Shoichiro Goto-Playing North Indian Classical Raag on Electric guitar

Shoichiro Goto is a self-employed musician, guitarist and composer. He is a disciple of Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya. He plays North Indian Classical Raag on the Electric Guitar. Abhijit Ganguly spoke to him on the sidelines of India International Guitar Festival 2016.

When did you start playing the guitar?

I started to play the guitar at age 14.I watched a rock show by Led Zeppelin on TV.  Then I took a guitar. I thought it is the way for me how to explain my mind, thinking or expression. And he is still in my heart.

Were there any musical influences at home?

Nobody plays an instrument in my family. My father likes listening to American pop music. But I wasn’t like him. I took CDs or Records myself, mostly Blues and Rock.

Which artists inspired you the most?

Zakir Hussain. 

How has India and Indian music influenced your way of playing?

Singing. I was looking how I can sing on my guitar as other melodic instruments.  And after I came to know about Indian music, I'm still looking how much singing can be done on my guitar.

You are a student of Pt Debashish Bhattacharya. What are your views on the guru-shishya parampara in today’s world?

I guess musically knowledge, skill and technique, those are becoming an open source more and more, even for Indian music also. So if you ask about 'Classical' guru-shishya prampra,its value is getting less.

According to you, how important are guitar festivals for instance the IIGF? 

I was at there watching entrie programmes the whole day. I want to share such good times with a larger audience. 

There’s a lot of talk about how you can’t just be a musician today in the business – you have to also be a businessman, manage your social media, build your brand etc. What is your view on this?

I agree .  There is so  much  information, so many music data from record to cloud, so many pics and videos of musicians, a lot of things for the music business.  And a small little piece of live music. I don't like it but I do it if it is for music or be a musician. Even I hate practice or learning 8 hours, a week, a month, a year or a life for one stage. 

What are your upcoming projects?

I'm thinking of playing my compositions in India with Indian musicians.