NEW DELHI: Between the intensity in music peaking and plunging, Amartya Ghosh’s long hair sweeps across his sculpted face matching the tempo of his music. For an ephemeral moment it seems like he has entered another plane of consciousness where it is only him and his sounds. That’s was happens when he plays. The moment is an escape into an alternate reality where things are intuitive, elevating and free. For his upcoming performance at The Piano Man Jazz Club, he hopes to create the same special indispensable quality.
Today Ghosh has developed a keen ear. He enjoys a wider range of music than he did earlier. “Perspective is important. Having said that, I like music that comes with a context that I can understand,” he says. For the singer-song-writer music is a mental journey largely. Practice is a perquisite to fulfilment. He needs to be in a specific headspace to be able to deliver a good show. This is perhaps because music isn’t a passing hobby that is here today and gone tomorrow. Music is the most permanent thing there can be for him. “It’s nice to play your own music by yourself, but it also makes you all the more responsible,” he says.
His is a very utopian idea of expressing irrespective of what medium one is choosing. He takes the example of a composition called Don’t Try to elaborate. “Our country and the world in general, is going through a wave of fascist governments and movements. This song was written in a moment of anger and is directed to all those who try to curb our fundamental rights. It is a reminder to myself and my listeners that fascist forces have always been met with disapproval and dissent and there is nothing anyone can do to stop that dissent. It will and must show itself in one way or the other,” says the artist. Whether or not his ideas will translate into real life, it is enough for Ghosh to keep putting out these notions.
He came to Delhi for college from Jamshedpur. It took him a while to find his feet, as he was someone who caters to a niche musician and isn’t great at advertising himself. “It was a struggle to keep going without worrying about money. But that wasn’t the biggest problem. The biggest struggle was and continues to be, finding ways to reduce the time it takes him to put new music out. “Songs I wrote years ago still haven’t been recorded and I worry that I might not relate to them anymore if I take too long,” says Ghosh.
Ghosh seems to be fairly in tune with his feelings which we judge from his admission of being afraid of losing his mind or his will, whichever comes first. He is short-tempered at times and tends to hold on to grudges for awfully long periods. However, he is savagely honesty about it all. He works on himself everyday and when he fails, he doesn’t hide it. All he does is picking himself up and carrying on.
June 12, at 9 pm, The Piano Man Jazz Club in Safdarjung Enclave.