EP. 29 Kanaxx - High Energy, Great Vibes

In this episode, we sit down with Ramkumar Kanakarajan, better known to the music world as Kanaxx. As one of India’s most prolific and versatile drummers, Kanaxx’s journey is a masterclass in staying grounded while playing at the highest level.

From peeking through a hole in a brick wall in Besant Nagar to watch legends like Sivamani and S. Murali Krishnan, to sharing stages with A.R.Rahman, Harris Jayaraj,   D.Imman, Sean Roldan, Sid Sriram, Amit Trivedi, INDOSOUL by Karthick Iyer, Grey Shack, SNAX, Maalavika Sundar, Kanaxx has seen it all. In this candid conversation, he opens up about the "flashy" early days of his career and his transition into a seasoned professional who prioritizes the soul of the song over technical flair.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Origins: Growing up in the musical hub of Chennai and how being neighbors with maestros like John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain shaped his subconscious.
• The Philosophy of the "Pocket": Kanaxx explains the fine line between playing for the song versus playing at it.
• The Professional Rigor: Why punctuality is his greatest prep tool and the meticulous work that goes into managing a professional drum kit.
• Stage Realities: Navigating "freak accidents"—from broken kick drum heads during competition finals to beaters getting caught in his pants.
• The Modern Spectacle: How the role of a musician has expanded to include stage persona, time-synced visuals, and creating an immersive experience for the crowd.

Transcript

And really happy to be here, finally, after a bunch of rescheduling. So how did it all begin for you? How did you get, like, do you remember how your first experience was? Yeah, very, very clearly in my head, because I was, I think this was 2000, and we were staying in Besanagar, my family, and we were at one of these dead-ends where the compound wall was shat by our apartment, and the Theosophical Society, KFI school. And so, and we used to play cricket in the dead-end, and there used to be this, it was a brick wall, and there was a couple of bricks that were missing in the wall, so there was a hole, and you could see the school through that wall. 

And generally it would be a whole lot of lectures, demonstrations, stuff like that, where people are coming over, just doing some fun stuff. But this one time when we were playing, it was my now guru, S. Murali Krishnan sir from Just Drums, and Sivamani sir together, who were doing a lecture demonstration for the KFI school. And I ended up dropping my cricket bat and staring through that hole for about three and a half, four hours, and it was scorching hot, actually, on our side of the street. 

They had a lot of trees in their compound. So I ended up just settling there and watching this whole thing. At the end of the lecture demonstration, I remember Murali sir walked up to me, and gave me his card and said, you know what, you can join my school if you are interested in drumming. 

And from then till the summer holidays, I pestered my parents to somehow put me into this drums class. And I ended up joining, and that's where it started. So what about like things that you saw and shows that you've seen and all that in those days? Yes. 

So my parents were avid music listeners, but not really into heavy rock music and stuff like that. Yeah, a lot of Carnatic, a lot of fusion bands, Ma Vishnu Orchestra, to Shakti. And my dad was also more into like the Carpenters, Boney M, Abba, that kind of stuff. 

And of course, the usual names, the likes of Raman sir, Ile Raja sir, MSV sir, all of them. So there was subconsciously a lot of music always in the house. And my mom learned the Veena from her mom, never took it seriously to like a performance level, but she was pretty good at it and still is. 

And so she deep down somewhere, somehow wanted one of the kids to pick up music. She never really voiced it out, but it was kind of there. And the minute I joined drum school, it was a little more serious for her than for me. 

For me, it was just like one of those other classes that a child is going to. But then initially, there's that flair where you're like you're hitting something, there's sound coming out of it. It's cool. 

And it's a lot of dexterity and your limbs are all put at work. So it was a little challenge for me at that age. So yes, music wise, there was a lot of music subconsciously. 

And also we moved to Chennai in 98 from Bombay. And we ended up being neighbours to the violin duo, Maestros, Ganesh, Kumaresh. So while we were above their house, they were in the ground floor. 

There would be so many Zakir Hussain, Viku Vinagram sir, Selva Ganesh, John McLaughlin, all of these people would come and jam downstairs. John Antony, all of these guys. And I didn't even know these guys. 

I knew Zakir Hussain because of the Taj ad. Because that's how young and immature I was. And of course, Sivamani sir is like a famous name with drums and whatnot. 

