or Marshall JCM, whatever right You’re pushing you’re playing like a you know mesa boogie or marshall jcm 800, whatever right you’re pushing you’re pushing the tubes. You got to crank up that amp to start pushing air through the speakers and everything you want to get that sound. But when you’re you’re cranking the amp and you’re you’re using the tubes, there’s so much kind of like dynamics between your pick, your picking hand and the strings so like, like how you attack the strings is going to affect the sound. You know Exactly.
0:37:32 – Speaker 2
And the tubes are. You’re warming up right. Yeah so you can capture that tone, like in the IR, but like the tubes are, you’re warming up as we speak. You’re at a gig. Yeah, so the warmth of the tube, it also adds to the tone and your rich. Yeah, exactly, exactly so the warmth of the tube, it also adds to the tone and your rich flavor.
0:37:46 – Speaker 1
Yeah, exactly, but since I’ve always played digital amps and since they always have um, how would you? They always kind of have that big sound like yeah, when you’re playing so even if I like a high, game exactly. So even if I’m picking really light and my attack is really light on the strings, it still is a huge wall of sound so yeah my, my picking on my guitar is super light. Like we, if when you watch other musicians play, you can see them hammering on their strings, you can you know sometimes you can hear the string noise over the mic’d amp.
You know what I’m saying yeah, like I don’t play. I don’t play like that at all because I’ve never used tubes and my did my amp modeling or whatever has always had this huge sound, so like it’s kind of funny how it really has affected my playing like not in a bad way or whatever has always had this huge sound, so like it’s kind of funny how it really has affected my playing like not in a bad way or whatever, but it just, it just shaped yeah, it just shapes the way I play it became a part of your, uh, your lifestyle and like yeah, so, like, just to keep your pick in hand, you light.
0:38:53 – Speaker 2
No, so, like that’s how all the great guitar players in the history like throughout yeah, so, unless you’re playing the blues or you’re doing some theatrics and if you’re for blues, I can understand that you have to have some dynamics but for the kind of music that you play or you used to play, yeah, I think, like you know, to keep a consistent hand and to keep a compressed hand, like you don’t even probably need a compressor because you’re picking so lightly yeah yes, also, I get that, you know I get that, uh, and for the kind of music that you play, I think it works out just perfectly fine.
0:39:22 – Speaker 1
Yeah, no, no, definitely. Like I said, it’s just funny I realized after. And then another thing I realized is I built I believe I’m breaking it now but I built, I think, a very bad habit with how I hold my pick, because I learned how to play guitar after I lost my sight. So so I, I was 14 years old and I mean you know, before when I could see, I would watch people, you know, kind of playing guitar, but I wouldn’t actually like pay attention, you know what I mean. So like I wouldn’t look at how people are actually holding the pick. So for me I would hold the pick kind of like way back. I would leave like a lot of the pick open between, like my fingers in the string. So like.
I never realized, like, oh, I should like choke up, or like make there less room between my finger and the edge of the pick, because the less room there is between that, the less there is to move, the faster you can pick.
0:40:26 – Speaker 2
Exactly exactly.
0:40:28 – Speaker 1
So I’ve only noticed that like a year or two ago. So I’ve been trying to break 30 years of you know bad picking technique, yeah.
0:40:39 – Speaker 2
No, no, man, I get you. I get you, like you know. So we all have those gaps in our knowledge too, and it’s like you know. So there’s like a lot of things that we can improve on. Uh, so, whether it comes to the flicking, or like you know, how you approach the strings and how also your the left hand, you know, yeah, you’re sometimes like you were just on the fretboard and your hand is so stressed, you know, like you can see it, that like it’s pinching my nerve or something you know, yeah, no, yeah, I see some guitar players and I’m like man, you’re like just making me even nervous for you yeah, no, it’s kind of.
0:41:04 – Speaker 1
It’s kind of funny when you talk about guitar. No one really talks about like holding the pick or you know exactly how to hold your hand or whatever. Like no one like, because really a lot like almost everything you’re going to do is stemming from even that, you know what I mean.
0:41:20 – Speaker 2
So the basics, yeah, basics man, yeah, yeah.
0:41:25 – Speaker 1
Yeah, no, totally so like. So after, like you know, in New York you were doing the sessions and everything like that, how did you end back up in India? It was like your visa up or did you decide oh you know what?
0:41:41 – Speaker 2
I’m just gonna go back home like what, what brought you back to india? I mean, my visa was also up and then I, you know so, wanted to contest my visa and everything. But then, uh, like the landscape, the political landscape in 2016 was also changing you know, trump was coming into power? Yeah, and they were. You’re also restricting the number of visas, uh, so being given to people and also, like I thought, like you know, just to contest a visa.
