Ep.3. Vinay Ramakrishnan - Sexy bald guy

Join us on "Stage Matters" as host Aravind Murali sits down with Vinay Ramakrishnan, the dynamic drummer for Swarathma and Siennor Trio. In this insightful episode, Vinay pulls back the curtain on over a decade of stage experience, sharing the thrill of his first electrifying gigs and how his understanding of performance has evolved.
Discover Vinay's unique pre-show rituals (hint: it involves food!), his essential gear, and his perspective on personal identity versus stage persona. He candidly recounts navigating technical failures during live shows and shares a harrowing off-stage accident in Japan, revealing the resilience required in a touring musician's life.
Vinay emphasizes the unparalleled "being in the moment" magic that only live performance can offer, asserting its irreplaceable role in an increasingly digitized world. He also touches on the physical and mental toll of touring, his disciplined approach to finances, and offers a powerful message for aspiring artists: be true to yourself and persevere.
Tune in to hear why, for Vinay Ramakrishnan, nothing beats the raw, addictive energy of the stage.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:59 Vinay Intro
• 1:35 Beginnings
• 7:13 Preparation
• 11:31 Appearance and Persona
• 14:47 Improvisation
• 20:28 The Tokyo Incident
• 25:41 The audience
• 30:56 role of live performance in future
• 34:14 Success and Failure
• 37:54 Health Matters
• 40:05 Money matters
• 41:36 External Stimulants
• 42:52 Final Thoughts

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Stage Matters, the podcast that gets right into the heart of what happens when artists take the stage. I'm your host, Arvind Murli, and it's great to have you with me. For any artist, the act of performance is a transformation. 

It's where countless hours of dedication meet the unpredictable energy of a live movement. It's about more than the art itself. It's about delivery, the connection, the vulnerability, and the sheer power of being present. 

On this podcast, we are cutting through the noise to understand the true essence of what makes a performance soar, what challenges performers face, and how they consistently deliver those transcendent moments. I'll be chatting with amazing artists and performers, from seasoned veterans to rising stars, to hear their stories directly. We'll discuss the highs, the lows, the techniques, and the mindset that defines their approach to performance. 

If you ever wondered what it truly feels like to command a stage, or what goes into those breathtaking artistic moments, you are in the right place. Let's pull back the curtain and dive into stage matters. Today, we're thrilled to have a phenomenal musician joining us, a drummer whose powerful and precise playing has become a cornerstone for some of India's most exciting independent acts. 

He's the rhythmic backbone for acts such as Swaratma and the CNR Trio. With over a decade of experience, this Chennai-based talent is also a skilled session drummer and producer. He's none other than Vinay Ramakrishnan. 

Hi, Vinay, and welcome. Hey, what's going on? Thank you for having me. Wait, is that right? Did I say it right? I don't know. 

See, this is what I become so fucking conscious, dude. It's all good, dude. It's all good. That's right. It's a performance. Oh, shit. 

Yeah. So, what drove you to performance right in the beginning? What drove me to performance? Shit, damn. Okay. 

So, I think, I mean, I've always been that the concept of drums was kind of like inception for me because one of my cousins first started to learn how to play drums. So, that thought was there. Then my mom, who's not here anymore, but anyway, she was like, what do you want to do? Is there some co-curricular activities or whatever? So, I was like, oh, you know, maybe drums would be a good idea. 

I started playing, started learning and stuff like that, went to a couple of classes. But the thing 

about performing, I think, happened when I was in my 11th standard. No, 11th standard was my first performance. 

But the actual performance per se, that drive came when I joined my first college band, that is with a band called Public Issue. And yeah, that was from there. It just took off from there. 

And I was just like, this is just awesome. You know, the whole thing of crowd just going to like, enjoying and cheering you on and stuff like that. That's been like, yeah, that's what all started. 

Can you remember like a first pivotal performance that you probably saw? Okay, first pivotal performance that I saw? Yeah, both. You say both. You say, first you say what you saw and said, wow, this is what I want to do. 

