India is my first home, says German born musician Prem Joshua

German born musician Prem Joshua has been playing professionally in India for the last 20 years ever since he felt a pre-recognition for this country and for the music of Pandit Ravi Shankar. With his 15th album just released he is currently on a concert tour of the country from where he answered questions:

What’s different about your latest album Luminous
Secrets, musically speaking?
This time the album is very much a band project. It incorporates international musicians from India, Japan, Germany, Italy and we have taken music and added poetry by Indian mystics such as Kabir, Mirabai, Hafiz and Abdul Hassan. So there are lyrics with the music. The title is a contradiction in terms and is based on the title of a poem by Hafiz. My interpretation is that there are so many open secrets in the universe but we need the sensitivity to perceive them.

After spending decades in India, is there anything new to learn about its culture or people?
I love India and feel incredible gratitude towards it. This is not my second home but my first home.  India is such a happening place, there are so many changes being brought about by the educated youth.  What’s also exciting is that India has become open to the world with an aspiration to improve.

And this manifests itself in the material world and in our everyday realities.

What kind of mucic do you most enjoy listening to?
I listen to music from all genres —there’s something valuable in practically every genre — rock, pop, jazz, blues, electronic, western classical. Yet if you ask me my absolute favourite then it’s Indian classical music that I feel the greatest connection with.

What inspires you on an everyday basis and as a musician?
It’s inspiring to live in a healthy and natural environment. It’s inspiring to be able to eat good food. Right now I’m in Goa on a concert tour and it’s wonderful just how many diverse cuisines are available here.

How do you rejuvenate and recharge yourself as a musician when it is needed?
I sit quietly and just take my time to play my music. Giving myself time to play, to practice is the greatest refresher of all.

In your two-decade journey as a musician, what’s been the finest concert you’ve ever played?
The finest concerts are those where the experience of the audience and the musician becomes one.  This has happened to me in India and in Russia. It’s when each person drawn from their own unique world becomes drawn into the reality of the music I’m playing - when they drink the music, so to speak.