 All right. And that was it. Thank you man. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you for driving up and you know, I don't know what possessed you but that's okay. Thank you so much for allowing us to interview you sir. We are big fans. Yes. Admittedly newer fans. Just found out about you. With someone wearing a newer shirt I believe. You win. Exactly. But all of our subscribers are huge. You're a legend. You're an icon to millions of people around the world. That's what we found. That's how we found out about you. We watched your video online. It's called horse running. That was our first exposure. And I felt like I had to talk to you immediately. So thank you so much for allowing us to... Oh hey. It's a pleasure. I mean, glad that we could make it happen. Yes. With all the staunch schedules. Yes. Is it schedule or schedule? I think it depends on how formal you want to sound. I've even forgotten what it is in India now. Yeah. I think it's... We say schedule but I think really... In India we say timetable. That works. So we have a couple questions for you. We did ask a friend of ours, his name is Tashara Law. He runs the Indian Jam project. I don't know if you've ever heard of that. He's an Indian and he takes classical Indian instruments and puts them into western songs like the Dark Knight, the composition and different stuff like that. And so he actually helped us out because you're one of his idols. And so all the smart questions will be from him. Yes. And all the other ones will be from us. So you'll be able to know the difference quite easily. I'll pick the smart one. Well, we're admittedly embarrassed to say that we are only recently exposed to who you are. I'm just still looking for myself. A friend of mine, you've met but haven't worked with his Pedro Aostas, who specifically said greetings to you. But when I was talking with him, he said, yeah, anybody in world music or classical knows the maestro. And one of the things that we're really passionate about is seeing people in America become more aware of artistry from India. And so it's genuinely embarrassing. We know Ravi Shankar, but the fact that we would not know. How important is it for you that Americans would be made more aware of Indian artistry and especially, for example, we're just finding out about it. Well, I'm not going to limit it to just Indian artistry. I mean, there's music from all over the planet. That's special, the culture, the tradition. I mean, way longer and way deeper than the United States. I mean, the United States for 300 years. And you talk about Indonesia has a gamelan tradition of a 2000 year old and India 2000, whatnot in China and Japan and everybody. But the thing is, I think what defines us and makes us adhere to someone else. I mean, and special to other people in the world is our culture, our tradition, and what that means to us and how that projects us to the rest of the world. I mean, you could, I mean, you can wear suits and become great big business people. But then that's what you will be people sitting in a conference room and so on and everything. It's not about your culture and tradition anymore. Right. And so one thing that India became well known for, and I'm talking about before India became an economic power at this point, we were like a fourth world country at that time. And the people still flock to India because of their history, their culture, their tradition, the meditation, the spiritual energy that it projected, the music, everything yoga. That's people went for that. And that's Indian culture. That's what we all grow up with. And that's what, you know, makes us the humans we are. And that's what also makes other people from all over the world respect us. So it's very important that not only India, but in America, people understand the culture and tradition of every other place. Like, for instance, I'm playing with Bill Affleck, the banjo player. How many of how many people know that banjo comes from Africa? I just learned that just now. Hey, cool. You're a great teacher. We always learn something new. Here we go. Absolutely. And there it is. I mean, so there's a lot of our culture in America, which actually is not American, it comes from somewhere else. And it's best to go look out there and connect the dots and plug into the roots where it all comes from. It just makes people in America that much more better, that much more worldly, that much more panoramic in their view. And so it's very important that this happens. And I'm glad that the efforts of Ravi Shankar, a great man, and the guy who drummed with him for all those 30 years was my father. Your father, yes. And so they collectively made it possible for people to look at India in a different way. And now it has, of course, become Bollywood and all the business people and the Ambani's and this and that and everything. And the guy built the most expensive house in the world, a billion dollar house in Mumbai. A billion dollar house. A billion dollar house in Mumbai. A billion dollar house. You bought that house? No, I didn't. I actually... I can't wait to see it. I drove by it and felt rich for a second. I'm just driving by it. It gave me the more of the wealth. Absolutely. I soaked it in and went home and looked at my place and it all kind of disappeared. But that's how it happened. But anyway, so there it is. In your answer to your question, yes. America should look at the world out there, not through how much money they have, what kind of armies they have, how many times they send rockets to the moon or whatever, but what culture they represent, what their tradition is. And so the humanness of that place. That's great. