Robert Plant did it, Wilco too and even Metallica succumbed to its charms! Clueless? Well, all these rock/metal acts were eventually bitten by the country-folk bug! So the Led Zeppelin frontman teamed up with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss for Raising Sand (2007), alt-rockers Wilco got together with English folkman Billy Bragg to come up with Mermaid Avenue (1998), and Metallica shocked-and-awed fans with the country-blues-rock number Mama Said on Load (1996). Closer home, Rahul Guha Roy, frontman of alt-rock band Cassini’s Division, has turned to country music for his debut solo album, Midnight Train (Rooh Music).

So why do rock singers turn to country and folk music? Is it the whisky?! To quote Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, all rock musicians get to that “Too Old To Rock ’N’ Roll Too Young To Die” moment when they look for an escape route from the infernal racket they make (smiles)! On a serious note, I suppose it comes from wanting to pursue the relatively quieter forms of songwriting and I am sure ageing and maturity is very much a part of the process.

So what’s the best part about country music?

Both old folk and country music offer a repertoire of songs that evoke some feeling that is universal across cultures. Simplicity is at the heart of the music and it is extremely difficult to create the kind of music which touches a chord where age, gender or ideology do not play a pivotal role in being able to appreciate it.

Why go solo?

All my life I’ve generally worked with different kinds of rock bands. But essentially I’m a singer-songwriter and I’ve always thought that eventually I would put out a solo album. I was seeking the right moment to put it out. In 2012, I finally went and recorded Midnight Train at YRF Studios. My solo music is essentially country and folk. It has nothing to do with the music I have put out so far with any band. It’s a singer-songwriter’s album.

Your influences?

My biggest influence in life is Bob Dylan, along with Van Morrison, Neil Young, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash. I wanted to put out an album that is an update of... say what Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young used to do in the 1960s.

So tell us about Midnight Train...

It’s a personal album that explores the themes of love and loss. Midnight Train has elements of romance. While the most romantic song on the album Heaven’s Wings was written for a dear friend of mine as a birthday gift, The Outlaw Life is about my journey as a rock musician. I gave up my job and became a musician, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the ups and downs of the experience.

How did you get to record Midnight Train at YRF Studios?

I just got very lucky (smiles)! YRF has done me a favour. I don’t have the financial wherewithal to record for even five hours at YRF let alone record an album there. The YRF team got to know about my music from my friends, guitarists Sumit Bhattacharya and Floyd Fernandes.

Why record the album there?

It’s one of the best recording studios in the country. Also, I wanted an engineer who has the ears for this kind of music, and Shantanu Hudlikar graciously agreed. He knows the Nashville sound, he knows what the artiste is looking for.

Do you feel GenY would be able to connect with your songs?

When people were playing Pink Floyd covers, we formed Cassini’s Division in 2001. Everybody said it was commercial and artistic suicide at that point of time. We took a conscious decision to not do what everybody else was doing. The logic behind all of this is I should do music that comes naturally to me. Maybe my album will be the doorway to a lot of people to discover country music.

Arindam Chatterjee

Picture of Rahul: Sayantan Ghosh Cassini’s Division performs at The Gateway Hotel as part of Swirl Indie Nights on September 13 at 9pm