Pushing Forward with the Blues: An interview with Warren Mendonsa of Blackstratblues
Photo: Kunal Kakodhar
‘I’ve always been a blues-loving rock guitarist at heart, but I love so many different forms of music… all of it filters in!’ Indian guitar legend Warren Mendonsa discusses his latest Blackstratblues album, the inspirations that shaped his musical journey, and the path ahead.
On surface-level, the last album by Blackstratblues—the solo project of Indian guitarist and composer Warren Mendonsa—is a reflection of the most-recent past. The past immediate, the past that seeps into and haunts our present. Released in September, Hindsight Is 2020 is another masterpiece of instrumental guitar blues and rock. The 16-track LP is heavily shaded under the shadow of pandemic and lockdown that struck the whole world: whether it was Mendonsa’s hometown of Mumbai in India, or his current home of Auckland in New Zealand.
Listening deeper to Hindsight Is 2020, however, one gets the feeling of being transported even further beyond these geographical borders or contemporary events. The music of Blackstratblues transports the listener to an entirely new time and space: a marriage of the familiar with the strange, of the nowness of the post-pandemic world with the decades-old spirit of blues.
Born in Mumbai, the 42-year-old Mendonsa grew in fame as a part of the iconic band Zero, with whom he released two albums and an EP between 1998-2005. Since then, he has launched primarily into his solo act Blackstratblues, providing consistent, reliable blues on every project since his 2007 debut Nights in Shining Karma.
The influence of classic western rock is apparent in Mendonsa’s music, from Gary Moore and Jimi Hendrix to Pink Floyd and Muddy Waters, and so many more in between. Mendonsa’s own style is now instantly recognisable, too: a focus on careful and lush melodies, a guitar that sings instead of one that screams, and overall production that floods the listeners into a soothing, ethereal pool.
This ethereal feel is evident on Hindsight Is 2020. Features drumming by Jai Row Kavi and Cole Goodley and vocal samples from Delhi-based act Komorebi, the record was released to critical acclaim, even claiming the top spot in Rolling Stone’s best Indian albums of 2021.
Photo: Kaustubh Joshi
“Hey 2020” kicks the album off with a nostalgic groove, a song that sets the tone for the melodic tunes to follow. For me, the personal standouts were “This Will be My Year” and “Eleven”; both tracks allow Mendonsa’s lead guitar to soar, with solos that emote a gamut of emotions. “The Celestial Dance” sees Mendonsa flirting into Pink Floyd territory; it’s a song both earthly and divine, wrapping an entire atmospheric blanket around the listener. With “Hold on Tight (Up We Go)”, things take a fast-paced and upbeat turn. It’s a positive, poppy dance tune, but still blessed with Warren’s signature mastery on the electric guitar.
The centrepiece to the album is the slow, atmospheric “Anaesthesia”, a seven-and-a-half-minute ballad that lets Mendonsa’s guitar lead us further with its emotional resonance, growing into a full slow-blues crescendo. “Low Down Lock Down” is a mellow tune that takes a frustrated, hard turn, where the peace of a lockdown is disturbed by the anxiety of being locked down. “Kinder Days Past I”, “The Persistence of Time”, and “Kinder Days Part II” are almost a musical triptych, a gradual transition from one track to another, packing in the feelings of transformation, growth, and indeed, the passage of time. Eventually the album concludes with a futuristic turn on “We Are Responsible” and “Let It Shine”, bringing in a conclusion to the groovy themes of the album—assisted with the voice of Tarana Marwah of Komorebi.
All throughout, Mendonsa displays a versatility of his guitar-play, easily floating over the harmonious river, whether he’s paddling forward with euphoric solos, memorable melodies, or expert chord progressions.
In a wide-ranging interview over email, Mendonsa discussed the inception of his last album, the inspirations that shaped his musical journey, and the path ahead.
Mendonsa’s own style is now instantly recognisable, too: a focus on careful and lush melodies, a guitar that sings instead of one that screams, and overall production that floods the listeners into a soothing, ethereal pool.
The Chakkar: From the title Hindsight is 2020—and many of the song titles—the theme of pandemic and loneliness and lockdowns are immediately apparent. I’m curious to know if you were already on the course for an album like this, with its moods that touched on both passionate blues and some upbeat optimism? Or was COVID-19 and its after-effects on the world completely responsible for the emotional content of the album?
Mendonsa: I started writing the album during the latter half of 2019. I started posting snippets of musical ideas on Instagram, just as a means of introducing these ideas to people. They were well-received, so I figured that they were good enough to develop into full songs. I was gigging heavily during 2019-20, so when the gig season wound down in March 2020, it coincided with pandemic-related lockdown restrictions. Since our daughter Nia was born in 2016, we had been planning a move back to New Zealand around September 2020, so a lot of the plans had already been put into place. Once the lockdown started, we realised we had to move quickly or booking flights would be an issue. We ended up moving in June 2020, when logistics fell into place. Once I was in NZ, I had the time to put together all these ideas, and wrote some new ones as well. I guess the whole process of moving must have stirred top something inside, because I fell into a fertile creative patch. That should explain a 16-track album!
The Chakkar: You've spent so much of the past two decades jet-setting between India and New Zealand. How has your work been inspired by these two vastly different spaces? Do you already have an emotional feeling inside you, or does the environment and setting play a heavy role in inspiring your composition?