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm not a musician. He is musician. That's your problem. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. But we've seen quite a few of your videos now and what I'm actually astonished by is the fact that... I know you say that in Indian music it's very spontaneous when you're playing. It doesn't look like you're thinking at all when you're playing. Okay. Is that the case? Is it kind of just your hands do whatever they want? Well, I tell you, I'm sweating buckets while I'm playing. It's like, God, I hope I get this right. Really? Oh, yeah. While you're performing. While you're performing. Interesting. What's interesting about improvising is that when you come up with a thought, a new thought, and you put it into action, and it saves a simple idea and you play it, the fun thing is that you can hover around it for a little bit until something new strikes you. And then when it strikes you, insert that in. So that's the fun about improv. But when you're playing a song that is corralled into being a certain way, and there's only very little place for you to be able to be creative, you don't have much time to be able to make things happen. So that's when things go a little oary for you. I mean, when I play with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer and these people that are playing tonight, we have a bit organized arrangement for the songs. And there's very few little pockets in there where you can just go and do your thing. And do your thing and talk to each other. Yeah. And in that you better have your files in the right order, the memory chip properly cleaned and re-booted. If not, then you're in trouble. Yeah. Well, it's very impressive because it looks like it's just done with ease and the second nature. Oh yeah, you're smiling and everything. I got this. Yeah, I know what you're doing. But in the meantime, I wish this comes through properly. Wow. Yeah, because the last one we were watching, the last video we saw of you playing, I had two thoughts. And the first one was, you're an artist who seems like from intuition to application, it's just sometimes, like he said, there's not even a thought process. It's just intuition to application. Well, I mean, when you've been doing things for this long, I mean, I've been playing professionally for about, what, 53, 54 years. Yeah. And you've gone through every possible combination and permutation, musically speaking, and have played with so many zillions of musicians. So their thought process have lined up inside of you. So it is possible for me to be more, what should I say, impulsive. Yeah. It is absolutely possible. I mean, I can take the leap of just jump right down and hope I land on my feet. Right. If I don't, because I've been doing it for so long, it is possible for me to bank and glide. Make a correction. Yeah, make corrections. And to make corrections, I can just grab on to tried and true. You know, there's like a 500 different things that have been done before. And they're all there, ready. And will kind of relate to stuff that you're doing. You just pick on that and hang on for dear life like life jacket. And it works. Yeah. Well, you are, for me, I've never witnessed a person who has such mastery over an instrument at the level that you do. We've made comparisons to our exposure to instrumental mastery that we've watched people like with the electric guitar or people who master the piano, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, some of the classical cellists and everybody else. I've not witnessed anybody who, from my perception, had greater mastery over an instrument, even dancers in their instruments than what I've watched from you. Well, not to get serious about it, but, I mean, it's a relationship with your instrument. That's what it is. I mean, in India, we definitely believe that each instrument has a relationship with the instrumentor. That's clear when you're playing. That's very clear. But it's not a relationship of me, master, you, horse, and I command you. Right. There is a spirit inside of the instrument. We definitely believe so. And what you end up doing for the first 15, 20 years of your life is trying to establish a relationship with that instrument. Wow, what a great statement. And when you do that, the instrument is ready to, you know, do your bidding. Because your friends, your brothers, your husband and wife, whatever you are, and your relationship with it, that's why you see so many musicians traveling and they're so careful with their instrument. They want to make sure that it's okay, it's packed right, and it's, you know, all that. And it's simply because it's, half of it is me, half of it is the instrument. If it decides to not respond today, I'm dead in water. I have no idea where I'm going. I'm up the creek with pedal. Yeah. So, yeah. And so that is what I believe happens. And when I'm playing on stage, I am totally convinced that I'm not going to be hung out to dry by my instrument, the spirit there. Yeah. That, you know, it'll come to my rescue if it needed. So I'm happy to just jump into any kind of fray, move in any kind of area, jump down the waterfall, whatever, you know, or take a flight. Yeah. And it's fine. Is Tableau something you think anyone could play or should they have a natural affinity or giftedness toward it? Do you personally think? Tableau as a traditional instrument from India, playing all the traditional repertoire and stuff, not so easy, but as a percussion instrument. Yes. Anybody can play it. Yeah. It's like a tableau player, like me, can play vanguards or play congos, you know. Because they all have a relationship and percussion. Right. So in