Artist Profile

Balvinder Singh

Indian classical musician
29/4/10

Balvinder Singh is an Indian classical musician. He is one of eight successful WA JUMP applicants and his project explores the merging of western and indian music.

How did you get into music?
I come from a family of musicians, My dad was a lawyer by day and a tabla player by night, and if he couldn’t find a tabla he was tapping rhythms on pots, pans and of course his children. After a few year of ‘absorbing’ tabla viscerally I thought I better start playing it. From there I moved to Indian melodic instruments initially sitar and then I packed my bags went to India and moved through a few cities until I found a Sarangi teacher (an instrument I have always wanted to learn).

How would you describe your music?
At the moment I am really focusing on the raw sound of Indian classical music, but the music I have done before reflects a more contemporary interpretation. I always think of the music I make as a reflection of myself; of Indian heritage, cultivated in Australia and born somewhere in between (actually it was Malaysia)

What opportunities has your music given you?
I did an Arts WA fellowship in India which was a real eye-opener and a humbling experience. I have also been fortunate enough to travel to countries like Malaysia and Singapore and play for audiences and work with local musicians. Locally I play with a few bands; The Cloud Kollektiv, Bandish and Masonik, which are all interesting cross cultural musical projects.

You are currently participating in the JUMP mentoring program, who is you JUMP mentor?
I will be working with Glenn Rogers who is a jazz guitarist with a serious interest in Indian music.

What do you hope to achieve with your JUMP mentoring project?
I hope to bring together western concepts with Indian music to interpret the music in a contemporary setting. I would like this to happen in a way that allows both genres to be expressed without the essence of Indian music being lost.

What to you hope to achieve with a career in music?
To make a living of my art, working with other artists and creating music that affects audiences in a positive way.

Do you have any future projects instore?
Besides JUMP, I am bringing over a few musicians to work with from India in August and also working on a contemporary electronic production that I am trying to string together.

Lastly, do you have advice for budding musicians?
Be prepared to be poor and work hard for what you want to achieve :)

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