by Vishal Venkatesh
In this day and age, most musicians are faced with a range of mind-boggling and often nerve wracking questions, following an album launch – Is this the right time to begin a new album? How am I going to market my brand further? Where do I see myself 1-2 years from now?
The answers tend to typically circulate around hope, ambition and general positivity with an often-subtle undercurrent of uncertainty.
While Gana’s answers did tread along this path, his approach and vision for his music and his brand are truly unique and innovative.
“I see the small pocket opportunities as a way to find out what people are interested in when they listen to my music”, said Gana, referring to his most recent gig with an organisation called ‘Songs by Sunset’.
“It’s also for an audience that I normally wouldn’t get to play for” continued Gana, appreciating the insights and perspective of an intimate audience.
It is rare to come across a musician in Gana’s stage, who puts a forefront value on the audience’s interpretation beyond reception.
13rd Feb 2021 Performance Standing Ovation - Photo Credit: Asaf Luft
In turn, this implies that Gana’s music is less about him as an individual and his own life experiences, but a passionate attempt to musically convey collective emotions and thought processes.
Gana's second album, 'Stillness', has a predominantly meditative focus. Whilst composing, he said, “I’m looking to do something more meditative and something more purpose driven."
“This next step really allows for experimentation to branch away and discover a new sound.”
Most recently, Gana developed a new found interest in a popular Chinese harp-like instrument called Guzheng.
14th Feb 2021 Performance of Ganathipan playing the Guzheng. Photo Credit: Manab Chetia
This stemmed from his 2018 holiday trip to Seoul. Gana was able to hear a band, called 'Genatango', play different and culturally appropriated compositions of the tango style using traditional Korean instruments, the ‘gayageum’ and the ‘haegum‘, with piano, cello and traditional drums.
He aims on exploring these instruments further in due course.
When causally browsing Facebook, Gana began looking into the artistic exploration of an underrated style of music – Bulgarian folk.
Gana “found very subtle linkages between Bulgarian music and Carnatic music”, especially when it came to the ornamentations.
“It’s definitely something I’m keen on exploring with the next project.”
When Gana was recently watching a Steve Smith interview, a message put forward really struck a personal chord with him – while Smith thoroughly enjoyed cricket, he found it difficult to engage with as part of an audience.
Similarly, Gana admits that he is not the best listener when it comes to immersing in the work of others, but, he “most certainly prefers to be the one on stage”.
During the research phase for every composition, Gana typically looks into the work of about 10 different artists but usually can’t recall one individual as the one whom he draws inspiration from.
Rather, his influences of ‘global music’ “tap into different parts of multiculturalism”.
14th Feb 2021 - The talented crew of Ganathipan: The World Experience. Photo Credit: Manab Chetia
Gana is a firm believer in the notion of ‘destiny’ and ‘fate’ when it comes to musical creation and this belief is derived from a particular incident which occurred not too long ago. There was a particular day, where things were not going in Gana’s way and frustration began to blatantly emerge and sustain.
Rather than drowning in feelings of negativity, Gana began to channel such emotions into composition and thus “Angry Man was born”.
13th February 2021: Seran Sribalan and Perrin Walker recreating Angry Man. Photo Credit: Asaf Luft
Gana is aware of the possibility that history may repeat itself and is therefore very much open to it.
It is clear from such events that Gana’s love for different genres is increasingly present in his voice of relatability and he intends to continue in this fashion.
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