It’s like a very stressful lifestyle I would imagine or to get a visa man, to get a green card or citizenship. It’s gonna take like 15, 20 years. So I was like man. So instead of just fighting a legal battle, I just wanna be chill, I just wanna enjoy my life and I just wanna so make and play music. You know, I hear you and also like it was like seven, eight years I spent like apart from my family and my parents. You know, I hear you.
So I thought like so, being a son and being a prodigal son, so it was like the right thing to do are you the oldest? I’m the oldest one. Oh yeah, yeah. So you guys yeah I, so are you also the older sibling?
0:42:38 – Speaker 1
Uh, no, I’m not. No, no, you lucked out, you know so you lucked out there, buddy. Well, I, like I said, I have, I have friends that are Indian and I know, culturally, like that’s important. You know the oldest, especially the oldest son. So yeah, exactly, You’re the oldest son, exactly.
0:42:54 – Speaker 2
So we have the responsibility, but my parents are not asking me to do any such traditional responsibilities. We’re just like you focus on yourself and just make sure that you’re a success and you make something out of your life. That’s cool, so that’s what all the parents want, you know. So there’s no pressure on me. And now I’m thinking about just making a return to the Western world man. So 2024 or 2025, I just want to make at least like some traveling plans. Yeah, if I do, come up on the East Coast, at least like some traveling plans. Yeah, if I do, you’ll come up on the East coast.
Absolutely dude, yeah, so I’m going to hit you up, john, yeah man Dude.
0:43:24 – Speaker 1
who knows, if you need another guitar player, maybe I’ll be traveling with you.
0:43:28 – Speaker 2
Dude, we are going to be jamming in a band together. Hey man, I got you know what?
0:43:42 – Speaker 1
my favorite guitar. And uh, there you go, man, you know that and it’s actually a blues boy. It has a a single coil in the bridge, but it’s got a humbucker in the neck oh, that’s sick man, yeah, that’s sick.
It’s pretty awesome it’s. I have like five guitars I love. I I play these. I have flying. These are like my favorite. But this, uh, I have a. It’s a gnl, uh, asat it’s called, but it’s basically a fender telecaster and um, it’s, it’s my favorite guitar now, like, even though I love my metal guitars and stuff, the way this thing plays and everything is amazing. I love it. So I I’m definitely, I’m definitely going to be in the market for another, like telecaster style with humbucker pickups for sure.
0:44:23 – Speaker 2
I would, and like you don’t, you want to buy like an 8-string or like a 12-string or something.
0:44:28 – Speaker 1
No, actually I do have a few 7 and 8-strings in my wishlist on Reverb. So Okay, okay, okay, obviously. Obviously, you know so he’s not talking about those.
0:44:36 – Speaker 2
How is that possible? So he’s not talking about those? How?
0:44:39 – Speaker 1
is that possible? But then obviously you have them on your wish list?
0:44:44 – Speaker 2
Yeah, no absolutely.
0:44:45 – Speaker 1
I did own a seven and eight string at one point. I got rid of them, but I will have some again at some point.
0:44:51 – Speaker 2
That’s amazing, so you can never have too much gear.
0:44:54 – Speaker 1
No, exactly Exactly, that’s definitely for sure. So so, like, now that you’re back in India, you you have a. Is it one one single out, or do you? I couldn’t, I couldn’t really. I looked at Spotify real quick and like I listened to a song or two, but like yeah, do you have just one?
0:45:15 – Speaker 2
single out right now or so I have two singles out right now, okay. So first one was called uh, wake up. Yes, you know, it’s like a pop blues tune, you know, at least in october of last year and so just a month ago at least. My second single is called song for her. You know, yeah, that’s my second single and so that’s my uh like original. And the third, uh, your single.
I just also put it super um, like you know, spontaneously with my friend, uh like after but, and uh, so that’s that, we’re 21 by 6 track. Uh, the guitar and guitar track, that’s that. So we weren’t even planning on releasing. But I was at a studio and he was like you know what? I have a sitar here, so why don’t you just play some sitar? And I was playing sitar and he just recorded, he just pressed the record button and then we ended up losing a track, you know. So that was just very impromptu, it was very like, you know, you’re on the goal, you’re sort of a thing, and the third single is going to be out by the end of this month, hopefully, okay.
