MUMBAI: French band Masala Dosa wrapped up the promotional tour of their new album Electro World Curry… across India recently after playing at various venues in Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Bengalaru, Hyderabad, Pushkar, Chandigarh, Madras and Delhi.
The three member band comprises Pierre Jean Duffour, who plays the sitar, his brother Brice Duffour – the bass guitarist and Franck Lemoine, the band’s drummer and their close friend from childhood.
Though none of the members in the band can understand Hindi, they are huge fans of Indian classical and folk music. Pierre says that they record any sound that they find exciting when they are on the move. They intend to use the sounds of public announcements that they recorded at the New Delhi Railway station recently.
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Speaking on the release of their new album, Electro World Curry, Pierre says that that the band worked with Marco Migliare from Peter Gabriel’s World Studios to release it after the encouraging response they received for their first two albums – Baraka and Chill Aum.
Pierre says that have experimented a lot in their new album by mixing new sounds and collaborating with musicians such as Sandhya Sanjana – a vocal artist from Mumbai, Ravi Chandra Kulur – a Bansoori artist from Bangalore, Rod Taylor – a vocal artist from Jamaica, Mad Sheer Khan and Deeyah, an Afghani artist.
Pierre, the founder of the band, describes Masala Dosa’s music as a fusion of Indian sounds, mixed notes, beats and electronic music. When asked about the distinctive name of the band, he says that he thought it was perfect for their unique style of music. Describing the Indian dish Masala Dosa’ as their favourite breakfast with just the right mix of spices, Pierre says that he felt it was an ideal name for the band.
Speaking on how the band came to be, Pierre says that they had started out as members of other local bands but their love for Indian music brought them together. The band is deeply inspired by Pandit Ravi Shankar, the world famous Indian sitar legend.
He describes the Sitar as a holy instrument and having been fascinated with it went in 1997 to study Sitar and Indian music with master Tarak Nath Mishra. Though they had toured in India in 2005, he says that their recent tour which they wrapped up two weeks ago was an amazing and almost surreal experience
Last year, Masala Dosa held a festival of Indian music where the band performed on the first day of the festival followed by performances from Anoushka Shankar, the young sitar maestro and other musicians.
Pierre says that the band loves performing on stage in front of their fans and have performed in over 200 concerts across the world with artists such as Anoushka Shankar, Manu Dibango, Erik Truffaz, Max Romeo, Horace Andy, Toots and the Maytals, Femi Kuti, Zap Mama and Adrian Sherwood.
He says that it took them three years to find their own sound and they aim to create music that transcends boundaries and build bridges between nations.
Pierre hopes says that the band will be able to dig deeper, explore and discover new sounds that have a global appeal. Masala Dosa has composed music for Nina Paley’s movie Sita sings the blues, and Sona Jain’s For Real.
Click here for the video of French Band Masala Dosa’s Electro World Curry Tour 2009
