Bombay Dub Orchestra Speaks – World Music Week Special
Nada Brahma and IndiEarth are gearing up to celebrate World Music Day by presenting an exclusive mix by Andrew T. Mackay of Bombay Dub Orchestra on Friday the 21st of June 2013. Sounds of the Indian Ocean will feature folk, root and world music handpicked by EarthSync to be played across multiple radio platforms as part of the World Music Day collaboration.
In the lead up to Friday, Sanjay Kundalia a.k.a Nada Brahma, seized the opportunity for a one-on-one interview with Andrew. Here’s what the Electronica artist has to say about the formation of Bombay Dub Orchestra, his inspirations and the importance of World Music Day:
Photo by Bombay Dub Orchestra
Nada Brahma: What was the motivation behind forming Bombay Dub Orchestra?
Andrew: Garry Hughes and myself had recorded a string orchestra in Bombay at Western Outdoor Studios in 1998 with the revered engineer Daman Sood – when we recorded a cover version of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin for UK based Indian sister duo Spellbound who were signed to East West Records. We were not only blown away by the playing and the vibe but we also got on really well with the musicians – over the next few years we did more recording with them and kept discussing our own potential project. We spoke about BDO for 3 years before actually doing something about it. But it was the musicians in Bombay, our love of music from around the globe and in particular India that inspired us to form Bombay Dub Orchestra.
Nada Brahma: How would you describe your music?
Andrew: Electronica with a strong sense of Indian semi-classical, Middle Eastern influences mixed with Western classical. Not forgetting a light dusting of Dub!
Photo by Bombay Dub Orchestra
Nada Brahma: How important is music to you?
Andrew: Music is our lives. We live and breathe it everyday. It’s a blessing to be able to do what you want to do in life and we are both blessed to be able to be constantly in a music zone! It is a struggle sometimes no denying it, especially when you are composing something under time pressure or you are searching for the next job – but to know that your music is out there and people actually listen and enjoy it is amazing. As you know we also score films, work in TV and most other areas of music. Doing something else is not an option!
Nada Brahma: Who is your biggest inspiration and who would be your dream collaboration?
Andrew: That’s a difficult one as I personally have many influences or deep ‘likes’ which perhaps don’t come out in BDO but might in a film score. Prince, Brian Wilson, Gustav Holst, Debussy, Alexander Desplat, Delius, Bjork, Kate Bush and many, many more.
Collaboration? Bjork, Kate Bush.
Nada Brahma: How important do you think World Music Day is?
Andrew: For me every day is World Music Day but I think with all ‘days’ that are specifically dedicated to a certain theme be it Mother’s Day or World Human Rights Day etc etc it gives a focus and a special time to consider and think of how the subject is to you. World music is literally music from around the world that in some way shows something of the artiste’s country or culture. We need to learn more about our brothers and sisters around the world and if we can do that through music that that is truly wonderful!
Sounds of the Indian Ocean by Andrew T. Mackay will air on the 21st of June 2013, so keep your eyes peeled to www.IndiEarth.com!
For more information on Bombay Dub Orchestra visit their Facebook page or website.
Bombay Dub Orchestra’s 3rd album ‘Tales From The Grand Bazaar’ is due for release later this year on Six Degrees Records out of San Francisco. The album was recorded in India, UK, US, Jamaica & Turkey and features the likes of Sly & Robbie, Soumik Datta, Hamiska Iyer, Kartik Raghunathan & Istanbul Strings.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Leave a Reply