0:46:25 – Speaker 1
So I got a team here who like your mixes and masters. Uh, so after the third single is out, I’m gonna just drop the whole album. The 2017 your medicine that’s kind of funny. I was just. I was just gonna ask, like, what’s gonna be your approach? Like are you gonna do because it almost seems like bands these days it’s like no one really releases an album they kind of like just release like single after single after single kind of thing, or whatever like you saw.
0:46:37 – Speaker 2
You saw, I missed the albums, man. I missed the albums, and I love albums more than me too, you know you know why.
0:46:44 – Speaker 1
You know you know why I love albums is because it captures this like moment in time, like all those songs there’s like this exactly there’s like this thing that ties all the songs together. You know what I mean exactly.
0:46:56 – Speaker 2
But yeah, exactly and like it and uh, so you have like a commonality and you have a theme. Exactly so you have a theme throughout the album. Yeah, so most of the successful artists are just putting out the singles, and so this one friend of mine, he put out about 25 singles and no album. No, kidding.
I mean, dude, like you put out 25 singles which are almost like two albums. You know, almost like two albums, you know, yeah, why are you not compiling them in an album format or something? It’s like yeah, nobody listens to album these days. I’m like that’s not true, though.
0:47:25 – Speaker 1
That’s not. Yeah, I don’t think it’s true. I I mean just because it’s like a popular thing to do right now. It’s exactly yeah, it’s still not like I. I don’t know how to word it.
0:47:36 – Speaker 2
It’s not the standard yeah, I mean like it’s you know, because, uh see, like you know, so I can take it from like a record label’s perspective. So they would want their hottest artist to release a single instead of an album, because they can milk more money out of that. Right, you know, right? It’s like you have the single. Like you can milk as much like out of it. You can create short form content on the Instagram or whatever like 30 second reels but like the long format content, so I want to bring that back.
0:48:05 – Speaker 1
Are you going to release kind of like a CD or cassette or vinyl or whatever? Do you want to do something? I want to do that, man.
0:48:10 – Speaker 2
I want to release your vinyl too. I want to press like about 100 vinyls and just order a vinyl of my album, because your vinyl is back.
0:48:18 – Speaker 1
Absolutely.
0:48:21 – Speaker 2
Yeah, no, absolutely. Your has had a huge resurgence and it’s like the technology of the past but the technology of the future. You know, the quality is just like impeccable.
0:48:33 – Speaker 1
Absolutely.
0:48:34 – Speaker 2
I definitely want to do all those things, john, and so now you’re a part of my journey and I’ll be keeping you posted. Yeah, dude.
0:48:40 – Speaker 1
Absolutely so. So now let’s talk about let’s wrap up here talking about the album. So I think you mentioned it, but we might, we might miss it. What’s the name of the album gonna be?
0:48:49 – Speaker 2
the name of the album is gonna be 2017 medicine. Okay, there you go, and yeah, so 2017 is the year I started writing the album in new york city and medicine avenue, like you know that, in New York, yeah, yeah absolutely.
0:49:02 – Speaker 1
That’s some. You know patience to be able to. You know 2017, I mean that’s seven. You know seven, six, seven years ago.
0:49:10 – Speaker 2
That’s some time to be sitting on some stuff and yeah, man, tell me about it, john, and so it definitely would talk me some your patience, you know. Talk to my patients and how to to, because you have an expression, you want to say so many things, but then you’re just holding it back. It’s like I’ll find my time, I’ll find my time to express, and then you do find it and boom, it’s out there.
0:49:31 – Speaker 1
You know yeah, no, absolutely so. Did you record everything and master it in new york, or did you master it in india? Like how, how did that end up?
0:49:39 – Speaker 2
like working itself out I mean I recorded, like most of the album. I mean like, yeah, so three out of the six tracks you’re from the album I recorded in new york like all the parts I recorded and then I also had some, uh, your, uh, some of my berkeley friends to play on it.
You know, like song for her, the last school yeah, man, so like I had, uh, your aaron nashville, your so you. So Aaron Lawson from Nashville. Now he’s just, you’re touring with your KT Pruitt and all these big bands, so he’s just playing stadiums and he’s playing like NFL stadiums and you know so whatnot? So that guy played on drums, that’s cool, he is on song for her. And this guy, kenny Pearson, he played keys and bass on song for her. So I did the guitar, the vocals, the production, the beats you know, so I did all of that.
And then, uh, like, we also got a female vocalist, uh, who’s living in Colorado, so she did the backing vocals on that and, um, yeah, so some of my Berkeley mates were on the tracks and I should throw light on them, you know. So that’s a good idea and I will. Yeah, you tried to do that and so, yeah, so most of the capture was in new york, and then now I’m mixing and mastering the album in india.