So for them, it was just Sivamama and stuff like that. Because Ganesh uncle's son, Akshay, who was my best buddy, who is my best buddy till now, who also happens to play violin for Raghu Dixit now, and a whole bunch of other bands. He used to call them as Viku mama, Selva mama, Johnny mama, and all of them. 

So for me, they were like uncles. And I didn't really have that like, Whoa, these guys are legends. You know, that distance wasn't there. 

So I was too close in proximity with these incredible musicians very subconsciously. And now that I think about it, I feel like that definitely factored in somewhere, somehow. So how has your understanding of performance evolved from that time to now? How has it changed? It's interesting. 

I feel like when I was younger, it was more on the flashier side of things. And, you know, the glam behind it and, you know, twirling the sticks and all of that cool stuff. And even like, I was trying to kind of put in everything that I learned into what I was doing all the time. 

I had fun doing it, honestly, but I don't know if the music really needed it as well. And that, I think, is a constant learning. Even today, I'm learning that, where there's... Can I say something in Tamil, actually? You can say it. 

Instead of playing for the song, he's playing for the song. So I was playing by myself. One of my... Yeah, so initially I was doing a lot, you know, because I was just learning at that phase. 

So every time I'd play a song, I was like, why is this guy just played that? Why can't he do this? Why can't he do that? But then there's beauty in just, you know, like playing something so basic that it just embellishes and makes the other elements in the music better. So that was a constant learning for sure. But yes, initially it was more glam and, you know, skills and techniques and all of that. 

It's still there, but now it's more in a very... I guess I'm trying to polish it. I won't say I'm like a 

polished, well done piece of art. I don't think anyone... Anyone is, right? You're constantly etching towards this goal that is moving forward and forward as you keep going. 

So, yeah, I feel like I'm in that process of evolving and learning to listen to the other people in the room more and more as we play together and understand certain dynamics of certain musicians as you play more often with them in the band and stuff like that. And it's helped a lot also in the freelance perspective where you're going to play for the first time and probably even the last time with these bunch of musicians and to, you know, quickly gel into that space and come out of it like nothing ever happened. I don't know if the initial flashiness and all that drama that I would musically do would have helped me be able to fit into rooms that easily. 

So, yes, slowly learning, but yes, it has grown from a lot of glam to more about what the song needs, what the song wants. Does it feel good more than sound good? A lot of things like that. Beautiful. 

So let's talk about preparation. How do you prepare for a show like mentally, physically? Do you have some rituals that you follow? Yeah, first of all, I feel like the most basic thing for me, even like including today, I kind of like always like, you know, racing with the clock. I try to be everywhere I have to be on time. 

That's like my first getting into a comfortable zone in a space. I was two minutes late, 11.02. I was like, damn it. Yeah, that's for me like that's a very, very vital process. 

In fact, if it's a rehearsal, I would reach there like 20 minutes earlier so that I can kind of just chill out and just be in the space and get into the rhythm of it. Eventually people come and start setting up and you get into the zone. So I feel like for me, this could be different. 

Everybody has their own ways. For me, I feel like that's like the start of my prep towards doing anything that I want to do in life. Yeah, being on time and being present mentally, doing whatever it takes to be mentally present in that space. 

That's something that I really emphasise a lot on. And the next, of course, is the preparation for the music itself. Now, they say there's a jam. 

It's upon you to ask what are the songs are we going to jam or is it a free jam or whatnot. If there are songs, then try and write down the structure, figure out how many bars of this, where the breaks are, what is the syncopation, what are the markings? What could we add to this? What could we not do from this and whatnot? But that comes later. But just that basic prep, I feel like is respecting the other people you're going to jam with and play a show with in that space. 

Not trying to take their time for granted when you come for a jam or something, you know, kind of like let loose and unprepared. There are geniuses who just like walk in and kill it and leave. I'm just not one of those. 

So I need that like pre-rehearsal prep, pre-show prep. So I do write my music initially when it's a new set or something that I'm playing. And it's just there like it's on my iPad. 

I have a bunch of sheets that I've written down for the show or something like that. And in the show, I don't really look at it because you're like three, four jams in. It's there. 

It's not like it's not there. But there are times when you're playing and you're so into it, you are lost. You're just like, I love this void that I'm in. 

And then suddenly you're like, oh, wait, what's up next? So that second you look and you're like, ah, OK, OK. Yeah, now we know where we are kind of vibe. So that is another thing that I make sure I do before shows. 

Prep musically as well to the music that's going to be performed and whatnot. And I feel like the general off late, I've been realising I have a weird thing. I've been having a mild nightmare of like, what if I just get up one day and I'm not able to play the way I used to play? Like yesterday, I did this. 

