Different beat
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Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
Carlos Gonsalves isn’t your average cheerleader – for starters, you’ll find a drum in his hands instead of pom-poms. Carlos was in Sri Lanka to cheer the Indian cricket team at the T-20 matches, breaking into a flurry of beats every time his team scored. Back home, Carlos has even cheered Sri Lankan cricketers like Tillakaratne Dilshan and Muttiah Muralitharan when they played for Indian businessman Vijay Mallya’s IPL team – Royal Challengers Bangalore.
On this visit to Sri Lanka, Carlos decided to let the team return home without him so that he could spend some time doing charity work on the island. Having enjoyed his trip to Sri Lanka so much, Carlos hopes to return next year for a proper concert. He particularly wants to keep working with children. He himself first became interested in the drums as a child. “I used to play on tins and plates,” he told the Mirror Magazine. As he grew older, his hobby turned into a passion. Seeing his indisputable talent, his parents decided to send him to college to study music. “I took music as my profession,” says Carlos, explaining that he’s never regretted the decision. “I can eat and sleep music,” he says.
As a teenager, he was part of the college band – Deep Red – which enjoyed quite a bit of popularity. Carlos would go on to study with the drummer Raul de Souza, learning how to read notations and the other basics of his craft. Other highlights of his career include his work with Goan music greats Lester Godinho (drummer) and Colin D’cruz (bassist), as well as his time touring India with the Latin group Obligato. Membership in the Indian fusion band ‘Shanti’ takes pride of place among his achievements. Other well-known musicians he’s played beside include Hari Kumar, a violinist and a student of the legendary L Subramaniam and (a personal favourite) Graeme Hamilton, UB40’s trumpet and saxophone player. Also to Carlos’ credit is his own album titled ‘Talking Drums.’
Carlos prides himself on being able to get a beat out of any kind of drum. Hailing from Mapusa in North Goa, he plays the Tabla, but says there isn’t a
Carlos with children at a workshop
percussion instrument he can’t master. He’s learnt the African drums known as Djembe and was taught how to play the Irish instrument known as the Duff by a group of Irish folk musicians. He’s mastered a few others while travelling to other countries but Ireland remains one of his best memories . There, he earned his way by busking, his drum kit case serving as his money box. As a result of his diverse experiences Carlos says he likes to hop genres and dabbles in experimental jazz, fusion and blues-rock amongst others, but what he’d really like to see is the percussionist take centre stage, with the other instruments for backup.
In Sri Lanka, Carlos carried out workshops with street children in Angulana and Horana. The programme was facilitated by Row International Organisation and the Survival Reggae Club of Sri Lanka. “I love the baila of Sri Lanka,” says Carlos, adding that he fell equally in love with what he calls the “culture of togetherness in Sri Lanka.”
Having worked with the children he admits he was impressed by their creativity. Asked to make their own drums for the workshop, they let their imagination run wild. One child made a four piece set using x-ray sheets nailed to wooden boxes – Carlos is so excited by the sound, he’d like to take it back and show it to his musician friends in India. “People here have the rhythm in them,” he says, adding that he thinks schools should encourage children to explore music and arts. “There’s a lot of creativity in children. We just need to help the kids focus and push them a little.”
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