Was there any such thing? I do not know if it was, you know, the thing that made me think like, this is what I want to do. It just, as I kept doing it, I kept enjoying it further and came to a point where like, it was like, yeah, I can't do anything else but this. I need to do it, you know, only this. 

But there have been a lot of insane performances, starting from, you know, back in the day when JRO was in the scene, and they used to host huge concerts in huge grounds, I think in the YMCA. Then, some of my performances that I particularly remember was again with my first band Public Issue. I mean, there have been with other bands as well, but we were playing with this one competition called Underground with that was hosted by the Unwind Centre. 

And back then, I mean, you know, there's a whole competition where you only have so much time, that's it, you're 10 minutes, that's it, play your songs and then get out. But it came to a point where the crowd was just like, yeah, no, you can't get out. You have to stay, play more songs. 

So the judges had to be like, you know, okay, fine, just play. So that was kind of like a hee hee, you know, in your face, kind of a nonty nonty kind of a moment, which is fucking hilarious. Then other one was when we were playing IIT Sarang, singer at the time, not at the time, the singer, Christopher Stanley. 

He's known for spontaneous stage antics. So one of those times he decided to just climb up the truss of IIT Sarang. This is the open air theatre. 

So he's just like, yeah, you know what, yeah, I'm just going to climb up the damn thing. I'm just going to start singing from there. And he's like some 20 feet high singing songs. 

And we're like, oh, shit. Those are a couple of the things. Yeah, those are the ones that I, those from the early on. 

And later ones was with Swaratma when I, when we played the Independence Rock Festival, both years, 2023, 2024. What else? Oh, shit. Since, since it's you, I think I should mention this was the first time when I played with CNR. 

And I think this was at a gig where we played at 24 Spirit. Yeah. And that was my first live gig with him. 

Like, yeah, okay, cool. You know, it's just for me, it's just going to be another gig. But then as soon as we finished soundcheck, and as soon as we went back to the venue to start playing, this was packed. 

Like what, some 150, 200 people in that small ass fucking place. And I was just like, dude, what the fuck, I didn't know, like, I mean, I knew he was popular, but I didn't know he was that popular. And all of them knew the songs left, right and centre. 

And they were like, just singing it. And I was like, should I play? You know, like, just let it just be CNR and saw his fans and stuff like that. I was like, yeah. 

That was another thing. Yeah, there's so many, so many moments like that. But these are some of the few. 

How has your understanding of what performances changed from the time you started to now? Connection, I guess connecting. Usually, we beat when we, as a band or with an artist or whatever, be like, okay, we rehearse the parts, make sure, okay, we play the things. And then the whole point of going with the flow, the spontaneity. 

I think that's what's, that's what you know, the understanding I've gotten over the many years of playing. There might be a point in time where, you know, suddenly the singer is like, you know what, let's take it up a notch. Or let's extend it further. 

Or let's just stop right here. And then let the crowd sing or whatever, just connecting with the band. That's what's helped me understand. 

Yeah, I guess. I think that would be the right word to say. You've got a show coming up tomorrow. 

Do you have like a particular process or a set of rituals that you do to prepare? Like you have a show today, whatever. You have like any kind of Vinay method? Not really. I mean, I think because, I mean, the only thing I can say is that I need to have eat something. 

Food, like, you know, I can never play on an empty stomach. Yeah, I'm too old for shit. I need to have some food, a couple of sandwiches or whatever before I start playing. 

And then obviously food after. But yeah, I think that would probably be my ritual Vinay method, I say, you know, eat some food before playing. I mean, normally a lot of musicians, they say, you know, I can't eat before playing because it makes them sleepy or whatever. 

Not me. I mean, drums is a physical instrument. I can't beat the shit out of the drums if I don't have the energy to play. 

So I like to eat something before I start playing. Obviously, a little bit of small stick warm ups and stuff like that just to get the hands and legs flowing. And that's about it. 

