KOCHI: When people find their true calling, it is nothing short of serendipity. For Bonny Abraham, a Thiruvananthapuram-based multi-string instrumentalist, his inspiration came in the form of a package all the way from Saudi Arabia a few years ago. Having played guitar since school, Bonny was quite intrigued when he got his hands on Oud, an enchanting string instrument from the Arabic world.
“My father used to work in Saudi Arabia. One day, he told me that a guest left an instrument at his place. It was lying around there for quite a while, before he decided to pack it to India. When I got the Oud, it was quite damaged and rusted. Nevertheless, I fixed it and started teaching myself to play it,” he says.
Djinn, the first track from Bonny’s debut album Dune is an eclectic attempt — not just in terms of the middle-eastern flavour he has charmingly woven into it, but for its sheer therapeutic experimentation presenting sounds in their most calming and wild extremes. An alumnus of western classical composition and audio engineering courses at KM College of Music and Technology, Chennai, he plays a line of unheard, mysterious string instruments — Oud, the king of Arabic string instruments; Saz, a Turkish string instrument with just three strings, and Pipa, a traditional Korean pear-shaped lute.
While in college, Bonny was chosen to perform with AR Rahman for MTV, an opportunity that proved pivotal in crafting his acquaintance with Oud. “It was a four-day programme and we had little time to practice. So, most of it was about learning to handle the instrument and improvise,” he says.
Djinn is a multi-faceted song. It is ritualistic, with its spirits in the wild winds and desserts, but also overwhelms you with its jazzy, groovy elements. Bonny’s musical taste influenced by artists ranging from Jafar Yusuf, the Arabic-jazz fusion musician, to electronic artist John Hopkins gives the track its fluidity, where it becomes more than music and manifests as a journey within it. Yadu Krishnan has traveled the same length with his vocal delivery shifting between calm and turbulence as the track progresses.
“I am on a mission to acquaint people more with Arabic instruments and music, especially Oud. I am experimenting with it, while also learning everyday,” Bonny says. He has already sown the seeds for this, having played for movies, including Biju Menon-starrer Rosapoo, Mayanadi, Fahad Fassil-starrer Varathan, and Prathi Poovan Kozhi. You may also have heard it on the haunting hook of ‘Kozhi Punk’, the recent single by actor Sreenath Bhasi and producer Shekhar Menon. Samantak Bhadra managed the production and Nithin K P worked on the album art. Varkey mixed and mastered the track.
Listen on Spotify @Bonny Abraham