Ambi Subramaniam's life is a whirlwind of gigs - he speaks to Deccan Chronicle from Mumbai, where he will perform the night before he heads back to Bengaluru for his first gig at BlueFrog. Looking back on his life, as he recalls the long line of gurus who influenced him, a Mathematics teacher from school appears to be at the top of his list. "She made learning fun, which to me, was the most valuable lesson," he says. "The people who inspire you as a child always continue to do so." Ambi and his sister, Bindu, now reach out to some 20,000 children across the city through the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts, which nurtures gifted musicians from the age of three. "We're also working with schools, trying to make music a more integral part of the mainstream curriculum," he says.
Their gigs in Mumbai and Bengaluru feature a very special guest - the acclaimed harmonica player Corky Siegel. "It's going to be a nice mix of things," he says, "I've known Corky since I was seven years old and he's been playing with dad for many years. He uses a lot of Indian elements in his playing, which I find interesting!" His father's broad-minded approach to music, a rare trait amongst classical musicians, was one of the biggest influences in Ambi's life – he began training at a very young age and had played his first concert by the time he turned six. He was 13 years old when he first began accompanying his father. SubraMania, which began in 2013, started out as a pet project for Ambi and his sister, Bindu.
(Picture courtesy: Ambi Subramaniam)
Growing up in a deeply musical family – L. Subramaniam is one of India’s most highly regarded violinists, known for his versatility and their mother, Kavitha Krishnamurti Subramaniam, is a renowned singer too – left its mark on the siblings. Unlike the more regimented approach followed by most classical musicians in the country, the Subramaniam household was always full of acclaimed musicians from Corky Siegel to Jean Luc Ponty and George Duke. “I would watch them collaborate and I learned how it works,” he says.
"I learned the processes of collaborating, of bringing different skills together and forming a cohesive whole," he says. "You want it to sound coherent, it's never as simple as musicians doing their own thing and meeting at the end." Ambi and Bindu, whose strength lies in her singer-songwriter ability (she's behind the lyrics of SubraMania), are particular about this - "We compose together. It's not like one person composes a song and the others fit in. We try to find a space in which everyone is comfortable." SubraMania's lineup has a number of influences, from jazz and rock to Ambi's classical training. "We also try to do a lot of genres but the scales are tipped slightly towards jazz!"
SubraMania’s latest venture takes a step away from what we’re used to – a collaboration with fusion artist Mahesh Raghvan. “We’re working on an Indianised version of a Coldplay song,” he says, with a chuckle. “It’s a bit of a risk and different from anything we have done before, but we’re very excited about it!”
What: SubraMania
When: Dec. 10, 8 pm onwards
Where: BlueFrog, Church Street, Opposite M.G. Road Metro Station