Today, I can't do this. I get that feeling sometimes, especially the heavy, intensive rock sets where there's all double pedal, all of the polyrhythms, all that stuff going on. You play the same album after like a year or so. 

You're like, man, how did I even do that? Like, I need to practise to get there now again. So that fear is kind of like put me to a routine to like work out every day in the morning, stuff like that. So that's another part of the preparation. 

And then there is my body's way of like prepping just minutes, hours before the show. I don't know if it's for every artist or something, but I feel really sleepy before a show. I'm almost yawning. 

And I'm like, man, I'm really sleepy. And I have a banana before every show. And then the minute you're on stage, that adrenaline just kicks in and you're at some other world. 

You're transcended to a new dimension and having the ball of your life. So yeah, I feel like these are the things that kind of build me up to the gig itself. So you talked about being transcended to another dimension. 

Yeah. So you think there is something beyond just your skill and technique? Yes, absolutely. Because you would know this for sure, playing intense jazz music and stuff like that, where there are no words. 

You don't tell somebody you're going to do this. But there'd be these sparks of magic that happens where you're going to do something that's improvised. And there's somebody else in the band who just locks in, as a coincidence, right? That's just like it's beyond words. 

It's beyond practise. It's beyond technique. It's beyond all of that. 

It's just you can't explain that feeling. It just feels so surreal when it happens every time. It's not like it's going to happen throughout a song, throughout the show. 

There are these sparks and bursts here and there. But that just reminds you how grateful you should be to be doing this every time. So I feel like, yeah. 

Somebody said this about technique, that the purpose of technique is to forget about it. Absolutely. Absolutely. 

It should become second nature so that you're just So that you can play freely. Yeah, absolutely. So what was I going to ask? I forgot. 

I see I had a blackout. You had a magical moment there. So what is your relationship with gear and equipment? I know lots of musicians and lots of drummers are obsessed with it. 

Yeah. You guys would have heard what Vikram had to say about his gear and stuff. I'm not as crazy as he is about his gear for sure. 

But yes, I do take care of my gear. As we speak, today is Vijaya Dasami. Yesterday was Ayudha Puja. 

So, you know, like oiled up, WD-40'd all the nuts and bolts. I follow Vinay Ramakrishnan for all the DIY tips and tricks. Of course, we've all been doing this over the years with all our equipment. 

But yes, when it comes to travelling and checking in, there is this, you know, you invest. It's a little expensive that way, I feel like. You buy this expensive piece of equipment, and then you buy a really expensive piece of gear that just handles your equipment, which is a hard case or something like that. 

Especially when it's an odd shaped instrument, it's more, you know, like made to order kind of cases and stuff like that. So I feel like it's absolutely vital how you keep your instruments for them to be where you want them to be when you're performing and doing what you're doing, right? Like our eventual goal is to be in oblivion and lost and having that magical moment on stage. And I don't want some nut to fall off my cymbal stand or something like that. 

And also, initially, for a long time in my life, I used to take my drum kit and set it up and do all of that. Now I have a tech for the last eight years, I think. Srini Chinnu. 

He has been vital in understanding the minute details that I like about how the kit should be and how the tuning of certain drums should be, to how well the lugs need to be tightened up, to check once before the showtime also. He'd quickly run on stage and check if all the nuts are tight. Suddenly, when I'm playing a crash, there'll be one cymbal that'll be slowly slanting towards me, stuff like that. 

You know, it kind of throws you off while you're having fun and having your moment. So having 

a guy like him to help me out has really, you know, helped me have a very seamless gig experience. And that comes with taking care of the gear well. 

So, yes, it's absolutely vital, I feel like. It goes without saying. Okay. 

So how do you balance, like, planning and practise and rehearsal and improvisation? So I feel like the initial part should be the planning and the practise. So planning is the first step. You plan out and figure out what you want to, you know, play and all of that. 

And then when you're practising, you are implementing what you have planned out. And you practise for a while. You do this regularly. 

You do it at least three times with the musicians you're playing with, and then you go home and you do your homework with the music and whatnot. And so you've at least been through each piece like six, seven times at this time before the gig. So naturally, I feel like at the gig, you'll just be throwing certain small things here and there. 

You know, over time, it'll become very beautiful and very polished and very nice. It's a very fine line. Yeah, because there are these people who will play exactly like the record. 

