His band’s present line-up features a violinist who’s 22, a flautist of the same age and a guitarist who is all but 19! But hey, it’s Raghu Dixit we’re talking about, so it will only be cruel to expect others his age to match his energy. At 41, the effervescent folk singer doesn’t think slowing down is an option; in fact, he says he is only picking up pace as he grows older.
Raghu, who is currently on an extensive tour with his band the Raghu Dixit Project, will be playing in Mumbai after a considerable gap this week. Ask him what’s kept him away from Maximum City for so long and he says with a laugh, “There’s very little that happens in Mumbai! But it’s been a long time, so I’m definitely looking forward to playing here.”
Telling us what we can expect from his upcoming performance here, he says, “It’s a good mix of my old and new songs. But mostly I will be performing songs that everyone already knows. So I am expecting a good show.”
In the time he’s been away from Mumbai’s stages, the artist has kept himself busy regaling audiences spread across the world both on stage and off it. “After Mumbai I will be going to Spain to play at the Mulafest as part of the IIFA awards function there. Then there’s an upcoming tour in Australia as well. Apart from that I will also be composing music and background score for three movies, two in Kannada and one in Tamil.”
While all that seems a lot to juggle, Raghu says his way of dealing with it is very simple. “I’m not the juggling type yaar. I just take things as I go along, one step at a time. Besides I don’t really plan things much. Everything I’ve ever taken up has just walked up to me. I don’t even think my birth was planned!” he says and guffaws again.
He’s playing with a band that’s mostly made up of youngsters. Ask Raghu how his equation with the band is and he says with a smile, “I love playing daddy.” He adds, “It’s a lot of fun really. The band has always been changing ever since it started. So mostly I just keep finding and filling in new guys.” So where does he find new talent for his band “Oh all you have to do is go on YouTube. The social media is full of new talent as well. But as I said, I just take things that walk up to me and it’s been the same with the band ever since it started.”
While he has been composing music for films in the south for some time now, the folk singer also has plans for Bollywood. “The scene in Bollywood has been changing tremendously for the past few years. I think Bollywood has really woken up to the indie scene and it’s no longer the same ‘lover-boy meets lover-girl’ trope. They are now path-breaking enough for people to file court cases on them! So Bollywood is something I’d definitely love to try,” he signs off.
The Raghu Dixit Project will be performing live. On June 18, 7 pm At the Dublin Square, Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla (W).
