Rahul is a guitarist/musician based in Maryland, USA. Born
in India, he has been performing live for over fifteen years. From dive bars
and weddings, to crowds of thousands opening for the B-52s, he has had a varied
performing career that has included gigs in Chicago, Boston, Maryland,
Virginia, Washington D.C., and India.
Rahul has been featured on a wide array of recordings. His
original pieces were featured in the short indie film “Tokyo Confidential”. His
music was also featured on DC local tri-state radio and his compositions have
been featured in various fractal and traditional animations videos and used in
the official score for the Fractal Forums web episodes.
Rahul was featured in the Guitar Player Magazine Editors'
Picks in 2008. He is also a guest Guitar Instructor on the Shred Academy
website. In addition to music, Rahul is also an accomplished visual artist and
regularly exhibits his work in the Washington metropolitan area. From the
traditional to the digital domain, Rahul utilizes a wide array of mediums such
as wood engraving, spray painting, pencil sketching, and computer fractal
renderings.
“Rahul employs a shimmering acoustic and a bell-like clean
tone to craft a light and airy piece that sits ever so nicely in the 'feel
good' pocket. There are no guitar histrionics or crafty arrangements, here -
just breezy melodies kissed by empathetic tones. Its a very pleasurable
seduction.” - Michael Molenda, Editor, Guitar Player Magazine
From the source inspiration, to the concept, writing,
arrangement, and its actual making, this project is truly a reflection of unity
in diversity. This world fusion rock guitar album brings together flavors of
Indian music, Middle Eastern percussion, jazz, ambient, rock, and metal. The
compositions and the arrangements were inspired by interactions with people
from different cultural backgrounds and walks of life, all filtered through the
prism of Rahul's own multicultural upbringing between East and West. The actual
making of the music involved coordination with musicians and mixing/mastering
engineers living in the US, Germany, Spain, and France.
Says Rahul, “The name for the album, as well as the title
song, is derived from a word that a friend's daughter used to exclaim at every
occasion she could find. No one quite knows what it means, but she made it up
herself and she just loved clamoring it with conviction and glee. This project
is similar, as it's a deeply personal statement, and the continuing journey to
bring it to fruition has been a labor of love. The title song is dedicated to
this little girl and the album name is a tribute to the spirit that the word
represents.”
The guitars range from crisp acoustic tones and ethereal
tapping soundscapes, to Indian Carnatic music inflected leads, heavy riffs,
jazz chord progressions and blazing legato runs. Indian tablas and Middle
Eastern percussion augment the rhythm section where Ruben Rubio's superb bass
lines go from anchoring the grooves to adding delightful counterpoints. The
album's wide stylistic palette is a reflection of the Rahul's multicultural
background and influences coming together as something new and distinctly
unique.
Says Rahul, “Over the years, I have accumulated a large
collection of songs and have posted them on different platforms (Myspace,
Reverbnation, Soundcloud, etc.). There were also compositions that my band
Iritis could not use because of the variance in style. I had always wanted to release
a solo album from all this material, and in 2011, I had the opportunity to
start working on this project. My former Iritis bandmate and drummer, Bruce Ng,
who is currently in Germany, was enthusiastic about being a part of this
undertaking. He became an integral and inseparable part of the journey as the
co-producer of the album. In addition to programming drums he also reviewed all
aspects of the project: from individual tracks, to the artwork, and any written
materials. I can't imagine this album without his help and am extremely
grateful for all he has done and continues to do.
“From a writing perspective, the idea initially was to pick
the 'best of the litter' from my old catalog and rework and release them as a
homemade album for free. But as I started working on the pieces, I found myself
composing new stronger material compared to my early work. I've always enjoyed
the sound of tablas in heavy music and I decided to tailor the songs to that
theme. Most of the songs were inspired by people from different backgrounds and
walks of life, and my interaction with them. I tried to channel the essence of
these interactions and the corresponding emotions into my music”
Band members:
Rahul Mukerji: Producer, songwriting, arrangements, guitars,
guitar synth, e-bow, sampling, tabla and drum programming
Bruce Ng: Co-producer, arrangements, additional drum and
percussion programming on all tracks
Ruben Rubio: All basses - www.rubenrubiobass.com
In closing Rahul has this to impart, “The album was born of
multiculturalism and created with help from musicians and engineers in four
different countries, over more than 5 years, through thousands of emails. We
were all already friends or recommended by friends. It proved to me the
importance of forging and nurturing bonds despite any geographic and cultural
distances. While making this album, we may not have always been able to
completely break through the language barrier, yet ultimately we were able to
work through it all, and in music we found our common language. It was unity
from diversity.”
Video links:
Youtube Channel Shortlink: https://goo.gl/GfCfj0
Album teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtlsgYBEBeI
FB page Shortlink: https://goo.gl/YYbPUe