What's your relationship with gear? Are you like particularly particular about what you play? I think it's fairly known, not only within the music committee, but especially, I mean, it's well known within the drumming community that I'm a huge fan of Sabin cymbals. It's been like that for more than a decade now. I mean, there used to be a point in time where I'd be like, you know what, I can't play anything. 

But as you grow older, you kind of get used to the finer things in life, the nicer things in life. And yeah, that's pretty much it. I like to take my cymbals wherever I go. 

Different snares maybe depending on the occasion. But I generally carry cymbals, my snare and maybe a couple of clamps and stuff like that. If I have that, then I think you can play any show that I can or any recording that I can do. 

You obviously like worked a lot on your skill and your technique and all that to be where you are. But is there something beyond that? Like maybe something in the spiritual realm, which your performance gives you? Or is it just like a method of communication? Yeah, I think it would be a method of communication. I am not a this thing of the whole spiritual thing. 

I mean, there's no, I mean, that's just me. No, the same for the others who believe it and stuff like that. That's, I mean, you do you kind of a thing. 

But for me personally, no, I don't. That's not my, that's not my thing. How does your like personal history and your identity inform your performance? Or does it not at all? Certain times it does actually. 

The whole thing of, you know, I have this t-shirt called the sexy ball guy t-shirt. So I used to wear it quite often with when I was, when I play with a band called RJD. I mean, if you know the band, you know, the, you know, the two main buggers, Ritesh and Ditesh, you know, they're built buggers. 

They've got their nice gym bodies and they're fit and all that. And then at the back, there's me, you know, on the drums and all that. So I needed to show, you know, stand out, I think. 

So I think from there, the whole identity of, you know, the whole sexy ball guy thing started. Yeah, there's no, honestly, there's no, this, it doesn't inform or it doesn't do anything to my performance because the only thing I'm focused at, focused is making sure that the band's performance is good. Since you talked about sexy ball guy, will, what do you think about, what's your, this thing on persona and appearance on stage? How important is it? Some people have like a totally different people on stage, then they're off stage. 

Some people are exactly themselves. So what's your take on that? And what are you? So, I kind of have to bring in the whole, the session drummer as mind to it, because I play for the band, 

you know, or play for the music. There are multiple bands and artists that I've played for where, you know, they're completely different off stage. 

Swaratma, for example. I think a couple of them are completely different off stage, you know, just in terms of behaviour, you know, because on stage, they're like wild cats. But off stage, you know, they're very calm and composed and stuff like that, which is interesting to see, which is nice to see. 

Then there are some bands that I've played for where they're both wild on and off stage. So I think I just learned to adapt to how they are both on and off stage. And yeah, I think that's about it. 

Just like, see how they are on and off stage and just adapt to them accordingly. When it comes to me personally, I think I'm the same. I mean, you know, I don't do any wild, you know, on stage and off stage. 

What about appearance? Like, do you like to dress up when you go on stage differently than you would do in real life? I'm the complete opposite. I mean, so that's one thing that I'm slowly learning, especially now. I'm still struggling with it. 

Usually, when I'm, you know, when I'm on stage, it's always like, you know, a t-shirt and jeans or a shirt and jeans. That's about it. It's only up till very recently that I'm, you know, being taught the concept of, you know, stage clothes and, you know, off stage clothes and stuff like that. 

So it's hard. But it's sometimes, sometimes I get it, you know, because on stage, it's, you know, it's the whole vibe. It's the whole package that's being presented to the audience and all that. 

But an audience is coming to watch you. Exactly. And then, but then sometimes some of those clothes, I just feel like, yeah, I'm not too comfortable wearing that, you know, it's just, it's just not me and all that. 

I just can't, I just be comfortable in my, like, you know, just playing with what I'm wearing and stuff like that. I'm, I mean, you know, I'm a drummer anyway, who gives a shit about the drummer anyway. So, so it's like that. 

And yeah, that's, it's, it's a, it's a new battle for me with, with stage clothes and off stage clothes. I wanted to talk about balance between preparation, rehearsals and improvisation. So, where do you, where are you on that continuum? Are you, do you like to be totally rehearsed and prepared and this thing or do you like to improvise? I do, no, I do like to rehearse. 

