Ranjit Barot. Pic courtesy: @ranjitbarot1
The information explosion and
social media
is a two-edged sword, believes ace percussionist, drummer and music composer Ranjit Barot. “It’s empowering, but it’s also alienating. Musicians from the world of social media are not competent enough to perform in the real world. And then you have a whole lot of great artistes who suffer from anonymity because they’re not able to fully engage with social media,” points the veteran musician.
“I’ve lived two-thirds of my life and have seen trends come and go. I embrace all trends and think they’re here for a reason. But today it’s a culture of blowing one’s horn. Like ‘look, ma I’m here. Hey, can you see me?’ With any trend, I think you should have the sensibility to sift through its positive impacts and what it detracts from,” he notes. Excerpts from a chat:
‘Collaboration is the only way you push your game’
Surrounding yourself with talented people pushes you to improve. I want to be in the company of people who are better than me. That’s the only way you push your game. It’s never good to be top dog in the room, because when you get tired of being top dog and your game will flip. It’s about pushing each other to be better. Today, I sit at the table of some very, very big musicians like Ustad Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, AR Rahman. For them to consider me as one of their own is extremely rewarding.
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