Okay, I got a mixing engineer in my hometown and I just sit down with him and he also does all of that that’s very cool, yeah, so how’s kind of like the recordings?
0:50:57 – Speaker 1
I mean we were kind of saying it passing, like oh, you know, anyone with a laptop can kind of record or whatever, but like are there quite a few like studios or whatever in your, in your area that for like recording and stuff?
0:51:09 – Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so we have, like you know, some more and more studios are popping up, and you know, so you put. People are creating spaces in their homes, are you John?
0:51:20 – Speaker 1
spaces in their, uh, your homes. Are you, john? Well, yeah, I mean, I believe it, because again, we’re, we’re just saying all you need is kind of like a laptop, a few microphones.
0:51:24 – Speaker 2
I mean, you know, seriously, that’s it, you know so that’s it, and you can like just treat your room like yeah, uh, so, uh, you know, so, like so, even if you have a small space, you know you’re, so you can treat that room inexpensively. You can treat that room like acoustically you would treat it totally, totally so you can do that super inexpensively and then you can just record your vocals there and all the other instruments like guitar and everything like you don’t need like a big space to record Right.
Yeah, unless you’re recording from your amp and everything and you’re making the amp, then it’s a whole different story.
0:51:54 – Speaker 1
Right, but because the technology literally to need to plug your guitar into the and you get some crazy amp sounds out of the VST plugins, you know.
0:52:06 – Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you can totally do that, you know. So you have the VST plugins, you have the, the AU plugins, yeah, the Apple unit plugins, and you have. So you basically got everything digitally, you know. So nobody does it analog anymore.
0:52:21 – Speaker 1
I can remember. I can remember in the nineties having a four track recorder you know I had a. I had a Tascam four track recorder. I can remember you know we we. You could do a trick where you could like we would record all. We would take all four tracks, record drums with all four of those tracks, but then we could dump those four tracks onto one so, so we would have all the drum sounds on one track, but you couldn’t like edit it or anything. Once you dumped everything onto that track, that’s it.
0:52:53 – Speaker 2
So there were no like the overdubs on that. So yeah, no, I mean.
0:52:57 – Speaker 1
I mean you could, but once you kind of dump everything onto one track like that, that’s kind of, then you could overdub, you know the other tracks or whatever. But yeah, like it was uh much different back in those days.
0:53:11 – Speaker 2
No, no, no, no, I completely understand.
0:53:11 – Speaker 1
So you have seen the technology like evolve, oh, absolutely man, yeah, totally like I said, in the early 90s I was, you know, recording on those, the task game 4 track and and the. The early 90s I was, you know, recording on the TASCAM 4 track. And in the late 90s I actually kind of had a recording studio in my house with a computer, like you know, like in like 1999 or so. So yeah, I’ve seen technology drastically change in the music industry, for sure.
0:53:38 – Speaker 2
That’s amazing that you have so much experience in this, uh, the technology space, and you have seen the cultural landscape evolve yeah, yeah, no totally everything right in front of you, you know, yeah, so. So that’s incredible, john, and uh, one of these days, I hope to like really sit down with you in person yeah, dude, for real man, like, absolutely like is.
0:53:59 – Speaker 1
Is there anything else you want to say about? Like your music or your you know anything else you got coming up, or whatever Like like I would just you try to do like a small plug.
0:54:09 – Speaker 2
I would just encourage everybody to go. Just check out your me on Spotify and Instagram.
0:54:15 – Speaker 1
It’s Sway G right right this.
0:54:23 – Speaker 2
Uh, your shuaiji is spelled as s, h, w, e, space g. You know your single letter g and you can you follow me on all the socials.
0:54:26 – Speaker 1
You know, I’ll put links and stuff in the show notes too oh yeah, so that’d be.
0:54:30 – Speaker 2
Uh, you should probably be helpful, so just uh, so go follow me. Uh, uh, you know, so new music is going to be you’re dropping out. Yeah, so very, very soon I’ll be dropping uh like a track every month. I’ll be dropping like a lot of the singles which are also not from my album. I’ll be dropping a lot of the collabs. So do follow me on all the socials and uh, yeah, so that’d be it awesome man.
0:54:52 – Speaker 1
Dude, this was an awesome interview. I had an awesome time and I’m gonna have you back on for our our frank zappa episode um, I’m looking forward to that man yeah, dude, like I’ll, I already have easily at least 10 albums in my head where it’s like, yeah, you need to listen to these.
so, um, yeah, it’s gonna be awesome, but I it may. Man, I I really appreciate your time and I I appreciate your energy and your, your uh, personality, dude, I think I think we’re we’re kind of cut from the same cloth, so yeah, I didn’t feel like I was.