I do like to have some sort of rehearsal and all that, but there is, there is a, to me, I feel there is a thing as too much rehearsal. You know, that's the point where your mind just gets fried. You're just like, you know what bro, you've been through all of this. 

It's fine. You're good and all that. And that's when it comes to a point that, that can, you know, 

lead to certain, you know, blunders on stage, which I don't. 

So, for any act, a couple of rehearsals is fine. I'm, I'm all for it. Even, you know, um, sometimes I'm okay with no rehearsals also, if, you know, we've been playing together for a long time. 

Um, again, for example, Swaratma, uh, because I've been playing with them for what, three, four years now. And I know their setlist and most of the, like almost all of their catalogue, at least 80% of the catalogue that is being used live. Um, there have been times where we don't need to rehearse, just go on stage, play. 

But unless if it's, you know, again, taking Swaratma with example, if we haven't, if I haven't seen these guys in, you know, um, more than a month, probably just, you know, I'd land up, I meet these guys just the day before, just a quick refresher. Uh, the, the, you know, just a muscle memory kind of a thing. Okay. 

And then, and then we go on stage. There have been, uh, most of the acts that I play for, um, just one or two sessions, you know, again, uh, unless if it's new material, it's completely new material, or if it's new material that I have to learn, uh, in that, you know, meeting with, you know, with the new, with the new artists, then there have been times where we have done five, six sessions and it's warranted because, you know, we're learning their stuff. I mean, obviously, or we're trying to figure out parts for their stuff and all that, you know? So, yeah. 

Uh, you know, general, uh, sense. Uh, yeah, I think a couple of, you know, at least one, maybe two. Yeah. 

I'm, I'm, I'm all for it. You know, unless if it's someone that we haven't, you know, you haven't played with in a really long time, or you haven't played with at all, then more is okay. Do you like to take risks while you're playing in a show? Like. 

Define risk. Like doing something wild out of like your, what people in your band itself do not expect, and you would do something or which will, which can backfire, which can be a wow moment. Uh. 

Or do you like to play it safe? Are you talking about in terms of playing? In terms of playing, yeah. Okay. In terms of playing, in terms of doing anything on stage, whatever, but mainly in terms of playing since. 

Okay. Yeah. No, uh, it has to be where, if I'm comfortable with, you know, predominantly I've been just an acoustic drums player, but once when I started playing, when I started playing for Alvin Presley, started incorporating electronics, Roland SPD and triggers and stuff like that. 

And, uh, that was interesting. That was new for me, but, uh, it seemed like, you know, a great idea to, you know, have some electronic items in the set. And, um, now we can't perform without it, you know? Um, so I'm open to risk. 

I feel I'm not going to shut down anything like, you know, yeah, there's noise thing or whatever. Unless if it's really like in my head, I feel it's really dumb. Uh, you know, uh, there have been, uh, I'm trying to think of moments where, where situations, uh, risks, risky situation has been like really dumb in my head, but I can't think of any. 

Um, yeah. Can you think of anything where you did, uh, took a risk and it was paid off like big time? Um, I would say bringing in electronics into Alvin Presley set, um, again, considering the fact that I've been predominantly, uh, acoustic player bringing electronic. So you did that on the, on the day of the show or? No, no, we practised, had to practise because there's completely, you're bringing in new technology to, you know, into the set. 

And I also have to get used to it. I mean, I still, I still take time, you know, I still take some couple of sessions on, you know, to get used to playing his set, especially because, you know, just to make sure that I'm triggering, uh, you know, backing tracks or any one shot samples or whatever, I still need a couple of, you know, a session or two to make sure that, that I've got my, you know, my muscle memory down. But, um, yeah, I think that's a thing. 

Definitely. I had a, we had a couple of sessions into like figure out how to incorporate, uh, in our set list. During a performance or in and around a performance, lots of things can go wrong, like mistakes on stage and then mistakes off stage, something going horribly, something went horribly wrong for you off stage in your Japan trip. 

