Today we’d like to introduce you to Rajib Karmakar.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My story started with my parents gifting me a Sitar on my first birthday. Music was not an outside activity but a part of life. I woke up to my father practicing Sitar and went to sleep listening to a concert or audio recordings of various stalwarts.
I started my music training with my first Guru, my father Pandit Durgadas Karmakar, at the age of 4 and I had my first performance at the age of 6. My little hands could barely reach the end of the Sitar, so my father would tie it to a chair so that I could play on it. At the age of 8, I had my first grand public concert in front of 10,000 people. I was the opening act for my father’s 70 piece orchestra. That concert started my life as a musician. After that, I performed on All India Radio, the national radio of India, at the age of 10. I went on to win numerous competitions and was featured in many Radio and TV broadcasts across India during my teenage years.
At the age of 11, I started learning Indian classical singing with my Guru Ustad Ghulam Akbar Khan for eight years. During that period, I was trained in the nuances of the tradition that my Guru hailed from. At the age of 15, I decided to pursue Music as a career, and instead of going to college to study engineering, I enrolled in the music program at Banaras Hindu University. There I met my next Sitar Guru, Pandit Ram Dass Chakrabarty and I stayed with him under the Guru – Shishya tradition (an ancient tradition where the disciple goes to live and learn from his teacher). It was when I started learning deeper intricacies of Sitar playing. Life took a turn from there as it was all about sheer practice for 13- 14 hours a day for six years before going for my first International tour in Germany and France at the age of 21 years. Since then I have been inspired by many stalwarts and legends from whom I have learned and got inspirations about life and music.
I came to know about other European cultures as I started touring more and started playing not only Indian Classical Music but other genres of music like Flamenco, Jazz, Rock, etc. It was such an incredible experience to travel to various places, and even though we had differences in language and culture, we bonded through Music. Those were the years that my eyes opened and I started seeing the possibilities of continuous learning from other cultures. I realized that my strong Indian classical music foundation is helping me to dive in deeper and experiment with other forms of music and create newer possibilities for collaborations. I kept on collaborating, and this experimentation led me to start working with various sound effects and ensemble formats and thus leading to the creation of my double-necked Electric Sitar “ Mayur-tantri.”
I never realised that this quest for learning about other cultures will lead me to the United States, and it was through my friend Mr. Curtis Bahn (pioneer in Interactive Performance at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) who realized that I should come to the US to pursue further studies and develop my work on World music and machine learning. I got a scholarship, moved to LA and started my Masters at California Institute of the Arts ( CalArts). While studying at CalArts I started learning other forms of Music like African, Persian, Balinese, etc. and also started coding and making various musical interfaces. I thought this would be great if I can have a place where everyone can grow in their own unique way and can be a community together. I slowly started organizing events and retreats where people got to know one another better as they were spending time together at rehearsals, potlucks, and events. People started making new friends, and it fills me with joy when they go out and spend time doing music practice, having coffee or working together as a community. This process of community building is still going on, and we are glad to be growing into a strong family. The love, support, and respect from people are the biggest reward anyone can get. As goes the saying by Confucius ” Roads were made for journeys, not destinations,” for me it was the journey where along the way I made friends, followers, and well-wishers.
Please tell us about your art.
I play an Indian Classical Music Instrument called Sitar. I perform with various genres of Music like Jazz, Pop, Symphony, Opera, Beatboxing, EDM, Middle-Eastern Music, Flamenco, and many others.
My music making way has a lot of listening. I try to listen to the subject matter of the music and try to visualize the subject’s story in my head and try to listen to where it’s telling me to go.
Creation, Preservation, and Destruction is a part of nature. After you create something, you try to sustain or preserve then you destroy/finish (in a good way) that in order to create another thing. So this is the inspiration for my music.
I try to project Navarasa or human emotions. The nice emotions are: Shringara (love/beauty), Hasya(laughter), Karuna (sorrow), Raudra (anger), Veera ( heroism/courage), Bhayanaka (terror/fear), Bibhatsya (disgust), Adbutha (surprise/wonder), and Shantha (peace or tranquility)
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I think this is the most powerful age for Artists. In this day and age of high-speed communication this is the best way to make some good changes in the world.
What we can do is have more funding for Art and more exposure of every Art form through creative initiatives in schools, institutes, colleges and universities, public places. Los Angeles is the place where we can start revolutionizing into the most happening cultural Hub of the world. Thanks to Voyage LA for promoting the local artists in order to create an awareness in the society.
All we need to do is empower more people with Arts and Culture from all around the world, and that will create a better scenario all around the globe. It’s in our ancient culture, wisdom, and heritage that the key of a brighter and beautiful future is hidden.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Official links of Rajib Karmakar ( SITARRAJIB)
Visit: http://sitarrajib.com/
Like, Follow or Subscribe: @sitarrajib
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Official links of Los Angeles International Music and Arts Academy (LAIMACADEMY)
Visit: http://laimacademy.org/
Like, Follow or Subscribe: @laimacademy
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sitarrajib.com
- Phone: 6618885196
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sitarrajib/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sitarrajib/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sitarrajib/
Image Credit:
Alexander Hager, Festival of Tabla, Ashwin Vaswani, San Francisco Classical Voice
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
