Jatinder Singh Durhailay

Please stand my me, Architect of Destiny; please take me to my destination, Great Giver. ||1||Pause||

interview by voodoorui

voodoorui: Your music is very interesting who inspires you?

Everyone and everything, i mainly am influenced by indian classical music, mainly Dhrupad singers. 

voodoorui: What do you use to record and where?

I usually use my zoomh2 and old tape decs and spools, those are my favourite to use, plus im very poor so i can’t afford an elaborate studio, for me whats makes music is not what you have materialistically but what you do with it, that is music.

voodoorui:  Babihas song, is quite spooky just like most of your work, particularly what was interesting about this song is the way it seems free, how do you create songs?

The truth is I dont create, it all creates by itself, all of my work is about feeling and emotions  some that are unheard of also. What i mean about that is i also take things into considerations such as those things we as humans will probably wont experience in life, more on a spiritual plane. We judge life through emotions and experiences, but what about the things we don’t experience, do they exist or do they not, that’s what interests me. For example that thing Bart Simpson said once “if a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, will it still make a sound”, something like that, but you  know what i mean. So particularly for Babihas song i tried to keep it true with the environment, hence i used the bird songs, which i recorded most of the song live. Babiha means bird too. Free like a bird.

voodoorui: interesting, i know you play quite a few Indian instruments but the track nachavat kaal sounds more chinese, how did that come about?

Ahh well that’s interesting you say that, i actually composed that song on my Dilruba, which is a traditional indian instrument, however i wanted to use this instrument to create a song from another continent. I used to listen to alot of Tan Duns composition when i was younger whilst drawing, so a lot of his music resides in me. I think i just watched Jet Li’s hero that day too, so i thought man, i miss this music i want to create something familiar. 

voodoorui: Your song farewell, is quite hair raising, it really packs emotion, what influenced you with this?

Well i lost a friend to cancer when i writ that, who left behind a child, in the deepness of the emotion i wanted to capture the element of letting go, because death is the ultimate way of letting go, you got no choice, what you cherish the most is the hardest to leave behind when you go. One day we all have to go through death, we are each on our own journey, some go early some go late, but the bottom line is we all go. So i played the piano, based on raag malkauns, the whole song is based on raag malkauns. I decided to sing the first few lines, to really express a farewell really, the next part is a calm mellow wave of instruments and sounds i created, to really bring the soul into a new life. That’s what i was trying to get at through this song hence ascension into the heavens.

voodoorui: Very spiritual, your dress sense is quite unique, what inspires you to dress? i know your an artist also.

The end of the day clothes are just clothes, for me its about letting go, and not belonging to anything. If you truly believe in god then you will see god in all, regardless of the veil that we wear on top. I lost a few fake friends because of this, but its a good way to keep those insecure people away from you. The way i dress is a personal challenge, i am not here on Earth to impress anyone, and i don’t give a shit what people think, because if i base my life on what others think, i am just trying to please them through falseness, but dressing a certain way, i feel an EGO death, as there is no me. Its interesting because it actually works the opposite, people always dress to impress others, but i dress to impress my Lord within. I am inspired by Guru Nanak Dev ji, the first Sikh guru, who used to dress very eccentrically in India where there were 2 prominent religions Hinduism and Islam  it was well known that Guru Nanak Dev ji dressed by mixing all their clothes together, and people were amazed at who this was, but they showered love on all. And i want to be apart of that. Its about letting go. Harajuku.

voodoorui: Excellent, lastly but not least, i heard you played at Tate Modern? That is quite a well known stage to be on, how did this happen?

Oh well i accompanied a really good friend of mine, Suren from MY PANDA SHALL FLY.  He calls me up and was like yo i need you for a performance, so i thought why not, and we collaborated on something a day before. I took my Taus and also sang. We have a few things lined up in the future.

voodoorui: Thank you for your time, we look forward to more work from you.

Thank you. one love.

https://soundcloud.com/jatinder-singh-durhailay