Oh, why don't you tell us about your, what happened? Oh my God, that's going to be the, the, the, what I'm trying to find the word for it. I mean, it's like a, the only thing I can think of is like, it's like a double-edged sword for me. I mean, that place was so nice, but yeah, that traumatised me. 

It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. No, I mean, it's okay. It's, I mean, the accident was a typical fucking, it was like a Tom and Jerry, a typical Tom and Jerry kind of accident, you know, where, uh, so I was, uh, I was heading back to the hotel. 

I had my cajon, um, strapped to me like a backpack. So it turns out that that, uh, bag that was carrying the cajon has multiple straps, you know, so you could carry it like a duffel bag or wear it like a sling or whatever. So one of those straps, uh, got caught on  A parked bicycle handle, which is, I mean, when you think about it, it's insanely fucking funny because, you know, a random cycle that's just been, you know, parked on the street. Yeah, it was on the street, you know, and it was just parked there. It was just there. 

Nobody was there. Nobody was, you know, moving or whatever. It was just there on the side. 

And then my strap just, you know, yanked me back. And then it jerked me back and I fell. I lost my balance and fell down. 

And then thankfully locals helped me up. But as soon as I got up, I knew something really bad had happened because I felt this huge, like insanely sharp pain in my left knee and I couldn't stand. And that's when I freaked because not only that sharp pain was there and I couldn't stand, I was just like, what the fuck? And thankfully, our tour manager and Alvin were in the same city. 

I mean, they were somewhere else, but they were like 15 minutes, 20 minutes away. So I called them up like, yeah, you guys got to come get me because I can't stand and whatnot. And at that on, when the thing, when the accident happened on that day, that week, that is the day of the accident and the following week or whatever, that shit was scary because I didn't know if I could play again. 

I couldn't walk. I needed to, you know, hobble around in crutches and stuff like that. Thankfully, there was no fracture. 

And when I, and soon as I came back home, got scans done and, you know, thankfully it was nothing too serious. So I'm on the mend now, so that's great. And yeah, there's hope for me to, you know, get back even stronger now. 

Let's see. So that's a off stage risk. You know, you never know when suddenly something just might come and yank you off and whatever. 

On stage, a lot of shit has happened. Mistakes. Sometimes you forget songs, you forget parts. 

And you know, sometimes you're playing the wrong part. You'd be like, oh no, wait, you're not supposed to play this particular part now. And you're like, oh shit, how do we recover from that? And all that. 

So many times that's happened. So how do you recover? How do you, you get flustered? Or it's just like, soldier on? Soldier on? Both. It's a mix of both, I think. 

Because it's, I think that reaction is there because I've been playing for so long, you know. 

Because a lot of this, oh shit, moments have happened in the past, when I was young and all. At that time, you know, you used to freeze and like shit, you actually like get worried and like, no, no, you have to get on track and this thing. 

And all that time it was very evident. But now it's a mix of, oh shit, but you know, it's okay, it's calm, it's good. You know, we can. 

No panic. No panic. We can, you know, just as long as we all have our eye contact and we know where we need to come back to, then it's all good. 

Technical shit has also happened. Where my wireless in-ear pack has fallen off. So I was without the click or without, you know, I couldn't hear anything and all that. 

And so that's happened to me. Or sometimes when the in-ear monitor just stops working and I have no idea as to what is going on. That's happened to me a few times. 

But again, because of the number of years that I've been playing, you just be like, show must go on. Don't freak out. Don't let the public know that there's something is up and whatever. 

As long as you get the, what is it, if you can call to attention any of your band mates or some of the assistants or technicians or whatever, then we can work this shit out. I guess in most cases, if you resolve it fast enough, the public is not. Exactly. 

Yeah, no, that's happened quite a few times. What's your relationship with the audience? Are they like passive observers or are they active participants? Do they, I mean, matter to you when you're playing? So it matters from a band perspective. But for me personally, I'm like a cat on the fence type. 

