Guitarist Ed DeGenaro's Indian rendezvous

Guitarist genius Ed DeGenaro gets talking about his music and tryst with all things Indian...
Chennai connect:
As soon as I set foot in Chennai, I fell in love with it. The one thing I find striking is that whether you’re with a really wealthy person or a really simple man, you are treated the same. It’s the hospitality of the people that I enjoy the most.And in terms of music, the classical music scene here is unparalleled. I find L Shankar’s album Who’s To Know brilliant - it is one of my favourite albums. Though the other genres of music still haven’t made it big here, there is still hope.
My genre of music:
That’s a tough one. I would call it jazz rock music. My music involves percussions, guitars, electronica and other elements. Summing it up, I’d call it improvised jazz.
Inspirations:
My biggest influence is Jimi Hendrix. When I was fiveyears-old , my dad’s friend gave me a Hendrix album. I instantly knew that I didn’t just want to be like Jimi Hendrix, I wanted to be Jimi Hendrix. The other artists I take inspiration from are Prince and Jeff Beck. Amongst my contemporaries , I love watching Mike Miller, Persona and Los Angeles. Another band that I enjoy is Business Class Refugees from Chennai.
Future projects:
I’m coming out with a new fusion album, which is a mix of south Indian percussion and north Indian singing. I’m moving to Chennai and will be teaching music too.
Memorable incidents:
This one time during a brainstorming session, we decided to deconstruct a particular song completely and add our own touches to it. After we changed the song, I found out that we had arrived upon the Indian national anthem! I was really scared that I would get arrested. Another funny incident was when we had gone to the Ganges river and I was asked by a friend to take a dip in it so as to relinquish all my sins. I took a look at the river and said that there was no way I was going to do it, as it was dirty. But after a little cajoling, I decided to do it. All this was at 2.00 am in the morning. But in the end, I felt it was totally worth it.
All about the heart:
If you really want to be a musician, then follow your heart and be one.
(Contributed by Siddharth S Naidu)