Exclusive: In conversation with the No-Nonsense Musician – Raghu Dixit

A lanky young musician made an unusual request to Raghu Dixit. He wanted the frontman of The Raghu Dixit Project to listen to his demo.

The maestro obliged, but with a catch.

He wouldn't accept it for free and instead pay for the CD. The fan initially refused, but finally accepted a Rs. 500 note grudgingly.

Dixit tells him, “If you yourself don’t think your music is worth charging, no one will pay for it either”.

That’s him in a nutshell. Cutting the crap, and straight from the heart.

We took our chances, and asked for a chat over coffe. He agreed, and even bought us coffee.

What has been keeping Raghu Dixit busy these days?

Lots of stuff man! Travelling, performing and three movies.

You’ve been working hard to revive folk music. How’s that going?

There is no question of reviving it. Folk or ethnic music wasn't dead in the first place. And, more importantly, who am I to revive it! We’re just presenting it in a different way. It’s like watching a baby being dressed differently every day.

How has the response been so far?

Well, I’m earning my bread and butter. So I guess it’s going well. We can’t complain.

Is it increasingly difficult for musicians to monetize their music now?

Not at all. It’s very easy to make money provided you’re making good music. If you’re a musician who’s not making money, it could mostly mean that you’re not making good music.

If you do anything right, you’re bound to make money.

How do you ensure you do everything right?

People will tell you if it’s good music or bad.

If they’re standing and seeing you perform at a music festival instead of drinking alcohol that’s in their hand, it means they’re interested, and your music is good. The next time they’ll bring 10 more people with them to watch you perform.

How are music festivals helping young musicians?

Without a doubt music festivals are a great help for young musicians, but they also play a role in letting the audience find new music. For example, people who would have come to a festival thinking, “I’m going to listen to Nucleya”, would have also discovered an artist called Raghu Dixit playing, and vice-versa. That’s why festivals are so great. They introduce the people to new talent and encourage the musician to grow, and learn something new.

A few upcoming musicians and bands you think have immense potential.

To name a few, I’m very excited about Shadow and Light. They have brilliant music. Then there’s Dhruv Vishvanath who’s equally good and Parvaaz.

What are the most played tracks on your playlist right now?

I’m listening to Graceland by Paul Simon. I’m also listening to a lady called Loreena McKennitt, who’s an Irish folk musician, but with lot of Middle-European and eastern touches. Her album’s called ‘The Mask and the Mirror’.

How do you think social media helps new musicians?

Social media only helps in spreading the word. It’s your music that eventually matters.

What’s holding the Indian music industry back from organizing more music festivals?

Right now, there’s a huge gap between supply and demand of artists. The festivals are forced to repeat acts across festivals, mainly because they sell tickets. At the end of the day every festival wants to make money. They can’t always be a charity that’s promoting new talent. It could only be a part like ‘the Other Stage’ at NH 7.

At the end NH 7 has to sell. That’s why you see A.R Rahman and Amit Trivedi performing there – which we could never have imagined few years back.

This dearth of more musicians who can sell tickets needs to be cut short. There’s always red tape. You have to take 26 different permissions for a music festival, and the corruption with each of these signatures is enough to starve out an event company to put up a show like that. The fact that the Delhi and Maharashtra government didn’t do that in last year’s NH 7 is a great sign.

Three tips for young musicians

#1 Work your ass off to make your music beautiful. That should be your ultimate priority.

#2 Don’t self judge, or pat yourself on the back. Wait for other people to tell you your music is beautiful and it changed their perspective. That’s when you know you’re going the right way.

#3 Ensure that you keep some money for marketing and PR. Branding yourself or your band is as important as churning out good music.