His back is turned, and you see the straps around his neck to hold the saxophone. Maarten Visser is facing the musicians on a stage, the violinists in one corner, the drums, the sitar and the guitars in another, and in the centre is musician Manoj George leading the troupe. As the big band of musicians rehearse for the first musical show that the renovated Tagore Theatre will open with in Thiruvananthapuram, Maarten the Dutchman blends in easily. No one looks at him like an outsider, he belongs. And why not? Maarten has been living in India for over 15 years now.
Back in Holland when he finished a contemporary music course, he knew he wanted something else in his music, he just didn’t know what. That’s when he listened to two concerts playing Indian classical music – a Carnatic one and a Hindustani one. “I found them intriguing, I didn’t get it and I wanted to learn more. So just like that, I packed my bags and came to Chennai, to learn Carnatic, because that was so dynamic and the structuring so far beyond me,” Maarten says, sitting on the steps outside the Tagore Theatre, where the rehearsal has begun early morning on Friday. He feels very comfortable in Thiruvananthapuram where he comes often, for shows, especially a few for television. “For Music Mojo in Kappa TV, for the Indian Voice... And then I also associate with Stephen Devassy a lot.”
In Chennai, his attempts to learn the Carnatic music didn’t really work out well. Afterward, he collaborated with dancer Padmini Chettur, composed music for her productions. His own search for music continued in another direction. “I would be told my music is too western. So I thought I will take everything ‘culture specific’ out of it. So the harmony, the rhythm and the melody went out. I was just left with sound. And I started developing it.”
The train of thought that came to him was what he would do if he was alone in this planet with his rhythm. He brought back each of the elements he took out, and started experimenting. He began working with two trio bands – Oto.3, which could play in a concentrated setting like a gallery, and MV3 (‘well, that’s just my name’), which was an improvised band and easier to play. What he loves is experimenting, even now he has a project planned with a painter from Kolkata. “He would paint and I would play.” But then he can’t always afford to be experimental. “I can’t survive on that, I need money. So I go play the saxophone for anyone who calls me,” he laughs. Manoj George though, is not like that. “He is an extraordinary instrumentalist and it is always a joy working with good musicians.”
