I had to maintain secrecy about playing for Ed Sheeran for a year: Ganesh Murali Iyer

Ganesh Murali Iyer has taken Carnatic percussion to the global stage. The Mumbai based percussionist has played Carnatic percussion instruments for Ed Sheeran’s upcoming album, Pla .

He tells us all about his experience working with Sheeran, recording for an international artiste, and more…‘I SHOWED ED’S VIDEOS TO MY PARENTS TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND HOW BIG HE IS’Last year, I was asked to register for a recording camp of an international artiste. Even when I got selected, I didn’t know which artiste I would be recording for. It was only two to three days before the recording that I got to know it’s for Ed Sheeran; I was both shocked and excited. The recording happened in Goa, in June 2024.

I had signed an NDA, because of which I had to keep this secret for almost a year. I only told my parents, but they didn’t know who Ed Sheeran was! I had to show his videos to make them understand how big an artiste he is.‘ED IS NOT JUST A GOOD SINGERSONGWRITER BUT ALSO A GIFTED PERCUSSIONIST’Ed is a very chill person to work with. When I met him, I didn’t feel that I was meeting one of the biggest musicians in the world.‘Ed and I had a very good spiritual exchange’Once, Ed asked me, ‘All the Indian classical musicians always sit on the floor. Is there any particular reason as to why?’ I told him, ‘It’s to show humility towards the music and the instrument.

We do it to show that the music and the instrument are way bigger than the musician’. To which, he replied, ‘If that’s the case, I’m not going to sit on a chair. I’m sitting right beside you because I want to show my humility to the country that my music and I owe so much to.

’ So, we also had a very good spiritual exchange.‘Recording for an international artiste is a different ballgame’Before each session, we used to play the instruments for Ed, as he was very new to Indian classical music and instruments.

I also gifted a ghatam to him because he really loved the instrument. He is not just a good singer and a songwriter, but he’s a gifted percussionist too.‘RECORDING 6-7 SONGS IN AN HOUR WAS A VERY BIG CULTURAL CHANGE FOR ME’Recording for an international artiste is a completely different ballgame. There are so many songs to record and not a lot of time. I had to record for six to seven songs in an hour. Whereas, in any normal recording session in India, you get one song and two to three hours to work on and record it.

That was a very big cultural change for me.Ask him about artistes he wants to collaborate with and Ganesh responds with two names: Sid Sriram and Ishaan Ghosh. “A decade ago, while speaking to my guru, Sid said, ‘I want to take our traditional Tamil folk songs and sing them on the world stage.’ It’s inspiring that he is now actually doing it.