that sense, you can take all that technique and just transpose it onto the tableau because it's a percussion instrument. And so I always tell people don't get, you know, riled up because, I mean, you know, you like 2,000-year-old history. Yeah, it's a good player. I need to sound like everybody's saying it. Just get on the drum and just kind of, you know, find your way. I mean, you don't know how to play piano, but you can get up there and hit the key of C. And, you know, you hit a couple of notes and it kind of sounds right. You know what the notes are. You can hit it. Yeah. So, same thing with tableau. Great comparison. So yes. But to play the repertoire, then you need to get some information inside of you. Yeah. And that needs to happen. Anything about tabla, its history, its repertoire and all that stuff can be learned in a couple of years. But to be able to practice, get it up to specs to the point where you can actually do something with it, that may take some time. I would imagine that's thousands of hours of work. Yeah, I'm still looking on some stuff. Yeah, I bet. I bet. This is from Tashar. He says, now that you're considered a master of the art form, what are you hoping to achieve with your artistry and your influence? But that's the problem. Everybody thinks I'm a master. I don't. And that makes things easier for me. Yeah. Absolutely, I would. You know, it's like, I'm down here. You guys think I'm up there, but no, I still got a ways to go. Yeah. But the thing, my father always told me, don't try to be a master. Just try to be a good student and you'll get by just fine. Great. And when it comes to art and culture and creativity, all you could be is a student. Because there's every day something new to learn. I mean, it's like, you guys found out about tabla and all this Indian stuff just recently. Just recently. Yeah. I mean, so it's new. And you just found out about Banjo coming from Africa. Right? Just a couple of minutes ago, yeah. It's just freshly arrived, right? Yeah. So, I mean, people think I'm a master, but I really don't have a lot to learn. I mean, there's some vice man who said that when he was told a great musician, my story, you were perfect today. And he said, friend, I haven't played good enough to quit yet. And that's a profound statement. That's a very profound statement. If you think you've done the best you can, you might as well hang up your boots. Yeah. And you're done with it. Right. So it's never the best. It's always striving for the best. Yeah. So that's what, you can be best for today, but tomorrow you'll listen to it and say, I could have done that better. Yeah. And so I just feel that I'm learning and that's what drives so many musicians to wanting to learn more. I mean, when George Harrison sells millions and millions of records, he still feels he needs to learn more and expand his horizons. And so he goes to Ravi Shankar to study Siddharth. Right. He doesn't need to. Right. But the thirst to learn more and make himself that much more better and converse a little bit more in different languages on his instrument. Brings him there. John McLaughlin, same thing. Charles Lloyd, same thing. John Coltrane, same thing. All these people, you know, they feel the need to learn more. And so they'll be the first to tell you they're not masters. They're just students. And that's what all of us are in. And as long as we keep that in our head and in our minds, things are not as daunting. If you start to believe that everybody thinks you're a master and you're a master, you're like compelled. You're like force to be able to say something or play something profound every time. Right. Yeah. And you're like, okay, I'm not going to want to fall flat on my face today. Right. But you can. And if you're just learning and going forward. And so that may be a cop out to some people, but that's what it is. It's a fact. I think I know the answer but I don't want to presume of these options, composing, recording, performing. You have one that's a preference bar none that you like the most or they equal. What's your answer? I would, my guess would be performing. Your guess is correct. Performing is the easiest. Yeah. That would be, easiest and I would guess the most rewarding because of the experience being so organic and in the moment with the people they're appreciating. Yeah. Yeah. The applause is nice. We have a little bit of ego. Yeah. Just a little bit of ego. Just a little bit of ego. Not me. Not you. Not him at all. Of course not. Thank you. Appreciate that. Yeah. I mean, we all want to be appreciated. We all want to be loved. We enjoy a little bit of applause and everything is there. So yes, for me, performing Indian music, that's the fun part simply because it's something I grew up with. It's home. It's a comfort zone. So it's great to be able to do that. When I get into, you know, on the stage with, say, Harvey Hancock or with John McLaughlin or Bill Fleck and all these guys or with the symphony orchestra, it's very challenging because now I've got to step out of that garb that I'm wearing as an Indian and do these other things and so wear these other hats and therefore be subjected to the rules that those things bring to you. And so that's more challenging or composing for a film is challenging because, you know, you're now responsible for putting into play and bringing to blossom someone else's idea and thought as a music composer and so those challenges are there and so yes, performing and performing, especially Indian music, great. Yeah. As an American who loves classic rock, this is just a curiosity. Were there any western musicians that inspired you growing up or who are your favorite