Karmin!
give me one reason
Here is a Tracy Chapman sketch.
Clouds
One of the first music I was exposed to was through the melodies of Joni Mitchell. My mom used to sing her songs when I was small. And they still influence me to this day.
Her writing is very colourful and her melodies pure.
Joni Mitchell on the music industry today and what we hear on the radio:
“We’re no longer looking for talent, we’re looking for a look and a willingness to cooperate. Because talent is a pain in the ass.”
I see her point but someone should show her YouTube!
Pulse
One of my favourite tabla maestros, Zakir Hussain:
ZakirJi on the topic of playing with musicians across the globe:
“The musical instruments across the globe play the same notes and so in the basic core sense, there is no difference. If anything at all, the difference may come through in how we package it. When we’re working with musicians who are not from India, the main thing is to understand their way of life, more importantly their culture, their social scene and how they interact with each other. Similarly they have to understand what it means when I get on stage and bow to my drums and what it means when I touch my Guru’s feet. Once we understand the social backgrounds, it becomes clear the kind of reverence being put forth towards the art form, the respect and honor one bestows to their elders, etc and this is what reflects in our music. For instance, in an orchestra, I need to know that the only person who is called maestro is the conductor and so when I know that I know how to interact with him.
When this understanding is in place, hearts meet, minds meet and there’s no question of egos or anything else and so this gives way to beautiful music. Forgetting any differences, we need to relate at different levels and this makes the music very multidimensional.”
-Zakir Hussain
in touch
Here’s another one of my favourite artists, Justin Nozuka. His band and the music they make is as fundamental as the earth we step on, the water we drink and the air we breathe. I’m always inspired to be a better artist, musician and person when I listen to him.
“In a society that feeds us poison this is our time to love and to become peace. Let’s come together and start doing the right thing.”
-Justin Nozuka
Update, just did variation:
selfed
Give me credits
Very superstitious!
Stevie Wonder, a musical genius:
“You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations.”
– Stevie Wonder
Excuse me while I kiss the sky.
Another big musical inspiration: Jimi Hendrix. The more I learn, the more I appreciate his work, his art.
Here is my sketch of him:
“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”
– Jimi Hendrix
I need peace and space.
One great inspiration in my life is Tommy Emmanuel, Certified Guitar Player. He’s an amazing performer and listening to his music always gets my creative juices flowing.
Here’s is a sketch of him:
“Audiences are very similar all over the world and it comes back to one thing and that is: everybody wants to see and feel something real, and what I do is very real. It’s not shrouded in mystery or aloof. It’s open and completely vulnerable and exposed.”
-Tommy Emmanuel
Does he look like a bitch?
One of my heroes, Samuel L. Jackson:
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of the evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper, and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee!”
– Jules (Jackson’s character in Pulp Fiction)
How can anyone be against love?
Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression.
– Malcom X
Empty your mind, be formless.
Here is a caricature of one of my idols, Bruce Lee.
His philosophy was incredible. Here’s some of what he had to say:
Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.
-Bruce Lee
sophisticated rage
LGBTQ
