This is what I know of as life, says musician Max ZT

Max ZT was six years old when he heard the hammered dulcimer at an American folk festival near Chicago. Twenty-one years later he is one of the youngest musicians playing this string instrument. “In New York I play upto 10 gigs a week. The hustle is hectic, but amazing. I wish though that I was able to get more hours of practice in,” he smiles. At the age of seven, Max started his weekly lessons from singer/songwriter Kat Eggleston for 10 years till he went to study music at Bard University. Getting tired of the folk tradition, Max listened to rock and jazz music, took many music classes, and enrolled in philosophy, political science and history classes.

“In my sophomore year, I met Fore Cissokho, a kora player from one of Senegal’s Griot families, jammed with him in the parking lot and got invited to visit Senegal to learn more,” he says. In four years, he travelled to Senegal three times, lost a lot of weight and had sunstroke, but kept going back. “I’m so thankful to have had the chance to get over there, get a glimpse of the culture and learn something. The music there is incredible –because music schools there mean sitting with your father or brother and playing till you go to bed for 20 years,” Max elaborates.

A year later, starting listening and got into Indian classical music, and in December 2009, he came to India on a grant to learn from Pt Shivkumar Sharma. Over 16 months he has been back four times and is one of the maestro’s youngest students. Other students are older, have families and so music takes a backseat for them. “That won’t happen in my life, I’ve been doing this since I was seven. I know nothing else — this is what I know of as life,” Max adds (laughs). Incorporating Indian classical music in his sound is not easy. The music is about being present spiritually, which doesn’t happen as a young person. “Even the purest of parts with meditation will take time — getting out of your head, dropping your ego and just being,” he says.

Max wants to come back to India more frequently, at least four times a year, especially with his trio, House of Waters to promote their latest album Revolution. Why does he choose to function from New York? He says, “When I listen to music in New York, I feel like I want to be a better musician, that doesn’t happen for me all the time with music outside — it’s my litmus test.”