September 1989
Ashwin Batish Is Sitar's King of 'Raga and Roll'
Howard, Lisa
Ashwin Batish saunters into the
recording studio next to his home in Santa Cruz, California. It is jammed
with all the trappings of a high-tech, sound-warping work shop, from
state-of-the-art synthesizers set upon one wall to computerized recording
equipment nearby. Overseeing this cluster of audio machinery is a reminder
of the earlier roots of Batish's music. Hanging on the wall in the studio
is a picture of Saraswati. She seems to be calmly appraising the
surroundings, which, like the musician himself - clad in blue jeans and a
baseball hat - have found a comfortable balance between India and
California.
For centuries the sitar has sung melodic verses to
listeners who enjoyed its exotic steely sound. Few people ever associated
that traditional meditative music with the high-tech, synthesized sound of
rock music. But Batish, who is a classically-trained musician, has managed
to strike a responsive chord with Western listeners by blending the
classical ragas of India with a modern pop beat. Shanachie Records
recently signed an agreement to re-release Batish's first album, "Sitar
Power," as part of their World Beat series. This makes Batish the first
sitar player since Ravi Shankar in the 1960's to successfully cross
classical Indian sounds with pop music and gain a sizeable Western
audience.
An Ashwin Batish fan club with about 100 members attests
to the musician's appeal. His following may not be as large as a modern
rock group, but they are dedicated listeners. He humorously tells us in
our HINDUISM TODAY interview that on a recent concert tour in New York he
was asked to play in Queens, a place he describes as somewhere "you
wouldn't expect anybody to know about Indian music." So he wasn't
completely surprised when only one devoted fan showed up. Batish did the
entire show for the lone listener. Several nights later 6,000 people came
to singe their ears with synthesized sitar.
His music has a unique
sound. He fuses traditional ragas with the sounds of electric guitar,
bass, drums and synthesizers to create songs such as "Bombay Boogie" and
"New Delhi Vice," two of the cuts on his "Sitar Power" album. The album,
first released on his family's own Batish Records label, came out in
mid-1986 and proved to be popular enough to grab the attention of the
larger recording company. The songs are actually upbeat, modified versions
of Hindu ragas, but "as far as they (Western listeners) are concerned,
they're just listening to a hip beat," Batish says.
One reason
Batish thinks "exotic rock," as he likes to refer to his music, has caught
on is that "the sitar creates a dream sound. It's unlike a guitar which a
lot of people have been hearing."
Many of his fans are young,
college-aged students who enjoy world beat music [ethnic music from global
cultures] and are requesting "Sitar Power" on college and FM radio
stations across the US. He thinks his compositions attract many young
people because he communicates in their own language, the dialect of pop
music. "Not everybody will understand," he says, "but something like
"Sitar Power" touched people's hearts because it touched ours. Music is
our life," referring to his entire family of musicians. In music, "your
philosophy, your beliefs, your music all flow together."
Born in
Santa Cruz, near Bombay, India, Batish learned to play the sitar at age 12
from his father, Shiv Dayal Batish. The elder Batish, a well-known
musician who wrote scores and sang in over 100 movies, would sing to his
son, and Ashwin learned by car. He would listen to his father, then repeat
the songs until he caught the music. Learning to play the sitar was easy,
he says. Learning Indian music, which has thousands of scales, wasn't.
"First you learn the skill, and then you have to learn the music. It's so
vast you can never know all the ragas."
Shiv Dayal Batish has been
a big supporter of his son's music, joking that he can't wait to make
another movie and use some of Ashwin's toe-tapping tunes. He also helps by
listening to the songs and making suggestions about composition, something
other members of the family also do. "As a family of musicians, nothing is
hidden," Batish says. "None of us produces anything another person would
object to."
In 1973, after Shiv Dayal Batish secured a job at the
University of California at Santa Cruz, the family moved to the US from
England where the younger musician spent his teen years. They opened up an
Indian restaurant, too, and it was there that Ashwin started perfecting
his "raga and roll" as some have dubbed it. He played at the restaurant
almost every night for 15 years. Then, in 1980, the family started Batish
Records. In addition to packaging their own sounds, Batish Records also
produces high-quality cassettes for other musicians.
The whole
family is involved in the business. His sister Meena is arranging some of
Shiv Dayal Batish's older film songs to a newer pop mode and they are
working on an album that will mix the traditional Indian "ghazal," the
practice of putting poetry to music, with the works of William
Shakespeare. "We are really interested in introducing this [form of
entertainment] to the Western audience," Ashwin enthuses.
Although
the Batish family is opening up musical doors for listeners who have never
heard instruments such as the sitar or tabla, Ashwin says he is not
interested in being the spiritual link between cultures. He is not trying
to influence people's beliefs with his music. He simply wants people to
enjoy his unique versions of traditional ragas. "Indian people already
know what I'm saying," he notes. "A true Hindu will always follow the
middle path. I try to, too. I try to stay away from extremes. I'm not
trying to blend religions together or cultures together. I'm just doing
what I do best."
Batish says that of the nine basic elements of
Indian music, he is most interested in Hasya Rasa - happy, joyful music.
The artist puts a lot of his personal emotions into his work, and his
enthusiasm flows through his music. He observes, "The artist is really
trying to put his emotions forward. I really wanted to present my music in
the way I heard it. And I heard it as a lot of fun. I think sitar music is
fun."
Although he comes from a musical family, Batish never
intended to make a living as a performing musician. The industry is too
unstable. Music "is like fashion," he says. Clothes fashions change and so
do trends in music. What's hot and in vogue today will probably be cold
two years from now and the same rule applies to music. Batish knows that.
"I don't want to put myself in that precarious position," he emphatically
states. His main source of income doesn't come from playing "raga and
roll." He goes on tour about four times a year for up to a month at a
time. This fall, however, he will be making his first performing tour to
Holland and Belgium and will be doing a benefit concert for Oxfam (human
relief organization) in San Francisco in September.
When he's not
on the road, Batish devotes his time to the family business. Shiv Dayal
Batish has recently published a book on Indian music titled "Ragamala" and
the clan has several other projects, including albums and possibly even a
magazine, in the works.
Batish doesn't know how long he will be
riding the crest of the current interest in world beat music, but for now
he is basking happily in the attention and enjoying the power of making
music on his sitar. The musician points out the picture of Saraswati
hanging in the studio. "We believe very strongly in that power," he tells
us. "That's why it's called Sitar Power - it's Saraswati's
power."
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