'Maruvarthai' was an exciting song for me because it showcased my Carnatic roots.
I started playing music when I was about six and didn't discover Indian classical music until I was fifteen. So, essentially, I had a lot of catching up to do.
I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.
Growing up, any time I would sit down with my grandfather to learn or talk about Carnatic music, he would bring up G. N. Balasubramaniam. Listening to the recordings he would play me, I was dazzled by GNB's voice and how he was able to execute ideas that I could barely wrap my head around.
My roots are Carnatic music. I think everything stems from that.
Maybe I'm genetically more inclined to music - but the music I make is so far removed from Indian classical music. I grew up in Texas!
I appreciate very much Vilayat Khan, the sitar player, and Bismillah Khan, the shehnai player; and among the tabla players, of course, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaja, and all these people.
I listen to Ustad Vilayat Khan's 'Raga Khamaj' and 'Raga Jaijaiwanti' virtually every morning, a lot of Abdullah Ibrahim, Michael Kiwanuka, Savages, and contemporary Ugandan pop.
Outside India, Chris Brown, Bruno Mars, Beyonce, and Rihanna are my favourites. I also like Justin Bieber. I like Western jazz and pop. Been a classical singer, I have sung a song 'Auliya,' a fusion of Western and Indian classical.
I have a great liking for the Chamba folk music, which depicts the beauty of women and the mountains with a touch of Indian classical music.
I come from a very strenuous, strict, disciplined classical music background. My grandfather, noted Carnatic classical exponent Dr. Sripada Pinakapani, was a Padma Bhushan recipient.
The inner core of my being is Carnatic music.
I remember my father playing a cassette for me when I was fifteen - Amjad Ali's 'Durga.' He said, 'This is from our part of the world. You must listen to it.' And I continued rewinding it and listening to it from early evening until midnight. By the end of it, I was nearly in tears.
I do think that my Indian classical audiences thought I was sacrificing them through working with George; I became known as the 'fifth Beatle.' In India, they thought I was mad.