people to listen to? Well, I used to walk around with my with my boot box. Heck yeah, you did. On the streets of Bombay listening to Come On Baby like my fire. Yeah. Yeah. So I listened to the doors. I was listening to the Grateful Dead. I was listening to Jefferson Starship. Yes. Quicksilver Messenger Service with John Cipollino, the guitarist. I don't even know that one. I don't even know that one. See? Yeah. There's something new. There's something new everyday. I was listening to all those guys. I was listening to Miles. I was listening to, you know, and so. Yeah, so genre, not just where you were all over. No, but there was one period where it was just rock and roll. Rock and roll. Yeah. It was, you know, like your big brother and the holding company. Yes. Yeah. I was listening to Janis Chaplin or, you know, Jimmy, of course. Yeah. Ah, Jimmy. Yeah. I was listening to Jimmy and all these guys. I mean, that was that was an interesting eardrum popping moment in my life. Yeah. I have to say, you know, boombox right there. I was the only one in the neighborhood who had a boombox. Really? First of all. And then here, I'm walking down the street playing the boombox. It's distorting because it's small. Yeah, that one. But you've got it up there. Yeah. Got it up here. Yeah. Boom. And people are looking at me strange like, what's wrong with this kid? Yeah. You didn't care. You were just... Why isn't he listening to Latha Mangeshka? Yeah. What's going on? All those guys, he's listening to, what's this, you know, this noise? Anyway, but that's, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, rock was at one point, you know, a very, a very special moment in my life. And I have to say, I wanted to play drums. I did want to play drums. Like, be in a rock band. Be in a rock band. Yeah. Do you ever play drums? Who's the greatest drummer of all time? Who is the greatest? Yeah. I mean, it depends on, you mean rock and roll. Rock and roll. Like, rock and roll drummer. What I would know. Oh, my God. Do you know Mainsley Dunbar? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Do you know Ginger Baker? Yes. Okay. These guys love. You know, Ginger Baker is like, he just passed away. We mentioned those are names that we've always mentioned at the top of the list. Stuart. Yeah. Yeah. These are guys. There was one movie that came out called Coliteo Scope. It was a movie called Coliteo Scope. You know it. Yeah, I didn't see him. And I think Mainsley Dunbar was the one who did the score for it. I didn't see this. It was a fairly psychedelic score, but the drums were, like, very special in there. Yeah. Did you see the film recently, Whiplash? Yeah. Did you enjoy that one? I thought the movie was good. All the jazz people were thinking that, you know, the jazz world is not properly presented in that sense. But it wasn't about really jazz. It's about these two characters. Exactly. And if you got past the jazz thing, then you really enjoyed the movie. And someone pointed that out to me because I was thinking the same thing. But no, it's about that story. Yeah. It's a great movie. The score is great, but the score with the Birdman. The score with Birdman? That was one of the best films in a long time for us. That's one of the best Trump scores I ever heard. Yes. And you know who did it? It was my pal Antonio Sanchez. I did not know that. Now you know that. Yeah. Antonio Sanchez is really one of the great drummers of our time. He, of course, the director of the movie is a man from Mexico. And so Antonio Sanchez and Antonio Sanchez. Was he actually on the kit in those shots when they went through? Yes, he is. That was actually him. That was him on the kit? Yeah. At the Oscars he played it. Okay. But of course it wasn't, the score wasn't, did not qualify to be chosen. But in all other festivals or something, it won. Yeah. But not at the Oscar. But it was really a great score. One of the best songs of drums that I ever saw. That's one of our favorite films. We love that film. I love that film. And Michael Keaton was good. Whitney? Yeah. That's one of our favorite films. Love. We left the theater when that movie was over. We were like, okay, so that was the best picture of the year? Yeah. And it was. It was. It was. You've collaborated with obviously a ton of people. Is there anybody that you haven't collaborated with? Western or Indian that you'd like to collaborate with? Well, apart from the fact that I'm still trying to get better and better with the collaborations that I am in. Because the more you play with them, the more you get to know them. And things open up and reveal themselves. And the conversation gets deeper and more words appear and all that. So I'm still playing with John McLaughlin, 40 years down the road. I'm still now making a record with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. We've been working so long. And I'm still working with a lot of Indian musicians that I've been working since like 35, 40 years. And the relationship just blossoms further and further and further. But yeah, I mean, there are a lot of people. I just recently started working with symphony orchestras. And I was commissioned to write a tabla concerto. We've heard about that. Yeah, which is like, that's never been done, hasn't it? That's never been done. So I wrote one and then it started performing. And the last time it was done in Florence and Zubin Mehta, the great conductor, conducted it. And it was great to have that honor. It was just fabulous. So that's a new challenge for me that's come forth. And in the last five or six years, I kind of came back to working with Herbie Hancock. We kind of crossed paths in the 70s. