This story is from November 22, 2007

Welcome to America!

Reagan Gavin Rasquinha / TNN / Nov 22, 2007, 00:00 IST

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Legendary folk rock band America to perform in Mumbai on December 11.

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Gerry BeckleyChances are that you’ve heard the gentle strains of this English-American folk rock band’s biggest hit A Horse With No Name in any number of pubs, parties and more.
Famed for their mellow style and seemingly simple interplay of vocal and instrumental harmonies, America’s other best-known songs are Sister Golden Hair, Ventura Highway and Tin Man.
Part of a canon of what comprises ‘essential’ rock music, the band has been going strong with a steady concert schedule that still sees them do a good 100 shows per year. Here, vocalist and keyboardist Gerry Beckley talks tunes...
What have you heard about India and Mumbai?

As I’ve been brought up in the UK, I have heard a lot about Mumbai and India. As for us as a band, this is our first time here. We’re only going to get a few days, once we get over our jet lag!
And do you like Indian food?
Definitely! I was raised in London, so from the curry houses to more sophisticated Indian food, it’s hard to miss!
Have you heard about Bollywood, our film industry which is really big?
Well in the UK, it’s really hard to not come across Bollywood songs in some way or the other. I’d hear it if I was walking in the supermarket or blaring out of someone’s car stereo. There’s something very unique about the style of Bollywood songs that makes them very culturally unique.

A lot of people compared your music to that of acoustic groups like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. What do you have to say about that?
We are big fans of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and we have been influenced by them. However, our bigger influences are both the Beatles and the Beach Boys. There’s a lot about the vocal harmonies about the Beach Boys that we love and the no matter how much the Beatles got into technicalities, they too had great vocal harmonies. Yeah, so those were our big influences.
You guys made music at a very interesting time. Did you meet the Beatles?
Yeah I did meet George Harrison through their managers Derek Taylor and Neil Aspinall. And we also regularly shared the stage with Pink Floyd, Elton John, The Who...
What do you think of acts like the Rolling Stones, who are still rolling out these huge, big ticket world tours?
The Stones usually set out once in a few years on these gigantic tours and play to huge audiences, as it’s reflective of the demand. We, on the other hand, are on tour all the time. We keep doing shows. In fact, our stop-off in India is part of the Eastern leg of the tour.
What’s your stage set-up like?
The five of us sing totally live with no computers to correct the glitches and no backing tapes. It’s all natural and we have a fairly stripped-down set up on stage. We’re really looking forward to our shows in Mumbai and Bangalore.

About the Author

Reagan Gavin Rasquinha

A technology, gaming, features and music journalist at the Times Group. I look after the international pages and review new music for Bombay Times and review Hollywood and International film releases for the Times of India.

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