I'm not flippant as a judge: Bickram
From turning producer to being an online music guru to doing collaborative works with Sonu Niigaam and Lisbeth Scott of Avatar fame, Bickram Ghosh is keeping a busy schedule. He tells TOI that throwing in a bunch of loops isn’t enough to make a piece of music.
While physical sales of albums are taking a dip, why are you coming up with quite a few albums including a world music project with Sonu Niigaam, Terra Groove with Greg Ellis featuring Lisbeth Scott, Tablasphere and Tagore Lounge?
While the physical sales have gone down, the Internet is so potent especially in the context of products like mine. That’s where the main sales come from as well as events. If I come up with an album, people call me up for shows that have music from that album. Besides, there are still so many companies coming out of albums. If each one of them was facing huge losses, they wouldn’t have been taking them out. Some of my old albums are still in demand at music stores. Moreover, ringtones of alternative music are also in demand. For my world music album with Sonu, he is scoring the melody while I am doing the rhythms. There are songs in every rhythmic cycles between three and nine beats. Lisbeth Scott is one of the most popular vocalists in Hollywood and has been featured in the soundtrack of Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, Breaking Point and Angels & Demons. Terra Groove will feature her and Greg Ellis. Though I am open to experimentation, I must say that throwing in a bunch of loops isn’t enough to make a piece of music. While Tablasphere is an electronica driven tabla album that can be happily played at a night club, Tagore Lounge is experimental in soundscaping without relying on stunts.
You are soon turning producer. Is it frustration with music labels or a desire to have ownership of your works that’s prompting you to take this decision?
I want to retain my rights. Musicians in India don’t realise the meaning of perpetuity. Artistic rights belong to musicians. If a musician gives away those rights, it means he is running the risk of forever losing his artistic rights. If his producer doesn’t want to produce that album, the albums will vanish from the face of the earth. Thankfully, all my old albums are still available. But there is always the risk of the company getting sold out. Despite there being a demand for those albums, they might not be available in the market. That’s the scariest thought.
But is there enough business in this field to take on the onus completely on yourself?
Let us not fool ourselves into believing that there isn’t any business. What’s sad is that this business in our is against the artistes’ interest. When we give away all our publishing rights, we don’t have the right to earn when this product is played, performed or broadcast anywhere. Somebody sure earns money, when these creations are played but since musicians are writing away their publishing rights, that somebody is not the musician himself. Most of big stars worldwide like to be their own producers. That way they retain their rights and get better deal for money.
Abroad, being a music producer is a lucrative career option. Why isn’t that option explored in India?
The definition of a music producer is very different in the global context. Yes, it is a very lucrative career option. People with great vision and those who can come up with an album by relying on that vision, can turn producer even without having money. India does have people, who already act as music producers. But they don’t get the recognition since somewhere the term music producer is still associated only with finances. I’d want to turn a music producer too. There are many genres of music that I don’t specialise in. Through my experience and vision of music, I believe I can produce talents with merit.
Which is a greater risk for you — turning music producer or taking a hiatus from the classical music circuit?
Taking a hiatus from classical music was a greater risk. My career was dependent on my concerts and I had just stopped doing that. Today, I am coming back to the classical music circuit. Even when I take to production, I am not stopping and doing something else.
You are supposed to host a music-based talk show and have also been a favourite on the judges’ seat. Is judging an alternative career for you?
The pay is good for a judge. I don’t mind judging if it’s not a long-term assignment. It took me only four days to shoot the recent show that I am judging with Suchitra Krishnamoorthi for Imagine. I enjoyed doing it. I don’t mind work, which doesn’t hamper my own activities and also pays me well. A judge must have a certain credibility and be faithful to the job. I might be flamboyant but I’m not flippant as a judge.
What do you do when you find your fellow judges translating your comments? Is it flattering or irritating?
It’s worrying.
Do you discuss this issue during the breaks you take while shooting?
As a judge, it is always to each his own. Whatever the judge says has to be accepted. If I find that someone is translating my comments and repeating them in Bengali, I have to take them in my stride. It’s neither in my control nor my responsibility to monitor this. The responsibility rests on the director and not me on to take a call on this. But when I get judging offers, I do check on who my co-judges are and whether they have a basic credibility.
You’ve also judged a dance show though you wouldn’t know as much about dance as you would about music. Is there any show that you’d never judge?
I was clear that I was judging a dance from a rhythmic point of view. I will never judge a fidelity show.
There are reports of you joining a faculty of an online music university with Suresh Wadkar and Sonu Niigaam. Are you as good a guru as your father?
This is the first time that I’ll be teaching music online. A tabla course will be uploaded along with videos. There will be chances of personalised interaction with the gurus. I started my career as a guru. I used to teach at the Rabindra Bharati University and Visva Bharati University. Later, I taught in three different music schools. I stopped teaching because of my performing career. Now that I’m getting back to teaching, I’ll try to be as good as my father.
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