The Darshan Doshi Collective takes stage exactly a week from now. We had a chat with the man behind it all about his origins, inspirations and more
My first introduction to the powerhouse drummer that Darshan Doshi is came during MTV Coke Studio India’s early days. He stood out from the crowd of instrumentalists and I don’t mean in a flashy way or anything. It’s just the vibe he had, the energy he exuded that kind of set him apart. He’s one of the most in-demand drummers in the business today and has worked with the biggest names in the business on the indie scene as well as in Bollywood. He holds the record for being the youngest Indian drummer (at age 11) after all these years. He has a special place in his heart for fusion and that comes across when I talk to him over the phone....
Learning curve
My father, Shailesh Doshi, himself a drummer, has a school in Juhu and it’s called the Manoranjan Musical Academy. I’ve been at it (drumming) since age 2. In 1994, at age 9, I joined Kalyanji-Anandji’s troupe Little Wonders, later moving on to learn my craft with drummer Lester Godinho, at my father’s suggestion and then, later Pankaj Sharma for two-three years and then at age 17, Ranjit Barot. These were the three gurus I learnt from.
Anything like Whiplash?
The film was slightly hardcore, to the next level, but I’ve heard that in the olden days, teaching was a bit strict. Somebody like Ustad Zakir Hussain, his father used to lock him up in a room and made him play for hours and hours and stuff like that. Now, obviously it’s not that. Teachers are not that strict now. I’ve gone through a bit of that. My teacher Pankaj Sharma was quite a strict cat. if I didn’t do something he had given me to do the previous week, I’d get a nice hit on the hand with the sticks. There was no blood being splilled or anything, but the point was made, that you had to give your all. There’s nothing else but drums for me.
His advantage
The scene is much better overall for musicians. the whole scene is wide open. it isn’t the case where the musician used to be behind the singer. Thanks to the exposure I got from playing at Coke Studio and MTV Unplugged and the fact that I play with the topmost music directors in the country right now, there is the visibility, people have started recognising who I am and there is a following. And because of my many endorsements, equipment isn’t that much of a problem. I even have my own signature drumsticks by Vic Firth. Released first week of June.
First band
After Little Wonders, I started playing with this singer called Kunal Ganjawala. I arranged the band for him, we did our arangements to his songs. After that, during one concert I was doing at the Chitrakoot grounds where Shankar Ehsaan Loy were actually judging the event, my band was backing these singers called Voice Of Mumbai. Even before I could get off stage, Shankar came up and said ‘We need to meet tomorrow. Speak to my manager and come to the studio. From there, my Bollywood career started. Rock On!! happened. Everything took off from there...
First film
The first film I worked on as a drummer was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black for a song featuring Kunal Ganjawala’s wife Gayatri. For SEL, it was Johnny Gaddar.
What you’re doing now?
I’m recording material with different singers and musicians for now, but it’s going to come out by December or so. Filmwise, I recorded for Amit Trivedi (Bombay Velvet’s Behroopiya). Also, Ram Sampath’s Coke Studio episode, four songs coming up for next week’s episode.
Set list
For the gig as the Collective at blueFrog on July 8, it says funk, fusion and folk. So we start with the Trio (Jarvis, Rushad and him) playing three or four funk tunes, including an original called Bizarre Bazaar, our take on Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground and Sting’s Message In A Bottle.
Then the fusion bit kicks in where Chirag Katti and I will play orginal compositions by us since our college days.
After that, Parthiv and I will do Gujarati folk, followed by hardcore fusion tracks.
OTHER COLLABS
- The Bombay Project, Sitar Funk, Mumbai Stomp, Aakruti, Defying Gravity, Tapasya, Nakshatra and Fuzonika.
- Currently touring with music director duo Salim-Sulaiman and recently performed at the WOMAD Festival in UK & the MELA Festival in Norway. He has performed at more than 2500 concerts across the globe.
DDC Lineup
Darshan Doshi - Drums
Parthiv Gohil - Singer
Chirag Katti - Sitar
Jarvis Menezes- Keyboards
Rushad Mistry - Bass Guitar
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