‘I represent South India, Carnatic music in Ed Sheeran’s Play’

CHENNAI: A couple of months ago, the video of Ed Sheeran jamming with an Indian percussionist went viral on social media. His fans in India noted how he is embracing and respecting traditional Indian music. The percussionist in the video is Ganesh Murali Iyer, a Mumbai resident with roots in Kerala.

“Like any other South Indian family, even my parents wanted me to pursue music, and that’s how I started learning mridangam at eight. Mridangam is the major percussion instrument because kanjira or ghatam instrumentalists start with mridangam. When I was a kid, my parents believed that I had a good sense of rhythm,” starts Ganesh Murali Iyer.

As time passed, Ganesh became a disciple of Padma Vibhushan Dr. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, a mridangam exponent in Chennai, to step into advanced training. For the past decade, Ganesh has been training under him and has played at many concerts in Chennai, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. After that, he began exploring experimental fusion music. His life took a turn when his friend asked him to register for a project to work with an international artiste under Warner India.

“The entire recording session took place in Goa for a week, and just two days before that, I came to know who I would be working with,” he says, and his immediate reaction after hearing Ed Sheeran’s name was, “Areyy! That Shape of You guy!” He adds, “I went with a clean slate because most international artistes hardly know about the tunes and rhythms of traditional Indian music. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to work with Ed Sheeran, as he is in a different league.” For Ganesh, this is not just a career milestone but a sign that Carnatic music can take over global stages.

The Play album features five other Indian musicians, including Jayesh Kathak, Gautam Sharma, Tapas Roy, Megha Raut, and Rohan. Notably, Ganesh is the only South Indian and Carnatic musician in the team.

Talking about working with Ed Sheeran, Ganesh admires the curiosity and humility of the sensational singer, even after tasting success many times. “With Ed Sheeran, I was quite descriptive because he had not heard the beats of mridangam or ghatam before. Moreover, he was quite welcoming to new ideas and open to listening to our suggestions,” he shares, adding that the international standards of recording are quite fast. “They record 10 songs in an hour, which is a huge load on the brain,” he notes.

Ganesh credits his deep love and dedication to music to his mentor, Dr. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, and his inspiration, renowned tabla exponent Zakir Hussain. He also feels that the ghatam is a testament to the world of percussion. “It is an instrument that is directly connected to the earth and has witnessed human history over the years. Personally, I would like to delve deep into the handpan, a Swiss-based instrument similar to the ghatam,” he states.

It’s a dream for Ganesh to collaborate with Sid Sriram. “His thoughts are revolutionary and ahead of their time. I used to go to his concerts during the Margazhi season. I have heard his goal of taking our traditional Kritis and Thiruppavai to global stages, and he is doing that now.”

According to Ganesh, Carnatic musicians should be open to evolving with time. “TM Krishna is one such senior legend who has upgraded himself with time but has not forgotten his roots,” he says.

The young percussionist also compares the music scene in Mumbai and Chennai and remarks, “As I experiment with new tunes, I feel Mumbai’s musical space is broader and more open than Chennai. I am working on integrating AI into my instrument, which is quite hard to implement in Chennai because of the conservative setup.” Ed Sheeran’s Play is all set to release on September 12.