Indian musician Raghu Dixit didn’t pick up a guitar until his late teens, but he’s barely been able to put it down since.
He’s been a professional musician for the last decade, gaining praise for fusing Indian folk music traditions with more contemporary Western sounds, touching on pop melodies, electronic production and English lyrics.
His band The Raghu Dixit Project are back in Australia this month, playing four shows around the country for Confluence – Festival of India. Running from August to November, Confluence is a multi-city celebration of Indian arts and culture that has the potential to introduce Indian arts and culture to a whole new audience. Dixit says it’s a grand honour to be selected as a representative of contemporary Indian culture.
“I’m really thrilled to be coming back to Australia after a long break and this time for a more extensive tour,” he says. “I think this is a very important festival because it is showcasing a much wider spectrum of Indian arts and music than is traditionally seen outside of India. India has a lot of contemporary art and culture that is not usually seen around the world, and any festival that showcases this is a step in the right direction.”
The Raghu Dixit Project are no strangers to high-profile performances. Along with playing massive shows in India, the group has travelled all around the world, playing at such major festivals as Glastonbury and making multiple appearances on UK television. It’s the sort of career trajectory that many musicians can only dream about, but Dixit hasn’t grown content just yet.
“I still think I have a long, long way to go in my musical career,” he says. “From the first time I went onstage, I always treated each performance as the most important one I’ve ever done. My wish is to ensure that whether I’m performing for 100 people or 10,000, each member of the audience goes away having had a great time.”
Despite such wide exposure, Dixit isn’t worried about getting carried away with fame. As for his distinct stylistic fusion, he says it just came naturally to him. “I never thought of it as merging elements or fusing styles,” he says, simply. “From all the band’s travels and the various types of music I’ve heard over the years, a lot of styles and influences are now just part of how I think when I write a song.”
Dixit had a traditional upbringing in southern India, and he sings in a variety of languages, including his native Kannada, as well as Hindi, Tamil and English. Tying it all together is his aim to make music that’s indicative of modern Indian culture. “I do take ancient folk poetry and set that to music as well, so it is a combination of both these efforts. I want to rekindle the love and interest in our culture by presenting it in a contemporary form as well as write about modern India.”
India has a monumentally varied and diverse cultural history, which continues to develop and expand. The country itself proves to be an unceasing source of inspiration for Dixit’s music. “India’s culture and heritage and the land itself are the biggest influence on my music. The melodies I sing and create are Indian folk songs at the core, and that is what comes naturally to me.”
Confluence – Festival Of India, starring Ragu Dixit, takes place atSydney Opera House on Sunday September 18.
