Both sitar and tabla are typically played sitting on the floor, so we need a rug to sit and ideally a raised stage.

Ideally, we need a PA, but can bring our own mics, stands and cables.

Location and sitting arrangement.

No

The best gig I've ever done was being the opening act for the great sitar maestro Roopa Panesar, which took place at St Cecilia's Hall in Edinburgh. The best venue I've ever played in was The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with my band The Cosmic Shruti Box as part of Celtic Connections.

From an Indian classical perspective, my main influences have been the three great sitar players of the 20th century: Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee and Ravi Shankar. My musical approach has also been heavily influenced by many Western rock bands, such as The Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd and many more.

I have been playing music since the age of 12, when I started learning guitar. After high school, I carried out a BA in music composition at Berklee College of Music. During this time I became increasingly interested in Indian classical music and eventually decided to learn the sitar from guru Debashish Sanyal and carry out a PhD on Indian music at the University of Edinburgh. I have been performing with the sitar since soon after moving to Edinburgh in 2012.

My favourite type of event is playing in front of a quiet and attentive audience who follows the intricacies of Hindustani music improvisation. However, I also enjoy playing at lighter, more festive events where our role as musicians is to provide background entertainment for the main event, whether its a wedding, conference, etc.

We can adjust the length our performance according to the clients requests, but will typically range from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours. Longer performances would require a break in the middle.

Setup/pack down: 30 minutes

I prefer playing indoors, as we sit on the floor and can easily get very cold. However, if the weather is warm then I am happy to play outdoors.

For the most part we play Hindustani classical music, as well as various Bollywood and other cover songs from our repertoire. However, if the client has a particular request in mind then we're happy to try it out.

Depending on the context, most clients describe our music as soothing and relaxing, or as a lively and engaging accompaniment to the main event if our role is to play in the background.