0:55:28 – Speaker 2
You’re talking to you for the first time, man.
0:55:30 – Speaker 1
I hear you no, exactly Like that. It was really cool. It’s been a great interview.
0:55:35 – Speaker 2
So very inspiring and you are very knowledgeable and it’s you’re one of the best podcast I’ve done in a while, so I have to give you then very knowledgeable, and it’s you’re one of the best podcasts I’ve you’ve done in a while, so I have to give you then, like you’re incredible, john, and I’m looking forward to some more podcasts.
0:55:46 – Speaker 1
Absolutely, man. Thank you so much. And, shweji, I, I appreciate your music. I we didn’t get to talk about your music as much as I would have liked, but people need to listen to it. It’s I I I did mention this in passing in the during the interview I appreciate your melodic choices because of where you grew up from and because of kind of like the asian approach to uh, some of the uh um scales that you use like that.
That was that kind of I guess I want to ask this before we wrap it up, because I did want to ask this like how are the? Because obviously the scales are slight, like you know, with the sitar and stuff, you can tell like you’re using kind of like not traditional or not like scales that would are like normally used. I guess, at least in my opinion, that’s that’s what it sounds like. I could be wrong, but how, how are the scales approached, like on the sitar and stuff? Because you, you do kind of have some interesting uh like not chromatics, like steps, but like yeah, your chromatics, yeah, yeah yeah, you’re talking about the microphone.
0:56:54 – Speaker 2
So because, like there’s a code between c and a c sharp. It’s called c half sharp or c half flat. You know. So how you, however, you, however, you’re going to look at it you know, so we have the microtones, you know. So between C and a, C, sharp, like there are a couple of notes you know interesting.
0:57:09 – Speaker 1
So that’s what those like over the, the notes down the sitar that you don’t strike Exactly that’s interesting.
0:57:18 – Speaker 2
The overtones and the microtones, you know, we have them in the indian music and also, like you know, all the like the greek modes, right, like all the seven greek modes, yeah, so very, aeolian, dorian, phrygian and lydian right, yeah so we indian equivalent of that, you know. So, like, uh, you, for example, if I’m in the lydian mode, which is like a sharp fourth right, so I have c d e f right, that’s a major scale, but C D E F, so that’s your sharp fourth right, so that’s how you begin, you know, so that’s how you sharp fourth, and like in the Indian classical equivalent of that, it would be sa re ga ma. You know.
The major scale would be sa re ga ma pa right, but C, d, e, F, g right, cdfg and your, but the sharp foot would be cdf. So, like you know, so we have those sort of other commonalities between the indian classical music and the western music and the western notes and the greek, you know the modes, and the pentatonic man. The pentatonic, uh like, it’s like a pretty much universal language, you know absolutely now like all sorts of cultures.
you have it in the japanese culture and the chinese culture and the Algerian culture. If you listen to some Romanian music I was listening to some Romanian folk the last night, so so you get all those sort of like commonalities in the you know.
0:58:32 – Speaker 1
so the music like all over the world, you know, yeah, no, but it’s just cool to hear Like I think it might’ve been the song wake up, but you do like is that the song? Like you kind of do like the like a quick little, like clean channel, like little run on your guitar and like in that little run I think it’s a song wake up as one of the two songs they listen to, but like yeah, just some of the passing notes you use.
It’s like oh, that that’s totally you know from your kind of like asian or you know indian like. So it’s cool to hear blues with that little tone over overtone to it. It’s really cool, that’s true, that’s true, buddy.
0:59:09 – Speaker 2
And uh, I mean, like you know so, any sort of music man, you know so. So learning the blues or learning the indian classical, they always complement each other, man they always complement and like you can pick, like you know, the best of like both the worlds and just define your own style, you know. So that’s what I’m trying to do now. You know, I’m not trying to stick to the western pop or the the eastern classical, you know yeah, you’re just kind of mixing.
0:59:30 – Speaker 1
You’re just seeing what comes out of you exactly, man, exactly, so that’s the way to go you know. So that’s what’s up, buddy yeah, man, dude, it was great talking to you. I appreciate your time, I appreciate you and your music, man, and I wish you well on your endeavors, for sure.
0:59:46 – Speaker 2
Thank you so much, john, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you more in the next coming months. Yeah, you are an inspiration and looking forward to a long-term collaboration and friendship.
0:59:56 – Speaker 1