#RSOffStage feat. Paresh Kamath: ‘I’ve Become a Home Bird Over the Last Few Years.’

Mumbai-based Paresh Kamath’s Madh Island residence is an oasis of sorts, protected from the hustle and bustle of the city. The guitarist-composer picks up a lot of musical ideas when he is touring, but he even feels inspired when he’s at home with family.

“I’ve become a home bird over the last few years. Daddy-hood, apart from the fact that I live in Madh island, has contributed to that,” says Kamath. “But inspiration for writing and producing actually comes from interaction with people and places, I think. You go to a club or a gig and hear something that sticks with you… you may not remember the tune/tunes as such the next day, but there’s a vibe that you take back and want to recreate in your music.”

Kamath and his pet dog. Photo: Swaraj Sriwastav

When not handling guitar duties for Indo-fusion outfit Kailasa or his band, Bombay Black, Kamath looks for inspiration through observing and studying the people around him. “I seem to have a knack for finding and exaggerating character traits in people. I even imitate people pretty well. It comes from being an observer,” he says. “If at all you see me sitting down quietly, it’s probably cos [sic] I’m studying the people around me, and as soon as we break, I’ll go into mimicking what I observed.”

For the Hipnotribe axeman, home is no limit to the imagination. Even his family gets in on the action. “Naiima, my daughter, is probably the most creative in the way that she uses the spaces at home,” says Kamath. “She does a lot of ”˜plays’ and ”˜puppet shows’ at home with her friends. They convert all the furniture and drapes and bedsheets into whatever their imagination dictates.”

Kamath finds musical inspiration by observing the people around him. Photo: Swaraj Sriwastav

“I know where the coffee machine is, where my computer is and where the bed is. Apart from that, I don’t even notice when the sheets have been changed, etc.”

Check out more portraits of artists at home in our OffStage series here.