Yeah. It's still great. You can't find a fault in that. 

It's great. It depends on the set also for me. How much have I internalised the set for me to very happily do something? Or there would be a specific vocal run or something that happens in a certain place, which I would like to mark, which is probably not there in the song. 

And me marking it over there would just be like, hey, what was that? That sounds cool. Kind of just the eyes turn for a second on stage, and then that's it. It's gone. 

But those kind of things, yeah, I definitely take it when it's the gig day of a well-planned and a well-rehearsed set. OK, well said. So what is the most challenging aspect of the whole performance process? And what is an aspect you don't like? Sound checks. 

Long sound checks in the sunny afternoons in an outdoor gig is something that I don't really like. And most of the ecosystems that I am now a part of are bands that I've played for a long time. So it's a very well-oiled machine. 

It's on time. Everything is on time, on the dot. The drummer comes in. 

Our line check is done. Next guitarist, next bass player, percussionist. It's streamlined. 

So in that time, I'll go on to probably play a game on my iPad or something while somebody else is checking. And once the last guy has done his check, do one monitor check, all of us together, and it's done. But then you do these freelance big gigs, right? I play for a bunch of composers, like Sean Roldan, who also I've been playing for a long time. 

But when the big bands come in, like you have violins, you have a string section, you have a horn section, you have a keyboardist, you have a guitarist, then a lot of people on stage, about 15, 20 musicians on stage. At that point, it becomes a lot. And it's a very slow process. 

You can't expect somebody else to work the way you want this to work just because you're used to one way of doing things. And so while I'm doing my monitor check, I'd hate it when somebody else is like, can I have actually also a little less of that? I'm like, bro, you do that when you're doing your check. I'm now at my check. 

Let me just finish it. Yeah. Vikram loves doing that. 

He knows it annoys me when he does it. And another thing that annoys me is also when I have the click. I thought he said he's very focused. 

He only plays when he needs to play. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he has a guitar amp next to him. 

So it's like even when he's muted on the PA, his guitar amp is kind of blaring on stage. And he would be like, I'm like, bro, chill out, man. Wait a second. 

And I would also annoy him a little bit because of that. So this whole in-ear monitor mix thing is when it's a little annoying when somebody else asks for changes while you're doing your mix. Other than that, I think, yeah. 

OK. So is this the only thing that you don't like about it? Yeah, probably. OK. 

So how do you deal with unexpected things that happen, things that screw up? I would try to work around it most of the times. It depends on if I'm able to work around it also. Like I remember when me and my band, Grayshack, me and Vikram were playing Hornbill. 

We were competing in Hornbill. We were playing the finals. And I remember the second song, each band was allowed three songs. 

And we were playing our second original She Bites, originally played by Vinay. And I played that song. And my first hit on the kick drum, my kick drum kind of penetrates into the, my beater penetrates into the kick drum itself. 

And then I thought, OK, maybe I have a double pedal. So I'll try and see if I can play with the left beater till that part of the head tears as well, which just tore the second I hit the left pedal as well. And then at that point, I just had to stop. 

I felt really bad. It's a competition where the finals is kind of not what you want to have. But yeah, it's upon vendors, sound vendors and providers to have a spare of everything that is on stage. 

That's why I would emphasise on vendors to have a B rig right there at the gig itself. I guess that's feasible only in some bigger budget. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. 

But I wouldn't say you need to get another drum kit. But if you have a spare kick drum head, that would help. Because I would be already carrying a whole bunch of other stuff from snares to cymbals to double pedals to a bunch of clamps to my monitoring system to whatnot, my talkback switcher, all these things, electronic triggers and pad and whatnot. 

So I feel like that is something that there are moments which you can work around. For example, you're in the middle of a song. And somebody kind of by mistake pulls out a wire or something like that. 

It's about quickly just fixing it and just going for it. Or you could be really annoyed with it and be like, no, I'm going to start from first. That depends on the person that you and I are. 

And it differs from person to person. For me, I try as much as possible to work through it. There are these weird things. 

When you wear these formal pants, the pant is protruding in the front a little bit. And the beater gets stuck inside it sometimes. That is the worst. 

That's why I try and get really long pants so that there are frills in the bottom and it's not lifting up a little bit. And that's happened a couple of times. So it's a learning. 

You're constantly learning. And the stage is, I've always said this, the stage is the weirdest place also. The coolest shit could happen. 

