Tehelka - The People's Paper - Feb 5/2004

He Can Fly - Hollywood hides a guitar-wielding Indian secret, writes Sumit Bhattacharya.

Walking tall in the glamour of the world's showbiz capital playing with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson and Coco Lee is Kolkata-born Joy Basu, a 33-year old guitar player who's one of the hottest hired guns in the business today. "This guy can fly" wrote Guitar One magazine in 2000, and his flight has not been grounded even in the cutthroat competition of Los Angeles. His production prowess can be heard in the title track of the MTV show Undressed, while his skill as a take-no-prisoners rock guitar player is clear in his solos such as SinErgy. Basu moved to the US when he was two, and by the time he was 12, he was shredding away, a la Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen, his early idols. He went through a short music course at the Berkley College of Music, which boasts of legends such as Al Di Meola and Joe Zawinul in its alumni. And as he honed his skills at lightning-fast high wire guitar, he was also keeping an ear out for new sounds electronica, hip hop and even rap. No wonder that his solo albums are full of electronic samples behind pure unabashed adrenalin-inducing guitar lines. Basu's first major break was a compilation CD called Ominous Guitarists from the Unknown. He released his first solo album with a Japanese record label in 1996, and since then has been living the rock & roll life to the hilt. "All the stuff you hear about what goes on while touring is true. You do get to live out your teenage dreams" he says mischievously. His albums are sold underground style through his website, www.joybasu.com, which is his interface with the world. But life has changed for the once-long-haired Basu. "Now, I am concentrating more on producing." he says. And the influences have changed as well: "Now I am more influenced by grooves and production." The new focus on production rather than live gigs has taken his solo music to TV shows, including ABC for Passions, Fox Sports for The Best Damn Sports Period and NBC. And that is besides his numerous appearances at several other high profile shows such as The Tonight Show and the CBS Early Show. He has also been featured in Guitar Player and Guitar World magazines, Bibles for guitar fanatics all over the world. He says he listens to Bollywood music "every chance I get" and has lately been "using some ragas within my trance stuff." A shred, electronica and alap orgy? That should be interesting.

E-mail Joy Basu produce your next project or take guitar lessons

Jessica Simpson

CoCo Lee

Joi

Jennifer Lopez

Angie Stone