On the top floor at the Taj in Mumbai, in a room that you would love to wake up in, with sunlight streaming on yours and the Swedish blonde’s face, while last nights blow makes beautiful patterns across over the dressing table... what a life! We tagged the musician brothers in their suite at Taj and while they clarified nothing like our fantasy played out, they were more than happy to strum a few strings for us.

So, who kicked who’s arse as a kid?
Amaan: (Laughs) You want home truths ha! Well I think that I was more of a bully than Ayaan, being the older one. And while we’re on that, let me tell you that we are not twins!

Are you kidding, because the doorman just told us that the twins in Suite 1909 were expecting us!
Ayaan: (Laughs) You serious?

Yeah! And for a brief second it sounded good as a mental picture of Swedish twins fl ashed past our eyes.
Ayaan: Well... sorry to burst your bubble, but as you can see we’re not Swedish,we arenot blondes... Not even twins! But yes, me being the younger one got my share of being bossed around by Amaan. But if there’s any consolation, being the younger one, I could get away with a lot of things!

That’s okay. Whatever helps to keep it moving. But how was it though, your guys’ childhood; growing up around a lot of famous people around and all...
Amaan: Sure, hearing other musicians is a part of a musicians’ training. So in that terms, we were exposed to many concerts. But Ayaan was very much into listening to people. I wasn’t inclined too much as a child to understand what I was doing, but he used to enjoy listening to it.
Ayaan: But now it’s the other way around. I don’t listen to too much of vocal classical music. But we do attend a lot of concerts. Whenever there is something good happening in the city, we check it out.

Must have been sweet sight, clapping in the audience for Daddy...
Ayaan: The way our father taught us music was very different. He first made us understand the relationship between the performer and the audience. So when we were kids, we were just asked to sit on stage and do nothing. Just sit there looking innocent.

Seriously? And that’s mostly all you did?
Amaan: Not as easy as it sounds! See, in the olden days there was a custom for the disciples to be on stage with the performer to learn...
Ayaan: ...and Abba being from the old school of thought made sure that we did that. The reason being, with the Sarod in your hand and hundreds of people watching, it can get overwhelming for one!
Ayaan: With fusion a lot of great work is happening. We both are a part of an entire experimental journey. And it is a journey; jamming together. You’ve got to know where you’re headed with it. Because at the end of the day, you don’t want to be making only noise!
Amaan:Out of 20 concerts, 18 would be classical music and two fusion, because that’s where we come from. See I don’t want to be known as a fusion musician! Because we represent a classical legacy that is so unique...

650 years. That’s like six and a half century of burden to lug around! Does it get too heavy out there or what?
Amaan: People do expect a lot from us, so that’s always there. But we work hard and practice a lot. Whatever people may say, our father is quite pleased with our work and that’s what we’re looking at. Plus why try and guess what the people are thinking. We’re not mind readers, we are musicians!
Ayaan: In terms of it being a load, I can say that we’ve reloaded the legacy! I say that in terms of connecting with the present music scene. When we are up there, we are not trying to be encyclopedias and fl aunt how versatile we are or showing off the legacy. We are just doing good music, and that’s all one could really care about!

True. So what about life as classical musicians... is it tough?
Amaan: We’re 9 to 5 musicians! (Laughs) We’re at it since morning so it’s cool! Really, because there are so many things to think about before the concert in the evening!
Ayaan: But it is so peaceful. The fact that you are answerable to no one but yourself. And if you’re your own boss, you have to be a strict one! So yeah. we party and meet friends and all the good things. But if there’s an early flight to catch the next day, we wrap soon the night before. We owe that to a lot of people; the audience and also ourselves.

Hard workers we see. Good! So how has it been jamming with other musicians?
Amaan: Good and bad. There are times when we have a ball working with others. Then there are others who try to steal the show, which is a bummer. But at the end of it all, your work makes you a loser or a winner.
Ayaan: Yeah. While jamming with other artists or while doing a classical concert, the main idea is to have the people coming back. Being a good musician is all right. You can be an awesome musician and go and play on top of the mountains, that’s okay. But while on stage, you need to be a good performer, because people are coming to hear and also watch you play.

Deep. So what about the artists whom you really like to mix it up with the most, so we know what concerts to look forward to!
Amaan: There are lots of musicians we gel really well with. There is this fantastic drummer called Ranjit Barot. There is also Rakesh Chaurasia with the flute who is awesome fun to work with. And of course Louiz Banks.
Ayaan: With the western musicians I think Derek Trucks was amazing when we worked with him. Also Natalie Clein and Evelyn Glennie , the deaf drummer who just got Knighted. We have a lot of fun making music with these people. We do classical stuff in Jazz format, because classical music gels quite well with Jazz.

And what’s next with youguys?
Amaan: We have worked on a lot of classical and lounge albums in the past, but up next are two very important projects. One is called the Raga symphony, where the Sarod goes in with the Symphony. It is being produced by a gentleman very close to Mr. Rahman. Another album that we are to start work on is based on Sufi texts...

Ayaan: And while we are on that, let me tell you that there is nothing known as Sufi music. Such a genre does not exist. Or at least it didn’t previously!

Really? Well, that’s news!
Amaan: Yeah. There are either Qawwalis or Sufi texts. The whole genre is wrong technically. And now you have Sufi rock and all of that! It’s funny...
Ayaan: It’s like Chinese Chaat!
Amaan: With the Manchurian Papdi and all!

Moving on to Partying like musicians... If AR. Rahman is 1 and Slash is 10, where would you put yourself in terms of partying ‘hard’?
Amaan: I’d say 7.
Ayaan: Yeah. But not any more at 7. Maybe 6 now because we’re all grown up!

What about your favourite party destinations?
Ayaan: In Mumbai I love Oris. Then there is a place called Buddakan in New York Citywhich I like. In Delhi I love Olive.
Amaan: I’m more of a house party person.

Neat. Now we’ve been meaning to ask this since some time... do classical musicians have groupies?
Amaan: Yeah, we do!
Ayaan: But not the kind you’re thinking! Just the other night we had a few people flying down from Chennai to hear us, which is very sweet of them to do so! So we share all the love and affection, minus the saliva, and it’s all good!

Real wild. Moving on to looking dapper in traditional clothes. You guys comfy in them?
Amaan: Oh... totally. It looks different. It looks amazing. And if you’re confident with wearing it, you’re solid I think.
Ayaan: For some of our experimental concerts we did the whole jeans-and-kurta thing. But that was just us fooling around with different styles. We’re back now in our traditional attire of churidar and kurta while performing. Reason being that it’s okay to mix and match and all of that. But it’s more important to not forget where you’re coming from.

We ask because you guys are taking India to the world, performing in traditional clothes and all. You just can’t risk looking goofy! So which Indian designers do you guys trust?
Amaan: All our kurtas that we actually wear are made by...

The complete story...in the April 2010 issue of FHM India. Grab a copy!