Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha

Singer, songwriter, rocker or band... every musician worth his melody wants a piece of him but not without reason. Try but you may not spot another who can wrench magic from the fretboard the way Amyt Datta does. The city’s undisputed guitar god with a baldpate, goatie and earrings is not the prototype of the F-word-spewing shredder. Calm but not broody, bold but not angsty, t2 unlocks the grey-eyed man who wears his heart on his six strings…

You’ve been shaping guitarists over 30 years. Who trained you?

When I was around 12, two of my brother Kochuda’s (Monojit Datta of Orient Express) friends would come over and show me sa re ga ma and popular Hindi songs on the Hawaiian steel guitar! I was also sent to Khokon Mukherjee, well known in the Bengali film industry, for four or five years to learn the Hawaiian guitar. I was given songs like Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday and Bengali and Hindi film numbers from Amar Prem to pick up. Then I started going to Mr Carlton Kitto. The serious stuff on guitar I started learning on my own. I grew up with Anglo-Indian friends and we had our rock ’’ roll bands. I started listening to The Allman Brothers Band and Deep Purple and playing with the bands turned out to be my real practice sessions. I bought myself Guitar Player magazines, studied the lessons and if I was awake, I was only practising.

Your first guitar...

I started playing on one of my uncle’s old Czechoslovakian slapstick Hawaiian guitars. Then my father got me a Gibtone guitar for Rs 185 with a case, don’t miss that!

Amyt with his brother Monojit ‘kochu’ datta during their d for brother days; amyt with lew hilt, nondon bagchi, noel degama, paul degama and jeff menezes at a private gig; amyt in his long hair days

Didn’t you have to fight it out with your folks when you chose to go the unconventional way of taking up music as a career, back in the Seventies?

At home, I would get scolded if I wouldn’t practise. My mom and dad were very cool, very hip. They were never worried that I was wasting my time if I was playing an instrument. Maybe because my mother grew up listening to very big musicians and saw how they dedicated their life and energy to this art form. RC Boral (Rai Chand Boral, known as the father of Indian film music) is my dadu and music has always been there in the family. It’s been a part of everyone’s system.

Have you ever done anything else?

No, I never gave myself that choice. I quit studies after school. When I told my mom, she said, ‘It’s okay to do it as long as you do it well’. I promised I’d try and that’s what I’ve been doing. If not for the guitar, I’d probably be living on dole! (Laughs.)

Shiva, Pop Secret, D for Brother, Sugarfoot, Airwave, Skinny Alley, Hip Pocket, Pink Noise, Fractal… you’ve shifted through numerous bands…

Yes, I was probably soul searching in order to gain experience. Then gradually you start discovering yourself. Maybe now I’ve found myself a little bit better. It gets difficult sometimes because you find musicians but not musicians of your headspace. I want to play with those who dig my sound and my psyche.

Do you write music?

Yes, I write a lot of instrumental music.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Just everyday things in life. Sounds of the outside world in contrast to the inside world.

Is it true that you’re finally on to your first ever solo album?

Yes! I’ve just finished recording and it’s gone for mastering. It’s just me with Jiver (Jivraj Singh) who’s played some great drums, percussion and electronic beats on that. I hope to release it by the end of this year.

And what took you so many decades to get down to it?

I know! I guess I finally found my voice. Just a good album isn’t good enough. I had to wait and tell my story, not just a story.

And what is your story?

Conceptually, I had to arrive somewhere. The album’s called Ambience De Dance. It’s the ambience of a dance concert but I stop at just the atmosphere. The dance never happens. I’ve played a lot of acoustic guitar. It’s a little challenging. The melodies aren’t directly clean. You have to dig into it, sponge out with it and let it grow. It has different flavours including remotely Indian sounds but I’m not playing Indian music.

Ehsaan Noorani (SEL) had told t2 in an interview that ‘Amyt can make it anywhere in the world’. What motivates you to stay on in Calcutta?

I’ve been here for 35 years and Calcutta is perhaps more comfortable for me because I have my home here. If I went to Bombay, I’d have friends there so maybe I wouldn’t have to struggle to come up the hard way. I’ve known Ehsaan, Loy (Mendosa), Ranjit (Barot) and Louiz (Banks) for years and whenever they call me I go, record, spend a few days and come back... but living there has two sides to it. It’s fantastic to play with all these great musicians and you make connections but that doesn’t happen every day. So you get caught up in other kinds of commercial music work like jingles and tend to forget your art a little bit. That risk I didn’t want to take. I wouldn’t have found myself as a musician. I could have been busier but I say ‘no’ more often than I say ‘yes’. It irritates me when just to reach some people in the name of music they abuse it. It’s artistically criminal. Music to me is divine. I see some of my students doing that and I think, what I taught them was music, what they’re doing now is another subject.