Again, for me, I feel that because being a drummer, nobody gives a shit about the drums. Except when you play a drum solo. Exactly. 

Which I hate, by the way. I hate fucking drum solos. Anybody and everyone who keeps asking, showing drum solos, I'm like, no. 

I hate doing a drum solo. That's one of the reasons. I hate being in the whole spotlight and all that. 

I'd like to make sure that what I'm playing helps the band feel good. Therefore, when they feel good, they give out a great performance to the public and then they're all like, okay, that's all that shit. And yeah, if the audience reacts well to the artist that I play for or to the band that I play for, great. 

You know, it's not, yeah, I think I'm all for that. I'm not going to, I don't think I can like, look at them and look at them and be like, hey, you know, hey, yeah, to all the stakes, all that showmanship. Yeah, I'm personally, I'm not that kind of a thing. 

I like to just play the drums, you know, serve the bands of the artists I'm playing for. And yeah. Do you recall any instance when the audience made it so special for you? Like I previously mentioned, playing with Seenar, the number of times where they've just sang so loud and just be like, man, I'm just like, bro. 

Why are you even playing? Yeah. I mean, it's like, that was like the first thing, that first gig that I played with him, 21st Spirit. That was like the same, so many times that have happened. 

That was the experience for me also when we played the first gig together. Yeah. You just be like, he's singing the song, just be like, yeah. 

And then, I mean, usually people would know just, you know, a few lines or whatever, but a lot of them knew the whole fucking song, like from start to finish. I mean, I don't know that, you know, and I've been playing for them for like, what, five years, six years now. And that's always great to see, you know, when fans just love their songs and just sing it out loud. 

And, you know, that's amazing. What's the most challenging aspect of performance for you? And how do you deal with it? Getting the, if it's playing for the first time with an artist or a band, getting the shit done right, played right. You know, sometimes there might be some different parts or syncopations or whatever. 

And you're just making sure that, that's always nerve wracking for me, you know. There have been multiple times with situations where I'd be like, okay, this song, okay, this is going to be the hard part. Then, okay, I have to concentrate and make sure that I get that hard part down, because if I don't get the hard part down, then I just be like, shit. 

But I shouldn't, you know, make that, you know, it shouldn't be that obvious to make sure that, you know, crowd sees the mistake or whatever. But I think that's always been a thing for me, just to make sure that I get the parts down. What's so unique about a live performance that can never be recreated in recorded mediums? Damn, I think considering that both of us play for CNR, you know, the whole thing of being in the moment, that's something that can never be taken for granted. 

There is always going be some sort of moments that happen during a show that can never be pulled off, you know, in a recording. Yes, recordings, you might stumble onto, you know, some new cool way to play something or whatever. But you record it, you play it, and that's being played over and over again. 

But that shit cannot happen, can only happen once in a performance, you know, suddenly be like, decide, okay, you know what, I'm going to go, let's, you know, in this particular outro of the song, instead of going double time, let's go half time. And then you're just like, you're feeling that groove or whatever, you know, so, or even crowd interactions that turn into something like a jam session or whatever. Yeah, those are, yeah, it can never be taken away. 

A lot that happens on stage of being in the moment is something that's freakishly special than a 

recording performance. So, in an increasingly digitised world, what role do you think has live performance to play? I mean, live performance has its place, like you cannot replace live performance with anything digital. I mean, they tried the whole virtual concert, they tried the whole meta concert where, you know, you log in, you see the whole augmented reality or whatever, virtual reality, that way you get to be a part of the whole meta world and shit like that. 

I mean, that's fun. Yeah, it's okay. But that's a, that's a fact, that's a, you're saying, there's nothing, nothing can replace life. 

I mean, you listen to a song, even if you listen to a song, you connect with it and whatnot, in whatever reason that you connect with. And then you see that performance of the song in front of you. That's just another feeling that no digital provider, service, whatever digitised version or whatever solutions or whatever can replace. 

