Noted tabla player Bobby Singh lives very close to Byron Bay, which he describes as a “good little spot”—a place from where you can easily catch flights anywhere, while still being immersed in a hippie vibe and a vibrant arts scene.
After decades as a tabla player in Australia, shaped by years of intensive training in India, Singh is excited to release his new album, Sutradhaar, on December 16. Over Zoom from his home in Emerald Beach, Singh tells The Indian Sun how he is enjoying his acreage, among other things.
Singh was born in England to Punjabi parents from India and moved to Mumbai at the age of seven, where he lived until he was 15. “I toured around the world until I was 18,” he says. By then, his parents had moved to Sydney, and he came to visit them. Australia would soon become his home too.
Singh’s relationship with the tabla began in England. “Like many families in the diaspora, my parents wanted us to go to the Sikh temple around the corner,” he says. “There were lots of Indian cultural activities. This was about 40 years ago, and England was very different then—everyone mixed, and you went to every association, Eid and everything.”
Wherever there were gatherings, there was always music. “Indian culture is music—whether it’s devotional, folk, a wedding, anything.”
It was at the temple that he first heard the tabla. His uncle (his dad’s brother) would play and accompany hymns, not as a professional musician, but simply as part of the community. “There were no professional musicians or priests,” Singh recalls. “They would just go and do something, and he would play. I remember thinking, I really want to play tabla like he does.”
When he asked his uncle to teach him, his uncle’s response was,”I don’t even know what I’m playing, what am I going to teach you?’” Singh laughs.
Around that time, another uncle, his mama (mom’s brother), who lived in Mumbai, visited the family in England. His parents mentioned their son’s growing interest in music. “He said, ‘That’s great, he should come to India,’” Singh recalls. “My parents were like, ‘He’s only seven,’ but that conversation planted the seed.”
So Singh went to Mumbai, where his uncle enrolled him in lessons at Sangit Mahabharati, a music institute founded by the legendary Pandit Nikhil Ghosh—an absolute legend of Indian music for Singh.
What’s more, as soon as he stepped in the institute, Singh thought “this is what I wanted”. It took over his life. “They thought I’d be bored after a month, but seven or eight years later, they told me I’d been there too long.”
From those early years, Singh also gained the added advantage of staying connected to culture and language. “I could speak Hindi, Punjabi, I knew the songs they were talking about. I’d be like, Mohammed Rafi? Of course I know who that is. Lata Mangeshkar?”
That connection set him apart. While cousins his own age didn’t share the same cultural fluency, Singh’s familiarity with language and music endeared him to his grandparents and extended family. “They could suddenly associate with one of the grandkids on that level,” he says. “I could understand them—and that meant everything.”
Since age seven, Singh has studied under guru Dr Aneesh Pradhan. “In classical tradition, you enter the guru-shishya parampara, you become family, share life together,” he explains. “I’ve been with my teacher for over 35 years.” Their bond remains strong. “He still sends me compositions to learn. I’m constantly learning.”
Reflecting on his career, Singh says, “I’ve been working in Australia nearly 30 years and recorded 40 or 50 albums.”
The latest, Sutradhaar is special. Singh’s guru urged him to create something uniquely his own. The album features eight musicians closely linked to Indian culture, who understand its musical nuances and etiquette.
What made it even more remarkable was his guru composing many pieces and flying in from India to be in the studio. Singh says it’s incredible for a “little tabla player” like him to have such support. All musicians involved are multi-ARIA Award winners.
The collaborators include jazz musicians, classical string players Shenzo and Lara from quartet Foreplay, blues guitarist Jeff Lang, percussionists Greg Sheehan and Ben Walsh, and a didgeridoo player. Singh wanted artists connected to Indian music to reinterpret it through their own ears.
Throughout the process, Singh was “on a high,” especially with his guru present during rehearsals and recording. “We recorded live with no overdubs—just played and that was it.”
He says that in cross-cultural collaborations, understanding matters more than what someone plays. “The people I work with have a deep love and connection to India and its culture. That’s what makes it work.”
Singh will perform live starting December at Queensland’s Woodford Folk Festival, one of Australia’s largest. He invites interested listeners to visit bobbysingh.com.au for details.
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