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Aussie band Electric Korma has created a new and enti cing genre of Indian music

People often complain that Hindi film music is inspired and influenced by the West. Musicians like RD Burman were so largely influenced b y popular genres of mus ic, that many of his compositions had traces of Mariachi, Bossa Nova, rock ' n' roll and jazz. We've also heard of disco and funk being adapted, and some would argue, even copied in the 80s, by many well-known Indian him rnus.ic composers, Sllch as Bappida. However, ic's very rare that the oppos ite ever happens.

Pose Bomb'!)' Dreams and Slt1f!ldog Millio11aire, perceptions about Hindi music in films has definitely changed. The Wesc has started caking a keen interest in Indian 1ilm music, particularl y in. Bollywood songs.

Bollywood dancing is also getting quite popular, with several Boll ywood dance troupes and teachers operating in Sydney. le is heartening to see an aspect of Indian culcure being accepted and appreciated outside of Jndia

When 1 was first introduced to Electric Korma and their music, I was overjoyed. This team of chree talented musicians makes Lio..ique Bollywood-ro ck fusion music (or Hindi - rock mus ic as they call it) The band is comprised of singer and guitarist George Stanton, M ichael Manzini on bass and ik Russo on drums.

Here are excerpts from the recent Indian Link Radio interview with George Stanton, which was a fun experience for che team and our listeners.

Shradd.ha Arjun (SA): Good morning, George!

George Stan ton (GS) : Namaste, Indian Link Radio!

SA: Your band seems to understand and perform Bollywood songs so beautifully How did Electric Korma originate and what drew you to Indian film music?

GS : Well, l married an Indian girl Smr iti, and she introduced me to her favourite Bollywood songs. l thought that Electric Korma could have a go at playing one. We were already playing original so ngs diar I had written and composed. One day I was learning to count ' 1, 2,3' in H indi, and was struggling somewhat. Smriti showed me a video of Ek do teen co help me learn it was so catch y and so mucb fun.

Someone from the Indian community in Wollongong had seen us p lay and invited us to perform at an l ndian function. So I rhoughc as a gesrure co the Indian community, 1 would learn a few Hindi songs. So we learned Ek Do Tee11 and Mebbooba (Sholqy).

W'e're into the sound and era from the 60s and 70s, ic's what we like.

SA: Was it difficult to adapt and translate rhe ethos, words and context of Bollywood songs into your style of musi c ?

GS: Wid1 some of tbe songs yes, ic can be extremely challengi ng. But Ek Do T em is a very Western kind of so ng. If it weren't sung in Hindi, it wouldn't sound uniquely Indian. Mehbooba has little instrumental sections between the verses, which is fairl y exotic to western ears; that took a little bit co get our heads around. What really challenges us is when we try and play so methi ng by AR Rahman. We tried p laying In la111hon k.e daa111a11 mcin from d1e f:ilm Jodha /lkbar. l t was extremely difficult. Just the first line took me an entire day. Working on how be 6.cs all those syLiables in took me an awfuUy long time to learn (hums a bic for our listeners).

SA: Wow, if I shut m y eyes and listen to you sing, I can ' t tell if you're even Indian or not!

GS: Someone told me d1ac at a gig once! And at the very next gig someone else came LIP to me after m y performance and said, "Congratulations, you 've got ac least 30'1/,, of the song right!" I thanked him for being honesr!

SA: I tweeted the link of your Ek Do Teen nmdition on YouTube to MadhuriDixit, who will perform in Sydney with Shah Ru.kb Khan Will you attend l1er show? After all, she taught you how to count in Hindi

G S: I'm quite excited that she's visiting Sycfaey and performing here alongside SRK, but unfortunately I can't be there. She's an exquisite dancer; her dancing in Ek Do Teen is equally snuiai.ng! I've nev er seen anything so prec ise.

SA: As a band , how do you find the time to learn Bollywood songs, despite a busy schedule?

GS : The band's contribution is mass ive, they are very diligent and hardworking boys. The editing for Ek Do fem was entire ly done by l ik, and Mjcb.ael recorded the song. It usually rakes only about two rehearsals for each song, but this one was recorded on r!1e very fi rst rehearsal. They are very profes sio nal and hardworking musicians.

SA: Do they understand and follow Indian music as well?

G S: As you could hear in che chorus of Ek Do Teen, d1ey know how to cotmt from 1 co 10 in mndi! The first Bollywood film I saw was Sho/9·. When I passed it on to Michael, he watched ic three times in one clay. He's an abso lute Bollywood nucl His mum is even worse, s he's n ow a part of a Bollywood dance troupe, I th.ink! So they're very keen

SA: Have you ever been co India, and where did you go?

GS: I've been there twice; the first time co get married. I mec my wife here at the University of Wollongong and halfway duough my honors we decided char we had better pop over and get married. We went to Nagpur, Delhi, Varanasi and Mcleod Guuj in the H imalayas About a year lacer we vis ited India again witl1 our threemonch-old so n Krishna.

SA: Have you been exposed co other Indian languages?

GS : We've had a go at singing Gujarati, acmally. We we.nc co a d,md!ya night ac Rosehill racecourse once. I had no idea what ic was abouc, but it was lovely, just amazing! Everyone was doing this swirling kind of dance and the music was like an extended instrumental psychedelic Pink Floyd jam I couldn't believe chat it was actuaUy happening! It really did sound like very early Pink Floyd. 1 th o llght to m yself, wow! How can we be a part of it? And then, playing at the Indus Australia fair, Chintan Trivedi tbe organiser, asked Electric Korma to perform with Devang Patel at a Dandiya night. So we had our chancel

SA: What's the Indian scene like for a musician here in Austral i a.

How would you measure success?

GS : I don't know, I'm u·ying co find that o ut myself! So far d1e Indian comrmio..icy is extremely warm and welcoming, d1ey're eager to have us eacb time we play We're measuring our success by just how many people we can get L!p and dancing!

E lecu·ic Korma performed with Devang Pace! ac the Dandiya event a week Lacer, dressed in traditional Gujarati costumes. The band performed with panache and an unsuspecting crowd danced along Electric Karma have just begun their journey, and will continue to rock on! So lee's look forward to more Hindi-rock through their high energy and heartwarming music.