Life performance is here. And it's something that some meme that I saw on Instagram, life performance is one of the best fucking inventions by human being. It's well said. 

You think there's any purpose beyond entertainment to in performance? You can do, you can entertain, you can, you know, There are deeper message. Deeper message, of course, yeah, to teach about, you know, social causes and stuff like that. Get, you know, get your audience to learn or shed some light on any social causes and stuff like that. 

You can do that. Sometimes you want, you can do both. You can not only entertain, you can also you know, what was the word for it, teach, educate, you know. 

Yeah, sometimes we, Swaratma does that with some of their songs, you know, in terms of environment and stuff like that. One of the songs that they have in the catalogue is talks about child sexual abuse and stuff like that. So yeah, you can do both, I feel. 

But I think, I mean, this is my personal view. It depends on the situation or the place, I feel, you know. Sometimes all people just want to do is just to have fun, just to be entertained. 

I mean, you know, just to let go of whatever problems they had in their the same so that they can use a live performance as an escape so that they can forget about whatever problems that they have had over the next two hours, two and a half hours, three hours or whatever. Sometimes it can be used, you know, to use to amplify a particular message that you have been so angry about, you know, and you be like, yeah, this thing makes sense. How do you define success or failure in a performance? Damn, okay. 

That is, there will be people who would say that I am sure there is going to be someone who will be like, you know, if I can see one person just vibing, jiving, that is a success. You know, there are going to be people who are going to say, you know, if I see the entire crowd vibing and jiving, then it is going to be a success. I am for the latter, I feel, okay. 

Be it whatever the occasion, you know, as long if your crowd is moving and grooving and, you know, paying attention to you and they are having a good time, I think that is a success. But unless if you are playing for a wedding. If you are playing for a wedding, then nobody gives a shit about you. 

What about your performance or your band's performance? How you played on that day? How do you, do you like introspect into that? Times. The only time when I actually introspect is if I have made a particular mistake in playing. I am like, oh shit, made some mistakes or whatever. 

Oh damn, okay, this thing, so something went wrong or whatever. That is the only time I introspect. Otherwise, if the general vibe has been great overall, I will be like, okay, we had an awesome gig. 

You know, that is good. Let us go meet some people, say thank you for coming out, you know, and enjoy the night and have a great time, have a great night. So, yeah, that is the only time I do introspection. 

Only if something has gone wrong. But if everything is great, everything is great, why think about have a good time. So, we all have like our challenges in our lives, whatever it may be like, personal life and maybe relationship, maybe something else. 

Does that affect you while you are performing? If you have some, if you have something going on somewhere else, good or bad? In the bad sense, I think it is affected in terms of Because some people can like shut off. Yeah, no, no, yeah, that predominantly, I think the perform, the mood of the performance or how I am playing, you know, that has happened to me a couple of times, where some bad shit has happened. And I am like, my mood is completely off or completely down. 

That has happened. You know, death of a loved one. I am just like, fuck, you know, I have lost this person, but you know, I still have, I have a job to do. 

So, that time my face is, you know, quite, has been quite sullen to say the least. Okay. The good stuff, obviously, you know, if everybody is happy, I am happy. 

I like to feed off, you know, the energy of not only by the band members, but by the general vibe of the entire concert. You know, if it is, if it is very happy, then I am also very happy. And you know, I like to enjoy and be like, have a great time. 

So, yeah. Obviously, what you do is very strenuous, physically. And so, like, do you have some kind of, do you have some kind of physical regimen? I mean, I should. 

And also like touring, constantly touring and all that, probably like, does it like, have a toll on your physical and mental health? It has, mental health, I do not think it is come to that extent. Physical, maybe in terms of sores and aches and stuff like that, you know. But I think, yeah, no, I like being, being, you know, a 37 year old drummer, I do need to do some sort of physical 

exercise and whatever, just to make sure that, you know, my body is all and able to play and stuff like that. 

