Baiju Dharmajan (born 7 March 1968) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

guitarist, music composer, producer and guitar tutor based out of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. A celebrated musician in his own country, Baiju had an extended stint during the 2000s as the lead guitarist of the

Indian rock Indian rock is a music genre in India that may incorporate elements of Indian music with rock music, and is often topically India-centric. While India is more often known for its (northern and southern) classical music, filmi, Bollywood ...

band

Motherjane Motherjane is an Indian rock band from Kochi, India, formed in 1996. The band consists of John Thomas (drums and percussion), Clyde Rozario (bass guitar), Niranj Suresh (vocals) and Anubhav Langthasa (guitars). They have released a total of thr ...

. He has been nicknamed the "God of Small Strings" by his fans. Baiju is particularly noted for his winding, Carnatic-inspired progressive rock and enduring guitar solos.

Biography

Born in

Vypin Island Vypin (Malayalam: വൈപ്പിന്‍, Cochin Portuguese: Isla Santa) is one of the group of islands that form part of the city of Kochi (Cochin), in the Indian state of Kerala. Vypin forms a barrier island which lies between the Ar ...

s (near

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, India) to Thankamani and Dharmajan, Baiju started his musical career at the age of 14. He began with Carnatic violin but then slowly shifted to the guitar. His father used to play the

Hawaiian guitar Hawaiian guitar may refer to: *Lap steel guitar, a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap *Ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ...

and his grandfather was a Carnatic musician. His first role as a performer began at the age of 5 as a guitar player in a traveling troop of musicians, giving him the opportunity to play with legendary

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

singer

Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

. After relocating to his hometown in Vypin in the 90's, he started playing in a band called Instinct, followed by short stints with the bands Wrenz and Aatma. During one of the practice sessions of the band Aatma, he met John of Motherjane, who then invited him to audition for the lead guitarist position in the band. He has cited his influences as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck,

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". '' AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

, Reb Beach,

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

and John Anthony. Baiju is also a big fan of Illayaraja and loves the compositions of other Indian composers like

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer a ...

Devarajan Paravoor Govindan Devarajan (1927–2006), popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was an Indian music composer and Carnatic singer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Indian film music. He sco ...

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian music director for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the ...

and R.D. Burman. His father had a vast collection of ghazals by Mehdi Hassan,

Anup Jalota Anup Jalota, (born 29 July 1953) is an Indian singer, musician and actor, best known for his contributions to the Bhajan genre of Indian Music. He is popularly known as the "Bhajan Samraat" (Emperor of Bhajans).Pankaj Udhas Pankaj Udhas (born 17 May 1951) is an Indian ghazal and playback singer. He started his career with a release of a ghazal album titled ''Aahat'' in 1980 and subsequently recorded many hits like ''Mukarar'' in 1981, ''Tarrannum'' in 1982, ''Mehf ...

and he grew up listening to

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

. His favourite guitarists include Jimi Hendrix , Jimmy Page,

, John Anthony, Mattias Ekhlund and Guthrie Govan.

Motherjane era

Baiju was the lead guitarist for

from 1999 through 2010, during which the band released two full-length albums– 'Insane Biography' in 2003 and 'Maktub' in 2008. The band was a popular live act in India in the 2000s and played at many festivals. Baiju has a major influence of the Carnatic musical style in his guitar riffs and solos. The other songs on the album Maktub are audibly influenced by Carnatic elements as well. Songs such as Mindstreet and Fields of Sound firmly describe Baiju's tonality.

Collaborations and solo projects

Since 2010, Baiju has been working on collaborations and solo projects. He released his debut solo album titled 'The Crossover' in 2012 under the record label Cochym. Baiju's also contributed towards producing an EP for Kochi-based band 'Kaav'. He's released Indian rock versions of patriotic songs Mile Sur Mera Tumhara,

Vande Mataram ''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in th ...

and the national anthem of India,

Jana Gana Mana "" (Sanskrit: जन गण मन) is the national anthem of the Republic of India. It was originally composed as '' Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata'' in Bengali by polymath Rabindranath Tagore. The first stanza of the song ''Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata' ...

. Baiju's been a part of 'Kashmir' with Sanjeev Thomas, 'Karnatrix' with John Antony and 'Bluefire' with classical violinist Harikumar Sivan. Baiju also co-created "Sacred Science" for the popular TV Series The Dewarists with percussionist cum composer

Karsh Kale Karsh Kale (pronounced ''Kursh Kah-lay'', ''कर्ष काळे'' in Marathi; born 1 November 1974) is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale ...

and edakka drum teacher Harigovindan. Other collaborations include Sanjay Maroo, Naresh Iyer, Keith Peters, Ustad Asad Khan, Uday Jose, David Joseph, Midival Punditz and Susmit Sen. In 2013, he accompanied British "shred-king" Andy James for a workshop in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. In July 2014, his single 'Moham' was published by Songdew.

Awards and recognitions

* Awarded – Prathibha Puraskaram (2014) - State of Kerala * Winner – Best Indian Lead Guitarist (2014) – Jack Daniel's Rock Awards * Winner – Best Indian Lead Guitarist (2008) – Jack Daniel's Rock Awards * Winner – Best Indian Lead Guitarist (2007) – Jack Daniel's Rock Awards * Winner – Best Indian Rock Album (2008) – Rolling Stone * Winner – Rock Band of the Decade (2000-2010) – Rock Street Journal * Winner – Band of the Year (2009) – Rock Street Journal * Winner – Album of the Year (2009) – Rock Street Journal * Winner – Best Indian Rock Album (2003) – June Rock Out * Winner – Best International Rock Act (2009) – Asia's Voice Independent Music Awards

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Insane Biography'' with Motherjane – 2003 * ''Maktub'' with Motherjane – 2008 * ''By the Moonlight'' – Wrenz United – 2011 * '' The Crossover'' – Baiju Dharmajan Solo – 2012

Singles

* Jana Gana Mana – Baiju Dharmajan – 2011 * Vande Mataram – Baiju Dharmajan – 2011 * Mile Sur Mera Tumhara – Baiju Dharmajan – 2013 * Vaishnava Janato – Baiju Dharmajan – 2013 * Moham – Baiju Dharmajan – 2014

Feature Film Soundtracks

* Dayom Panthrandum - 2013

Production discography

* ''Kaav'' E.P – KAAV – 2010

References

* * *

External links

*
"Baiju JD Awards"

Interview
* * * https://web.archive.org/web/20110925031938/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloid/glam-sham/guitar-juggler-591 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmajan, Baiju Living people Indian rock guitarists Indian male composers Indian record producers Musicians from Kochi Indian guitarists 1968 births

See also