Foot-tapping beats, soulful rhythm, and Bob Marley crooning are what come to mind when one thinks of reggae. Contrary to popular perception, there’s much more to the genre than just these, as Joquain ‘Quino’ McWhitney, of renowned US based reggae group, Big Mountain, explains.
According to the musician, the genre has a lot of Indian influences too. It is because of this connection that the country was on the top of places to visit for Quino, and now his wish has come true. Big Mountain is collaborating with Bollywood singer Shibani Kashyap for an evening of music and entertainment in the city.
It’s not just the music that attracted the singer to India. Quino’s grandmother, who was a huge influence in his life, was once a disciple of Osho. “I remember she would visit us from India, and come home with huge suitcases full of interesting things. Every time she would open one of those cases, you could smell India,” the singer reminisces.
Family has always been a source of inspiration for Quino, as he grew up listening to his grandfather and uncles playing music. “My grandfather used to play the violin and my uncles were into Mexican music. So my songs have a lot of elements of that music,” he says, adding that both British and Caribbean reggae artistes have been an influence for him.
Quino’s love for reggae is clear when he speaks about the genre. “Reggae is about building bridges, about mending the gaps between communities. As such, a lot of activism is involved. But then, you can have a dozen songs on activism and then just as many love songs. Our sound as a band also borrows from RnB, rock and jazz,” he says.
The relevance of bridging gaps between communities may be a raging topic in the US now, but when Big Mountain first got into the reggae scene in the country, it was still a novel concept. “Record companies are always trying to sell a new thing, so it was easy for us to find someone to take us on. Then, just as one of our songs, Touch My Light from our first album Wake Up became somewhat popular, we were noticed. The producers of Reality Bites wanted us to sing Baby I Love Your Way for the movie, which became a Top 10 hit single in the U.S. in early 1994,” he recalls.
The song shot the band to fame and they never looked back. However, with Quino’s love for all things India, it was only a matter of time before the band made its way to Bollywood and that is exactly what they have done with their collaboration with Shibani. Now touring with the singer and performing at different venues across India, Mumbai being one of the cities in their itinerary, Quino explains that reggae and Indian music have a connection that goes back several years.
“India has had a huge influence on reggae music, especially after British reggae singer songwriter Apache Indian started using the tabla and other Indian percussion instruments,” says Quino, who confesses to having collections of Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. “I’m a huge fan of A.R. Rahman. In fact, in our next album where we are collaborating with Shibani, we have also done a cover of his Maa Tujhe Salaam,” he adds.
On March 30, 7 pm onwards,
At The Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point