But I am just doing, I am just starting it now, because of the accident that happened to me in Tokyo. So, I need to definitely do that. But before a gig, just, I do a lot of stretches, you know, especially shoulders and arms and, you know, just loosen up the legs, you know, just by, you know, bringing my knee up to my stomach and stuff like that. 

And after the show, I think just sleep, sleep is just been like, you know, there have been times where it'd be like, everybody just want to go out and, you know, party or do after party, I just like, sleep, sleep, sleep it off, just have a shower, because I am all sweaty, you know, have a shower, you know, get clean and, you know, get all the sweat off and then pass out. Sleep is been, sleep, especially for touring, sleep, sleep is like, one of your best friends that you need to, you need to sleep in order to survive at all. So, like, performers life is hard in terms of money, at least for most of the people out there. 

What is your relationship with money? How has it been? What do you have any kind of advice for? Future generations of performers and how they should deal with it? Save, do not fucking spend. Like, again, this is going back to a thing that you and I did with ZNR. We did some video thing. 

Save, no matter what, whatever you earn. So, what I do is, I have been doing this past few years now, but. So, like, has this like come later or did you do it from the beginning of your career? No, no, no. 

I did it much, I started much later. So, back then I used to spend whatever, whatever, be it on food or, you know, going out to a bar, you know, meeting, partying or whatever, or on gear and I just spend it all. But now I have made it a point, no matter whatever, you know, money I earn, 50% of that goes into another bank account. 

That is it. Okay. It is like savings account and stuff like that. 

I mean, there have been times where I have dipped into the savings for, in case if I needed to buy, make, you know, larger purchases or whatever, but that has helped because I have had that savings and all that. And then the remaining 50% is just used on, again, on daily, you know, life. Again, food, you know, provisions, sometimes gear, practise time, jam pack, whatever, all that. 

Yeah. So, like lots of like artists cannot get on stage without having some kind of stimulant, alcohol, drugs, whatever. Do you have any relationship? No, I mean, so before when I was a kid, yes. 

When I was a kid, be like, yeah, no, I need to have this and this and this and then I would, I mean, no, drugs was never, I never, I do not do drugs, I do not, that is, so that is never the thing. Before, I used to have a couple of drinks before, you know, going up on stage. Now, I am 

like, you know what, it depends on this thing. 

If it is a bar gig, maybe I will have, I will just have, you know, a pint, you know, just sitting by me. I will nurse that, have a couple of sips before going on stage and then nurse that throughout the, you know, entirety of the performance. But food, again, food, no matter what, I have to eat, you know, there has to be some sort of food in me before I start playing. 

It is now come to that. Otherwise, I just cannot, I do not think I can play my best if I do not have food in me before playing. It is like the Popeye cartoons, like how Popeye eats fucking spinach and then he gets a full strength and all that shit and all that, yeah, and I need to eat some food before I, you know, can whack the drums and all that, like, yeah, now food is my thing. 

We are coming to the end of this wonderful session. Just the last question, we wanted to find out the whole purpose of these series of talks are to find out the essence of what is performance. So, if you have one philosophy of what is the essence of a performance, if you can distil it into. 

I do not know. For me, performance is hard, you know, it takes a huge amount of dedication and perseverance when it comes to performing, you know, because there will be times where you will perform to no one, there will be times where you perform to 100,000 people. And so, yeah. 

So, but the thing is, when you perform to no one, it can be soul sucking. But when you perform to 100,000 people, it is like no other feeling, you know, it is very addictive. Yeah, it is very addictive. 

You just, just the whole thing of, you know, having the crowd just vibe with you and jive with you. Yeah, that is no other feeling. So, but it takes a certain amount of time. 

You cannot, it cannot happen instantly. You know, yeah, it is, but once you get it, yeah, you cannot let go of it, I feel. Brilliant, Vinay. 

Thank you so much. This has been like wonderful. Thank you very much for having me. Wonderful. See you in the next show. Yes. 

Thank you very much for listening. I really hope you enjoyed the show. There'll be new episodes every Tuesday, so don't forget to come back.