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, in those days, there were big festivals that took place in Europe all over. So bands from here, mostly jazz bands, went to Europe and spent like two months there touring and playing all over the place. And what the promoters used to do is like they would line up three bands or four bands, book and airplane, without those, and fly them from place to place to place to place and have them play in festivals. You know, one day of those four bands. Right. And so one of those four bands was us. Our band was called Shakti with John McLaughlin. And then there was Herbie Hancock's band. Okay. Then there was a band called Weather Report. It was a band with Joe Savinall and Wayne Shorter and Jacob Astorius. One of the top bands of that time, Weather Report. And the other one was a band called Billy Cobham George Duke Band. And these were the four bands that traveled at the same time. And we would just be opening for each other. And sometimes there were others that would join us like certain days it would be Carlos Santana's band would come in. Just people like that. That's awesome. So one band was playing and while we were in the back like playing ping pong and food is being cooked and all that kind of stuff would happen. But so at that time I did some work with Herbie and stuff but recently we got together again. And we started like four or five years ago we did a couple of tours. And now Herbie's new record I got a chance to be able to put some stuff on it. So that's happening. Awesome. So I'm really looking forward to seeing where that goes and what that spawns. Yeah. And so yeah I'm really into it. And this we left like Edgar Mayard I think is new. Yeah. We're very looking forward to hearing it. So yeah me too. Yeah. So to finish up around the break and the lip. Yeah we have a we have lightning rapid fire rapid questions. Oh my god. Yeah. So just right off the top there are going to be some silly ones. So sorry. Favorite musician today? Me. Yes. Great. Favorite Indian actor? Me. Oh yes. You know I've acted in movies. What? Where? What's the matter for you? What's the matter for you? Come on. Yeah. Favorite Indian film besides the one you're in? Yeah. Favorite Indian film. A comedy called Pardosan. Okay we gotta watch that one. That's never been read. No it's never been read. Suggested. All the actors in the movie are comedians. Okay. We'll look it up. We gotta look it up. It's a great comedy. One of the best comedies ever. How come stupid babies have not? Yeah. It's their fault. Okay. Favorite American actor? Favorite American actor. Or British. Western actor. Western actor. Western actor. Yeah. I don't know but I mean I think I would probably have to go with what's his name? Oh my god. Corbin Miles. That's him. That's him. That's him. That was a fantastic guy. That was a great guy. That was great. Okay now the thing is actors I mean male and female are both kind of considered actors. Male or female? Male or female. Okay the Meryl Streep. There you go. That's fantastic. Rock and roll. Favorite American film. Favorite American film would have to be Wuthering Heights. Oh. Great call. My wife's in love with you. Okay. Biggest pet peeve. Huh? Biggest pet peeve. Something that annoys you. It's like a big... Something that annoys you. Yeah. Because how many clip in their nails or... Actually what annoys me is we... Bot holes on the road. Welcome to LA. LA. Totally agree with you. Coffee or chai? Coffee. Hey. Although I sold chai. You sold chai? Did you? Yeah for 20 years I sold Taj Mahal tea on television. We didn't do enough research. Did ads? Yeah no. We were looking at the guy who said all sorts of things. Okay. I did ads for TV ads. Did you do any ads for Hajmola? Because that's been really big for us. Yeah. Who? Hajmola. I actually did one. Did you really? Yeah there was an ad that I was sitting in an airplane and this lady was sitting next to me and saying, are you sake who says younger brother? Because I mean I'm supposed to have Hajmola and I'm supposed to be you know. So... Wow. I gotta find that. So I said no. I'm sorry I'm sake. You said wow you look so young. Yeah. That's great. That's awesome. You go ahead. The favorite thing about touring? Food. Awesome. Good. What's your favorite thing about touring? Cold food. Yeah. Food that's like not prepared right. What's an instrument you wish you could play? God. Actually I really love to play the tabla. I think this is the best instrument that I can. You know there used to be somebody who would ask a piano, a great piano player, you know that okay if you were to not play piano which instrument would you play? And he said tabla. And he was asked why? He said well because he thinks that it's one of the most complete instrument out there in the world. It is an amazing instrument. But I would like to be able to reverse that thought and be able to play the piano. I can play a little bit but... I was going to say the composition. You can teach each other. Yeah. You can play the piano. Oh my god. I'm not right. I'm right. You're right stuff with piano. So yeah but it's like... Yeah. Okay. All right. Okay. I get this. Yeah. And last question this round. What's the hardest thing about playing tabla? There's no hard thing about playing tabla. It's all joy and happiness. That's beautiful. That's great. Thank you so much. We really appreciate you allowing us to sit down and talk with you. We really... And thank you for buying a new shirt. You're very welcome. It's actually a run joke. It is a run joke. It was picked out and made quite funny but thank you so much. Very much at work to listening to your concert. Thank you so much. Thanks for coming by.