Success is delayed failure: Sandeep Chowta

It’s another feather in the cap for composer and jazz fusion wiz, Sandeep Chowta, the musician with the Bangalore connect. His latest track, done in collaboration with international band Spyro Gyra, debuted at No. 2 on Billboard jazz world. It is perhaps the first time that a Western group has released a song with lyrics entirely in Hindi, but what excites Sandeep is that he was able to work with a band that he has loved since he was in school.
Ask him about how the unique collaboration came about and Sandeep says, “I had collaborated about two years ago with three of the band members — Tom Schuman, Jay Beckenstein and Scott Ambush — on a new album. When I was in Toronto earlier this year, Jay, the leader of Spyro, requested me to write for their new record. I remember sending compositions that the whole band loved and the rest was like a dream come true for me.”
Sandeep can trace his love for jazz back to his boyhood days when his father and uncle introduced him to the genre. “Soon, there was no stopping me as jazz became an obsession. What I love about jazz is the fact that you can listen to this music again and again and each time you will discover something new,” he says. But what annoys Sandeep is the fact that “people ridicule music and musicians they don’t like”. According to him, “it is jazz that teaches you freedom of expression in music and the art of improvisation.”
As a music composer, Sandeep has worked in Bollywood and Tollywood, and this is because he doesn’t restrict his work to jazz. “I’ve learnt not to be biased to any genre. I realized that when I’m exposed to a new genre, it helps me grow as a musician,” he says.
Born in Ghana, and raised partially in Bangalore, Sandeep finds that he misses the city and says that it is a music hub in more ways than one. “There is a constant explosion happening in Bangalore with an abundance of talent, but I guess they are facing a lot of problems. So where is the question of bands exploring new ground and people trying to make a career out of music? The best musicians have to either look for an alternate career or lean towards being musicians for the local film scene,” he says.
As to how he handles all the success that has come his way, Sandeep says, “Success is delayed failure. So I take it in my stride and I know there’s a down coming for every up. My advice to youngsters would be to listen to great musicians and their body of work. Today, thanks to technology, we have access to a treasure trove of their music and work.”