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Jus' rhythm
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The young students of Jus Drums, percussion school run by S. Muralikrishnan, gave a "junk piece" performance recently
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MUSIC FROM JUNK... youngsters on a roll. Pic by K. V. Srinivasan
When S. Muralikrishnan decided, well over a decade ago, to become a professional drummer, he was convinced it was the right thing to do. His friends, however, were not so sure about that. The thought - "Is there enough money in it?" - was uppermost in their minds. They did not fail to see Muralikrishnan's enthusiasm, though. "There is no use running fast when you are on the wrong road," they would tell him.
Today, Murali's friends are happy that he has proved them wrong. Because of his mastery over percussion instruments, people are beating a path to his door. But, not one to rest on his oars, Murali wants more. Occasionally though, this workaholic does allow himself to luxuriate in the past that has shaped his success. "As a 10-year-old I started learning the mridangam. Two years later, it was the drums that captured my heart. As I did not have enough money to invest in a drum kit, I would pay to play the drums at Anthony De Mello's at Thousand Lights."
Those days, he would use a bottle filled with sand as a tambourine. Buckets and vessels would double as percussion instruments.
For Murali, it was a nostalgic moment when the students of Jus Drums, a percussion school he has started for kids, gave what he calls a "junk piece" performance at Vani Mahal recently. For this piece, he had to spend all of one week meticulously selecting and buying cans at scrap shops in Moore Market, tin sheets from auto shops on Canal Bank Road and vehicle wheels at Pudupet.
The performance justified the effort. The young students managed to produce all the three sounds - bass, sharp and mid. It was a real show stopper. Other highlights of the show were a solo performance by six-year-old Pranav and a "different drums" piece which saw the coming together of beats from the four corners of the world. There was the South African djembe, Egyptian darbuk, Arabic duff, the chenda (from Kerala) and the kanjira.
Murali is influenced by world music and this is apparent in the repertoire of his four-piece band, Jus Fusion, constituted by grown-ups. It has a flautist, mridangist, drummer and a guitar-violin-mandolin player.
Just like Murali's friends once did, you ask him, "Is this (drumming) really a viable professional option?" "Tell me, which profession is financially viable? No business is. You have to make it so." We have to give it to him. Murali indeed epitomises the saying "The will to persevere is the difference between failure and success."
PRINCE FREDERICK
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