Musical Ideas

By Sharmila Vedantha


In my earlier post, I had described Sanjo The Balladeer as “a thinker, an artiste and a creative personality” – prompting some readers (and my Editor) to ask: Why “Thinker”? They got the reference to the artiste and (having read his evocative lyrics) the reference to Sanjo being a creative personality; but they were stumped by the "Thinker" tag.

And yet it is that very word which comprehensively defines the man and his music. Sanjo isn’t one of those regular artistes who goes up on stage and performs a set list of unrelated songs. Every show is a concept… an idea. Every show has a clear theme running through it. And more often than not, there is a strong message emanating from each show.

Sanjo has an extremely popular show titled ‘The Songs of The Balladeer’ and it comprises a mix of music and storytelling; the stories are about the songs, the artistes and about behind-the-scenes trivia about the songs. The format is highly interactive with a lot of audience participation. The show encompasses themes ranging from love, dating and the battle-of-the- sexes (the show is called ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’) to the more thought-provoking ‘The Power of Protest Songs’.

‘The Songs of The Balladeer’ shows started sometime in the winter of the year 2000 and continued for around five years till Sanjo took a break to work on his first album (Barson Huey); The shows resumed from early 2005 and continue till date. Here’s an early poster from around that time.

Many of Sanjo’s shows have a strong social message – like ‘The Power of Protest Songs’ which takes the audience deeper into the use of music as a weapon for raising one’s voice against injustice, violence, prejudice and inequity.

One of the causes very close to Sanjo’s heart is the environment. It forms a very important part of ‘The Songs of The Balladeer’. In fact, Sanjo has a show dedicated to Earth Day – titled ‘Earth Eulogy’, the show is a loving tribute to Mother Earth and the urgent need to stop the wanton destruction of ecologically important areas.

“This enormous variety in the ideas that Sanjo comes up with acts as a huge differentiator in the entertainment space” says Sashi of Livenergi, who manages Sanjo and his shows. “A lot of the audience interest and media attention that we have received has been because of how novel and innovative his ideas are.”

Mukul Easwaran who managed Sanjo during the early years of ‘The Songs of The Balladeer’ says: “The diversity of Sanjo’s ideas enabled us to go back to the same audience time and time again – each time with a refreshingly different show. One week it would be sombre and serious, the next week would be fun-filled and tongue-in-cheek. The audience loved it!”

And Then I Met Sanjo...

By Sharmila Vedantha

I first met Sanjo under the most unusual circumstances!

Sometime during the winter of 2012, I was visiting Hyderabad and my editor wanted me to get an interview with a rather unique musician with a rather unusual name: Sanjo. Even his show was distinctly offbeat by the standards of present-day entertainment. For one, it wasn’t even set in the present day; Sanjo’s show has a distinctly retro flavour with songs dating back to the fifties and sixties.

So, naturally, I was expecting a grey-haired or bald person in his fifties with a paternal air, someone who would patronisingly try and explain the finer points of his show to a greenhorn reporter like me.

We spoke on the phone several times. Sanjo was extremely soft-spoken, to such an extent that on several occasions I had to say, “I beg your pardon, could you please repeat that.” So now, I had a mental picture of a soft-spoken grey-haired or bald person in his fifties, but someone who was warm, friendly and easy to talk to.

We just could not manage to synchronise our calendars. When I was free, Sanjo was busy with shows. When Sanjo was free, I was caught up in submission deadlines and other schedule-related hassles that junior journalists must endure.

Finally, it was time for Sanjo to leave for New Delhi. On that same day, I was scheduled to fly back to Mumbai. I timidly suggested meeting at the airport, expecting an irritated or angry retort from this elderly artiste. Instead he agreed quite readily. He told me that he always reached the airport well in advance and would, therefore, have enough time to catch up with me. I thanked him profusely and we agreed that we would meet in front of the W. H. Smith store.

I reached the airport (the Hyderabad Airport is simply breathtaking), checked in and made my way to the W. H. Smith shop. I looked around. I was disappointed. There wasn’t any sign of Sanjo. There were two ladies from Ghana in all their colourful sartorial splendour nattering away in their native language. A couple of seats away, a slightly-built young man in his late twenties sat looking around, waiting for someone.

As I approached, the young man stood up and asked in a tentative tone: “Sharmila?”

I was flabbergasted! “Sorry”, I blurted out, “I was expecting a much older person.”

Sanjo smiled. In the course of our subsequent interaction I would discover, several times in fact, that it was the sort of smile that could cause one’s heart to skip a beat!

“But I am an older person”, smiled Sanjo, “much older than you.”

I didn’t buy that. So we played a quick game of Guess-Sanjo’s-Age. The highest I was willing to bid was 32 years. It turned out that Sanjo was a little over 50!

Well, that would at least explain the retro flavour of his shows!

We started talking. The conversation was scintillating. Sanjo is extremely easy to talk to and in no time at all, I was left feeling as though I had known him all my life!

Sanjo was in Hyderabad to perform his show ‘The Songs of The Balladeer’ at LaMakaan in Banjara Hills. The show comprises a musical storytelling session with Sanjo taking on the mantle of a Balladeer and taking his audience on a fascinating journey into songs that tell stories (ballads), the stories behind the songs and the stories behind the artistes who created the songs. His show is peppered with interesting anecdotes and bits of trivia, and is highly interactive.

Across the two-hour concert, the mood swings dramatically from sombre antiwar themes to tongue-in-cheek pub songs, heart-warming love songs and ballads with strong social messages.

The show was a big success and the music curators at LaMakaan asked him to repeat the show on his next visit to Hyderabad. The show had been initiated by Sashi Evani of Livenergi, a Hyderabad-based artiste and event management organisation that manages Sanjo in India. Sashi had discussed the concept of the show with Subbareddy Adapala of LaMakaan who felt that the event was perfect for the evolved and discerning audience that typifies LaMakaan.

I could have gone on talking to Sanjo for hours but it was time for me to board my flight to Mumbai. So I unwillingly took leave. I had recorded the interview and all through my journey, I kept listening to the recording, fascinated by the many facets that Sanjo offered as a thinker, an artiste and as a creative personality.

A few days after my story was printed, I received a call from a weird phone number. I answered expecting to be told that some deposed dictator somewhere in Africa wanted me to manage his ill-gotten funds in India. Instead I found myself speaking with a Japanese gentleman. He introduced himself as Jigo; he said he was the Managing Director of the label that handled Sanjo’s music and that he had got my number from a mutual friend. He congratulated me on the article I had written on Sanjo and ‘The Songs of The Balladeer’. He then asked me whether I would take on the mantle of being Sanjo’s official blogger.

My mind flew back to the experience of sitting face-to-face with Sanjo at the Hyderabad Airport. I thought back on how exciting those forty-five odd minutes had been. And I said, “Yes!”

That is how this blog started.