Mendonsa: The first time I moved to New Zealand was in 2004, and that was a unique new experience. The lack of ambient noise where I lived allowed me to regularly hear notes decay into silence. Previously I had only experienced this in isolation rooms in recording studios. Around this time, I also started listening to a lot of music where the guitar was not the primary instrument, and the combination of these two things let to further exploration on playing, recording and writing music.
At this point I’ve lived in both places long enough to have them both be an integral part of who I am. I guess in New Zealand I have more time to work on my own music as I’m not actively touring.
The Chakkar: Your music has a very interesting blend of the past and present: There are obvious inspirations to rock/blues gods from the 60s and 70s, and then, there are so many unique sound techniques that you employ which are definitely a lot more forward thinking. Do you find yourself “converting” a lot of music fans into finding that time-honoured spirit of guitar/blues music?
Mendonsa: You are better of asking them :). To me, if my music were only to serve as a conduit to the greats that I have learned from, I would think it would be enough reason to keep making it.
The Chakkar: Who have been your biggest inspirations musically—from India or abroad—for younger fans to understand the type of music that you've been raised on?
Mendonsa: There are too many to list completely, but let’s try and list a few that were pivotal in my musical development:
From the ’60s/’70s, bands like The Beatles, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen & The Eagles were my earliest influences. Blues musicians such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Albert King & Howlin’ Wolf were discovered by tracing back from the British blues-rock that I loved. Gary Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughan were huge modern blues influences, too. The ’60s/’70s Motown and Soul bands are my perennial favourites.
Guns N’ Roses, ’90s alternative rock, and grunge were big during my early teenage years—including bands like Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots. I started listening to a lot of Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Dire Straits in my early 20s, as my guitar style started to mature.
“The lack of ambient noise where I lived allowed me to regularly hear notes decay into silence. Around this time, I also started listening to a lot of music where the guitar was not the primary instrument, and the combination of these two things let to further exploration on playing, recording and writing music.”
Indian bands like Indus Creed and Pentagram gave us validation to start writing and performing original music. Artists like Nitin Sawhney and Karsh Kale showed me that traditional Indian music can be implemented in hip and ground-breaking ways.
I’ve derived inspiration from trying to get the guitar to emulate a human voice. Artists like Aretha Franklin, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, Imogen Heap, Mavis Staples, Angelique Kidjo and Ella Fitzgerald were hugely influential.
I’ve always loved listening to artists who create soundscapes with their music. Cinematic Orchestra, Beck, Dungen, Michael Landau, Derek Trucks and Tajdar Junaid are a few to check out.
The Chakkar: If you compare yourself to your early work with Zero or early Blackstratblues albums, how would you say your style has evolved over the decades? Do you feel you’re the type of artist who often draws inspirations in contemporary trends in music—even outside the genre of blues?
Mendonsa: I never really saw myself as purely a blues guitarist, in the vein of say Rudy Wallang or Arinjoy Sarcar. I guess, predominantly, I’ve always been a blues-loving rock guitarist at heart, but I love so many different forms of music, and that all filters in.
The Chakkar: Do you have a personal favourite track on Hindsight is 2020?
Mendonsa: I have a couple, and these seem to be the most popular too: “This Will Be My Year” and “Hold On Tight (Up We Go)” are pretty easy to get into, because of their recallable melodic content. Tracks like “Anaesthesia” and “We Are Responsible” were very cathartic and huge fun to put together.
The Chakkar: You’ve been very open in previous interviews with details about how your daughter has responded to your music—and of course, you have also featured her in some tracks! I’ve noticed the same with different genres of music with my own toddler daughter: The entire mood can shift even if she doesn’t understand the meaning of a song, whether it’s Pink Floyd or Kanye West. What do you feel about this power of music, that can translate even beyond language to get the emotion across?
Mendonsa: I have no idea, but it’s a beautiful thing to watch. I think if I knew the answer, I’d start a record label and retire early! Sometimes music is like a frog, if you dissect it, you can learn a lot—but it dies in the process.
Album art courtesy: Warren Mendonsa
The Chakkar: What can we expect from you in the future? What will be the ‘story’ behind the next Blackstratblues album?
Mendonsa: The next album is a live album titled L.I/O.V.E. that releases May 7th on Bandcamp, and June 1st on most streaming services. It was culled from a live gig in 2019 that was unique for a couple of reasons. Tajdar Junaid, who was a part of the very first Blackstratblues live line-up joined us at this gig for a few songs. Also, I wasn’t using my usual guitar rig; I was plugged straight into a Soldano SLO100 amp I had recently acquired after decades of coveting one. Somehow, the simplified rig was kind of liberating and so I ended up playing quite differently.
Over the years, the Blackstratblues line-up of Adi Misty (bass), Beven Fonseca (keys) and Jai Row Kavi (drums) solidified into a unit very comfortable playing with each other. We were also part of Amit Trivedi’s touring band, and this added to our time spent on stage together. This album does capture a lot of that interplay and synergy, and I’m really glad it serves as a record of that.
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Karan Madhok is a writer, journalist, and editor of The Chakkar, whose creative work has appeared in Gargoyle, The Literary Review, The Bombay Review, The Lantern Review, F(r)iction, and more. He is the founder of the Indian basketball blog Hoopistani and has contributed to NBA India, SLAM Magazine, FirstPost, and more. His debut novel is forthcoming on the Aleph Book Company. You can find him on Twitter: @karanmadhok1 and Instagram: @karanmadhok.