But don’t you think staying out of the spotlight has its flipside if you want to be in mainstream showbiz?

No, not at all. I’ve never really calculated my moves that I should be seen somewhere, with someone or be photographed. In the (world of) serious kind of music that I do, it doesn’t work that way. It works for the popular category of musicians.

You know what, in Calcutta, musicians have two worlds. One is the world we so-called western-type musicians live in and many aren’t aware of and the other is the Tollywood world where musicians play the same kind of instruments but are recognised at various awards and parties. Popular music doesn’t necessarily mean that it is bad but many try to do things because they feel ‘public eta khaabe’. My blood runs exactly the other way. I don’t exist there and neither do I care. There’s a very fine line between a guitar player and a ‘guitar’ player.

Do you still enjoy teaching?

Yes. I teach on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ten years back I did think of stopping but Jayashree (Singh, of Skinny Alley) said I shouldn’t because it was like service to society. It does inspire me that people are still interested at a basic level and I want to share my music with as many guitar players as I can. I don’t have a count of how many students I have but there seems to be a lot! (Laughs.) Maybe they’ll never become professional musicians but it opens your mind up and makes you sensitive when you look at the larger picture called life.

You are an idol to most rockers and guitarists in the city. What is your message to them?

You’ve got to be very honest to what you’re doing. Especially guitar players; we’re dreamers. You go into a deep sleep and have dreams of being a long-haired, thin, tall, rock god (which) is fine but to chase that dream, you have to sit down and practise your do re mi eight hours a day. The moment that reality dawns, a few drop out and some start looking for music jobs because they think they’ve cracked it. I’ve been asked sometimes, ‘What gives you that high to perform so well?’ I know what they’re suggesting and I tell them that it’s the energy from a live audience and their appreciation. That’s the real drug. My advice is, stand in front of a mirror and ask yourself, ‘Are you a musician just because you can go up on stage, look hot and people recognise you?’ I don’t care if you’ve been around the world as a musician. If you call yourself superb, you better be that. Nowadays, when I see a guy carrying a guitar in every ad or film and being trendy and cool, I feel good that everyone’s at least getting to see the instrument, my instrument, but I hope they know the depths of it. It’s not just a fad.

What do you think are your strengths as a guitarist?

I could do with more talent! (Laughs.) But maybe I can touch people quite easily and feel those points that make an audience responsive. I love to improvise and play what I haven’t before. I run the risk of a bad evening but I love that challenge. That’s probably the romance I’m having with music.

And weaknesses?

I wish I could play classical guitar. I didn’t train myself in that. The mood of classical guitar has its own depth and beauty. I wish I had that beauty also.

Any changes that you wish to see in Calcutta’s music scene?

There was a lot of action when we started out with small-time work like playing at someone’s party or wedding. We were 16 then and got little payment but what we gained was experience and how to behave on stage. What’s happening now are much bigger concerts at stadiums and auditoriums but once or twice a year isn’t enough to grow. There has to be support from the government level to certify music as a dignified job. Playing guitar or keyboard or drums is a job in life. We entertain, make people laugh and cry and soothe minds. You can’t disregard us. We need venues, perks and facilities, too.

How do you spend your time when you’re not playing?

I don’t know when I’m not with the guitar. Seriously! Even if I’m not playing it, I’m probably caressing it or doodling some notes. The guitar is on me. I’m wearing it all the time. I’ve only spent my first 12 years without that instrument so I feel funny without it. It’s an extension of me. Also, the way a guitar sits on your lap, it’s always touching your heart and when you play, it rings through your system. Sometimes when I travel out, I sleep with my guitar. I’m in a relationship with that instrument! (Laughs) It stays within me like a silent energy.

You have women from 14 to 40 swooning over you. How do you deal with all that female attention?

I think they drool over my guitar not me! (Blushes) Well, I’ve had a few awkward moments. I remember a few years back after a concert in Nagaland, I went back to my hotel room to find three girls inside my room sitting on the bed. I had no idea how and when they got in and eventually they wanted a piece of my clothes! It used to happen a lot when I was with Shiva. Now when I play I know when I’m getting those vibes but it’s more at a polite level. I can control it. I’ve probably mastered the art over these years! (Laughs) What makes guitar a popular instrument is when you wear it and stand with it, it’s got an appeal!