The most weirdest stuff could also happen where you wouldn't even expect things like these would happen. Like a beater getting stuck inside a pant, come on. Nobody practises for that. 

Nobody preps you up for that. It just happens and you have to deal with it right then and there. As much as you can, I would say, if you want to be a little more like adjusting to the ecosystem, kind of try and work around it unless you really can't. 

At that point, you just have to stop and start and fix and do this again. So you play both live shows and also recordings. For a lot of people, you're seasoned pro in both things. 

Can you compare the two and say what are the differences, what are the similarities and what do you prefer? I mean, I don't know. For the energy, I definitely prefer a live show. That's unmatched. 

As opposed to being locked up in a studio. I wish the live show's energy had an ecosystem to be able to record very clearly which is the hypothetical situation, right? You can't. There's a crowd and all of those things happening. 

I definitely prefer live shows. But I have my fair share of fun with the studio recording because you have the chance to probably do something cooler than that first take sometimes. The first take is always smooth. 

It's just musically there. But then you'd be like, I have the chance to kind of punch in and do this cool thing that would really work well. And I can do that again. 

Which I can't do in a live show. Once played, you're played. It's done. 

So I guess both have their pluses and minuses in that aspect at least where you have the opportunity to maybe correct yourself if you've made an error or improvise if you feel like you didn't connect as much as you wanted to over a certain section or something. As opposed to a live show where you start, you finish, that's it, it's over. That's it, that song is done. 

You're moving on to the next song. However bad or good you played, that's it. That's over over there. 

Both are weird in their own ways and I kind of like it for what it is. But live shows energy any day over the studio. So you talked about crowds. 

So what is your relationship with the audience? How do you see them? Do you think they have a responsibility towards the performers and the music as well? Responsibility, again, that's something that's very subjective to the artist itself. Some artists prefer a very, very pin drop silent audience and who just want to observe the minute nuances of your musicality and all of that. And there are some people who are like, man, I just want to go crazy with you guys and jump and fly around and crowd surf and do all those things. 

And I'm part of acts that have both of this. Where there are bands that I play which are more concert orientated and there are bands that I play that are more gigs orientated. Where gigs are more like the fun environment where there's food and beverages all being served as opposed to the concert environment where the agenda is the music itself. 

And these I feel like are two different like spectrums of the audience. I kind of enjoy both of these disciplines in their own ecosystems. But you can't have a gnarly crowd in a concert theatre nor can you have a silent audience in a festival or a bar gig. 

So it's good the way it is. Yeah, I don't know how would you say about them having this responsibility as such. It's more like trying to camouflage into the environment that they are in. 

For example, you take a museum theatre. I've played shows there which are like pin drop silent. As soon as the song finishes the applause come in. 

And then that's it. There's not even one whistle or a none of that. And then I've played the other shows where nobody's sitting. 

Everybody's standing and it's a riot inside. So I kind of enjoy both of it. It depends on, I guess the music kind of gives them the energy or the vibe that you want them to be in. 

So they are in that space. I don't see a crowd really like mismatching the energy of what the artists on stage are giving as such. What is your expectation from an organiser of a show or a 

promoter? Well in advanced plan of itinerary with respect to logistics booking your flight tickets or your train tickets. 

And the main problem nowadays is with all the bands. Everybody is playing with a whole bunch of other bands as well. So everyone has a different place they are coming from or a different place they are going to after the show. 

So the promoters need to be a little accommodating of the fact that these people make a living out of doing this. So you kind of have to respect that and understand, okay so we have blocked you for this show. So we are going to get you from wherever you are to here. 

And then your next promoter is upon themselves to take you from wherever you are to where they want you to be for the next show. So planning the logistics is something that is absolutely vital. And with respect to meeting the tech rider that the band or the artist sends. 

So there are times when the clients have a relationship with a certain sound vendor or a company. And they would say, whatever your tech rider is, you have to go to this man. And he is going to do the sound for the show. 

And he or she might not have a lot of the equipments that we might be wanting. But these are absolutely vital to the music that we are going to perform and express through to these people. So I feel like that is something they need to understand a little more and not feel like it's arrogance or like you throwing a tantrum. 

It is a very vital basic need that when we say, you know like abroad I've heard artists who say, you know what, I want a bowl full of M&Ms without the brown M&M alone in it. And it's a part of like a hundreds of pages of a tech rider. There's one line that says that. 

And them seeing that for them is reassuring that, oh, this guy has actually read the rider. So I trust this guy kind of a vibe.