This interview was conducted in 2010...will have recent interviews soon! sit tight!
Shayne Ballantyne is
Goa’s new talent. A Blues guitarist with mad skills and licks that thrill.
Shayne hypnotizes the audience, with his clean technical and inspirational
sound and brings to Goa a whole new Class of Musicians. Being a groupie, I got
Shayne to sit for an interview to get a little more insight into his melodious
world.
Q: Did
you always dream to be a lead guitarist?
A: No,
it just happened suddenly, I just played guitar because I wanted to and things
started happening.
Q: How
old were u when u stated playing?
A: Fourteen.
Q: Which
song did u first learn to play?
A: High
way to hell by ACDC, (laughs).
Q: How
did it feel when u first played guitar on stage?
A: Nervous
at first but once you get over that it’s nice.
Q: Tell
me what inspires you most to play guitar?
A: The
guitar only (laughs) well, playing different things probably.
Q: Which
guitar do you currently play?
A: Fender
Stratocaster.
Q: Which
electric guitar would you love to own?
A: P.R.S,
a Paul Reed Smith.
Q: Do
you prefer electric or acoustic in general?
A: Electric,
because although when playing they are the same, electric has a different sound
and I am more comfortable with electric.
Q: How
would you describe your sound?
A: Oh
god (laughs) all these tricky questions, its probably best if someone else
would describe my sound, I am just a blues guitar player, so I guess my sound
would be blues.
Q: Who
is your greatest Musical influence?
A: Jeff
Beck, he’s the greatest guitar player according to me always doing innovative
things and every album he makes is something different and a few more of my
greatest influences are, Jimi Hendrix, Steely Dan, and right now a Norwegian
guitar player Ivan Nasik. Also John Scoffield and allot of other musicians that
don’t play guitar also, I mean the influences always change but these guys are
the most constant.
Q: Back
when you were just in the scene whom did u initially play with?
A: My
fist time I was playing bass guitar metal band called “Forbidden” and I started
playing lead guitar in a band called “Satwa” with Elvis Rumion.
Q: Which
out of all your shows is the most memorable so far?
A: Last
year for Christmas at “little tiger” in Benaulim, we were playing on the beach
and the water came and the whole stage was surrounded by water and there were
fire dancers in the water dancing and we were playing on stage, but we had nice
sessions in many places like in “El Patrao”, playing till 4 in the morning and
just few people its nice sometimes when there are less people its more
intimate, smaller is closer and people pay more attention to what your playing.
Q: I
hear that you and your band will be having shows in Dubai, are you excited
about that?
A: Yes
for sure, it will be the first time when we will go outside India to play, but
we’ll go do our thing and come back, I don’t plan on staying there long.
Q: Are
you guys going to release an album of your own composition?
A: Yea
right now we are recording a demo and its all originals, so lets see if
something comes out of that, we might add a few more songs and make it an
album, lets see.
Q: You
have won several titles at Battle Of the Bands, which was your first?
A: With
forbidden we won first place, I was playing bass, it was nice because we were
still very young and it was like the first big gig most of us had played and
last year we won second place, with seconskin.
Q: What’s
it like when you get on stage now?
A: For
the first couple of songs you’ll be not really nervous but a bit tense but
after you loosen up and a few beers you start posing on stage (laughs) No, once
u get warmed up its fine.
Q: What
do you feel before you play?
Don’t
really think about it you just pick up you guitar and play.
Q: While
improvising on your own composition, do you already have an idea in mind?
A: Yes
some basic idea is there but most of the time its always different and you cant
really remember what you played the last time (laughs).
Q: For
you, what is the greatest thing about composing music?
A: Always
being able to play something different from the last time.
Q: Tell
me what would be your ultimate gig?
A: Playing
with steely Dan.
Q: Your
favorite Band as a child?
A: Led
Zeppelin probably.
Q: Music
is and integral part of your life, so where do you see yourself in a few years?
A: Hopefully
still playing music only and hopefully a few things happen so I get to travel
and see some new things and just keep playing music, I mean no one wants to be
a rock star and just play for the same crowd.
Q: Being
a young Goan do you think there is enough musical opportunity for the youth in
Goa?
A: Absolutely
not, there’s hardly anywhere to play and hardly any bands you see now days.
Q: What’s
your take on the 10 pm Music curfew in Goa?
A: Its
terrible it’s the most stupid thing they did in Goa, its just a hassle no one
is getting anything out of it, people are just losing out, I mean its just
oppressing everyone they tell you what to do and to go home by 10 o clock, they
should change it as fast as possible, there’s no freedom.
Q: What
are the privileges of Goa for a musician?
A: More
opportunity than other places in India because in the cities its not as easy,
there could be more opportunity, but Goa is heavily lacking in musicians and
venues, the bad part is that its mostly during season time do you get to play
and for the rest of the five or six months you have nothing to do, but if u can
find a balance its good.
Q: What
is the most appealing thing about Goa for a musician?
A: Being
able to go the flea market and stand on the beach and play while watching the
sunset.
Q: What
do the young Goan musicians need to do to stand out from the nation and
showcase their talent?
A: Well
they should stop trying to sound like someone else and be more original.
Q: Is
there anything you’d like to voice to the nation?
A: (Laughs)
yea watch out we are coming to rock you.
Q: After
Dubai what shows can we expect back home?
A: Well
back to the season, the flea market, the night market we will be having more
original songs and well we have to keep evolving.
Q: I
know that people refer to your previous band second skin as a ‘jam band’ will you
continue that image?
A: Yes, of course we are going to keep
within the same spirit because playing music for us is improvisation. Playing
completely rehearsed and completely worked out songs you lose the creative side
of music, which makes it fun. As long as we have some basic idea and structure
to work around with it’s ok.
Q: During
the season, many international musicians visit Goa and hear you play; do you
get to jam with them?
A: That’s
another good point of Goa getting to meet, play, jam and hang out with
musicians from all over the world who bring their own unique ideas and
something totally different from what your used to. You get exposed to this
here where as anywhere else in India something like this would not happen.
Q: So
you could say that Goa is a melting pot of musical culture?
A: Yes
because the amount of international and national bands that pass through and
share
their ideas. And the bands that are here already are quite different from
each other,
and then we have the traditional music of Goa as well.
Q: What
does Goa need to do to bring more creative opportunity in the arts and music?
A: Stop
the 10 o’clock ban and more people to support live music and forget about the
party scene, I mean live music is how Goa began so I guess in the end we have
to go back to the start.
Q: Do you think Goa is in need to revive its creative flow?
A: Yes
there have always been very talented and great musicians coming out of Goa
right from the beginning and playing till now all over the world and country,
so why not getting them to play in Goa itself instead of outsourcing. I mean
right now if u see any good Goan musician he’s not in Goa, he’s playing
somewhere else because he cant really make it over here. There’s not much to do
here, Goa needs to establish itself, People need to start supporting live music
and give it a chance and then maybe Goa’s musicians will come back. If you look
at Goa's history it’s always had the best musicians in the country but them
always went to Bollywood, Goan musicians started the Bollywood scene. Most of
the best jazz musicians you can think of in the country are all Goans.
Q: Do you
think in today’s problematic world, creativity is oppressed?
A: Not really, I think this point of
time more people will come out and start getting creative and doing
more, even people that are already doing something are just getting out there
because with the technology and media its easier to express yourself.