Are you single?

Yes, I am right now.

Are you open to relationships?

Sure, why not? I’ve never calculated or gone looking for it and even if I might have regrets for relationships that didn’t work out, getting married and settling down isn’t something I miss.

Why have you avoided marriage?

Oh my god! Honestly, I didn’t think about it. It went past me like that. When I look back, I don’t think I’m an easy person to live with. My ways are a little different or maybe I’m too boring. (Laughs.) I’m also a bit detached from the real world. With D for Brother, a band Kochuda and I had formed, we wrote a tune called A Secret Marriage Of Candles On A Crystal Chandelier, about passing a candle around to light the other flames. In my musicianship, too, I have conversations with myself where no one else really features. To go out like a regular husband-wife is something I can’t fit into. But at the same time I’m incredibly romantic. I love to look into nothingness and get crazy about it. Being in love doesn’t necessarily mean I have to get married to start living together and just because I never got married it’s not like I’m not interested.

Who’s your ideal woman?

It could sound a bit heavy but my love for a woman has a deep sense of darkness about it. Not in a negative way but I like that sense of mystique or mystery about her. Indirectness charms me. It’s also the essence of my artistic thought, my music.

You acted in Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona but that wasn’t your first time…

No, it wasn’t. I was a part of a Hindi serial called Daylight Again 20 years ago, which also had Kitu Gidwani. It was an anti-drug television serial and I had scraggly long hair, so probably looked the part. All I had to do was run on the road and sleep on the bed.

Did you have the choice to pursue acting?

You know what, I’ve been asked by people over the years to act in Bengali films and I got a couple of modelling offers, too. It’s not like I was shy but I didn’t think I’d cut it (laughs). Recently, I was approached by Bumba’s (Prosenjit) company for a part in a serial on STAR Jalsha about a guitarist but I wasn’t too keen. Ranjana… was a one-off case where I just got to be myself but acting is another art form you can’t fool around with and not everyone is Satyajit Ray that they’ll get you to act.

The road ahead...

The odds are high. There’s not much happening here but my brother (Monojit) says, ‘If you quit, then this whole race will be extinct’. I want to keep doing music my way. I don’t think I’m still on that hilltop from where I can look around and say, ‘Wow!’ I still need to check out beauty spots left unexplored.

QUICK NOTES

Date of birth: October 20, 1960

Star sign: Libra

School: Don Bosco Park Circus

Guitar inspiration: Jimi Hendrix

Current favourite: Marc Ribot

Music you relax to: Miles Davis blues

Favourite genre: Any improvisational music

Most prized collaboration: Fractal with Jiver and D for Brother

3am friend: Jayashree (Singh)

Favourite brand: Tommy Hilfiger and Pepe

Favourite cuisine: Chinese from Mainland China and Royal China

Favourite filmmaker: Satyajit Ray

Currently reading: A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody by David Liebman

Wildest thing you’ve ever done: During a gig at Goa with Shiva in the 90s we were caught in an ego battle between two political groups who threatened to kill us if we didn’t play for them. So we smuggled ourselves out of the hotel at midnight and fled.

Playing with…

Dominique Di Piazza: Is like having an old bottle of seasoned wine. That’s how skilled an artiste he is.

Amit Chatterjee: He carries life’s little stories in his music. To play with him is divine.

Ranjit Barot: Is explosive. I have to pull up my energy levels and turn my power on full mode.

Louiz Banks: An honour every time because he comes with so much knowledge and experience that I’m humbled whenever I play with him and look forward to a cup of coffee and a long chat afterwards.

Nondon Bagchi: With him I get a full-on rock and roll vibe. That naughty boy, Rolling Stones feel, not the good boy Beatles kind!

Monojit Datta: I grew up with him and I think he’s a master musician. The only authentic congero (conga player) in the country. It’s not surprising when he travels abroad and people mistake him to be Cuban when they hear him play.

Anjan Dutt: An approach that is different and enhances his lyrics. He’s a singer-songwriter so I play with the notes to get in between the verses and be one with it.

Bertie Da Silva: With Bertie, it’s more about what I can do emotionally than physically with my instrument to embellish his high level of songwriting.

Gyan and Jayashree Singh: We write music together and are totally tuned into each other’s musical structures. We’ve gone so far together with music and beyond it that it’s difficult to pull us out of each other. With them it’s a smooth and fun experience.