Q&A: MILIND DEORA
Milind Deora, politician, on his new band Third Degree, which performs at Mumbai venue The Quarter
Q. How did you start your band Third Degree?
It started with Ashu Phatak, Nakul Toshniwal and Ranjit Barot of The Quarter saying ‘Why don’t you start jamming?’ I took them seriously and called [singer] Vasundhara [Vee] with whom I was in a band called Tightrope in Delhi. Ashu suggested [we] jam with the teachers at the True School of Music. All of them are amazing musicians.
Q. What are the set lists like?
It’s a mix of blues, jazz, soul and old-school rock n’ roll. There’s stuff from Willie Dixon and Eddie Boyd (whose song ‘Third Degree’ the band is named after), there’s some Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Freddie King, Albert King, B.B. King. We’ll be dropping and adding stuff during every gig.
Q. Who’s your ultimate guitar god?
Probably Hendrix. You can learn the best blues from him, the best arrangement from him. If you go through the psychedelic phase, he’s great for that. If you want simple classic rock, he’s great for that. If you’re in the mood to listen to ambient sounds or a heavy metal kind of riff, you can get that too from him.
Q. Remo famously sang ‘Politicians don’t know to rock n’ roll’. Do you agree?
I don’t know if that’s true. I didn’t think about it when I got into politics at 27. I never received a lot of flak [for my music]. There were one or two people who said, “You shouldn’t do this; you won’t be taken seriously.” At some point, I felt a little conscious about it. Now I don’t care. If people want to be judgemental, they can be judgemental about anything.
—with Amit Gurbaxani