For someone who is a classical music purist, Hariharan has embraced change in every way -- first when he teamed up with Leslie Lewis for Colonial Cousins, then when he took to singing Urdu blues, and now by gearing up for a Sufi album

In a Hari to experiment

For someone who is a classical music purist, Hariharan has embraced change in every wayu00a0-- first when he teamed up with Leslie Lewis for Colonial Cousins, then when he took to singing Urdu blues, and now by gearing up for a Sufi album. He even has a brand new hairstyle.

The singer who was busy performing at the Common Wealth Games all these days is all set to wow audiences at the Lokpriya ghazals concert at NCPA this Friday. He chats with CS about how music has changed over the years:

The Indian touch
With the world becoming a global village, the Indian music scene too is changing. The positive part is that youngsters are being drawn to classical music. They call it 'wicked' and 'cool' which I think is a good sign. They conduct Indian classical concerts in their colleges and are even learning it as a subject.

Colonial Cousins were among the pioneers to introduce fusion music in the song form in the 90s and the genre has become quite the rage these days. But I think that the basic rudiments of 'Indian panna' should be more pronounced in desi music. We can turn angrez, but we can't forget our roots, music is in our DNA after all. There has been a rhythm-based shift in Bollywood music, but I think we could do with more melodies. But I do concede that you don't have as much freedom with film music as you do with an album.

Simply Sufi
I'm planning to release a Sufi album. Because of the singers around, the audience has created a stereotype of what a Sufi voice sounds like, but I think a kalam can be sung in any way you like. So I'm going to do it in my own style, soul and voice. I'm not at a stage in my career when I would try to be someone I am not. Singing should be effortless, but that doesn't mean that you aren't open to change. I only think about today and tomorrow, yesterday is gone.

Hair and there
I started with a ponytail in my Colonial Cousins days and then I wanted to grow it longer. But that never happened because my hair would start looking unruly and I would just get it cut. Then I heard about this Brazillian Keratin treatment (that leaves your hair straightened for six months) on one of my tours and I thought it was a good chance to let my hair down, literally. You must check out my Swagatam (CWG performance) video on youtube to see my hair is all its glory (laughs)!

Who: Hariharan
What: Talking about the change notes in the music industry
Where: At Powai