Kanala

Kanala, the second-longest standing member of the group, is one of the ensemble’s musical as well as spiritual pillars. Born in 1957, he is also our oldest member. Aside from his commitment to the group, the father of a grown-up daughter works as a high school teacher. In 1990, he started meditating on a daily basis and with a lot of focus. By the way, it is quite natural for the members of Arthada & Friends to live a more or less disciplined spiritual life, which includes daily meditation. After all, the group exclusively plays meditation music, which requires a peaceful and meditative consciousness. Kanala was originally inspired by John McLaughlin (and his band Shakti), and has so far been playing guitar for more than thirty years. What a surprise, then, when many years later Kanala discovered a picture of his spiritual teacher on the cover of John McLaughlin’s record "Love Devotion Surrender" (Mahavishnu Orchestra). It turned out that his music idol had taken spiritual lessons with the same tutor.

Kanala literally imbibed music from his infancy as his father was a bandmaster. Though he has never taken formal music lessons and even today is not used to reading music, he has the rare gift of simply playing by ear. This is quite the Indian way of playing music. Here, the teacher (guru) plays a melody, and the students try to repeat it. Using this method, Kanala taught himself to play sitar. He listened to Indian sitar records (his favorite sitar virtuoso being the late Nikhil Banerjee) and simply imitated the music. In the course of time, Kanala developed his very own style of playing. His style is difficult to describe, yet you can identify western and eastern elements. Some years ago, Kanala started giving solo concerts on his sitar, and has become a regular performer in Salzburg's cafe “Heart of Joy”. So this cafe not only offers delicious vegetarian treats but, time and again, live music. His solo performances have also led him to Macedonia, Bulgaria, Germany and other countries.

Kanala plays concert guitar, twelve (steel) string guitar, Portuguese guitar and sitar. Being a deft craftsman (he graduated from the Academy of Arts, he has been continuously modifying the sitar to give it a unique and exceptionally overtone-rich sound. Listen to the CDs from Arthada & Friends in chronological order, and you will hear how the sound of this Indian instrument evolved. Its sound has reached a new level since mid-2007, the time our latest CD – which is due soon – was recorded. Thanks to his musical, technical and spiritual talents, he was among the few who were allowed to maintain and upgrade the instruments of a very great contemporary and genuine spiritual master. In the course of this work, he developed new modifications, such as a Djovari bridge made of graphite instead of bone. Taking a closer look at his sitar, you may also notice that the traditional gourd resonator, has been replaced by a flat, funnel-shaped dish. It is rumored that he uses this kind of satellite dish to capture cosmic waves. However, Kanala argues that the peculiar shape of the resonator, along with its material, lends an overtone-rich sound to the sitar.

Kanala’s best qualities: His unswerving and consistent pursuit of spirituality, an exceptional musical talent, and his spontaneous and skillful improvisations (improvisations hold an eminent place in Indian music).