Maya

PRONUNCIATION KEY: Gautam (GAW-thum) Malhotra (mul-HO-thraa)

IN A NUTSHELL:
The music on this CD is definitely categorizable on a song by song basis, but not as a whole. One third of the tracks have singing while the rest are purely instrumental. Some have a pervasive Indian influence fused in with his rock sensibilities, while some tracks could simply be called pop songs. The one underlying theme of this album is that all of these tracks were composed and recorded by Gautam without any outside pressures...music as a form of expression. Although it can most certainly be played as non-intrusive background music, close attention to the compositions will not disappoint the attentive listener. Listen to the tracks and see if you agree!

SOME DETAILS:
Numb to the Din is an album of compositions by Gautam Malhotra which was released on compact disc in May of 1996. Indian Blues Box, Marie, Marking Time, and Agnostic Spiritual were all written by Gautam during high school. "These particular songs weren't mature enough to release when the album Marking Time was published." Otherwise, the rest of the compositions were all conceived during his college experience.

Like its predecessor, this album was done under the dubious title of "music research" during Gautam's final year of college. "I knew that I had enough music to put out an album but just not enough time to package it. Since a few of the pieces were written in the college classroom setting as midtern/final projects, I thought the administration might give me college credit to put out a whole CD." It was formally accepted and later favorably graded by Professor Daniel Goode of the Mason Gross School of Music.

"My indian influences were definitely a strong component on this album." This comes as no surprise considering his exposure to the large indian sub-culture at Rutgers. Gautam was known for his performances at diverse Rutgers cultural shows including Association of Indians at Rutgers, IPACA, MANAVI, Korean Christian Association, and many other lesser known groups. Shortly after its release, many people sought it out mainly for the Indian-American fusion pieces like Maya, Himalayan Queen, Indian Blues Box, and most of all Chaar Saal.

"I sold enough copies to cover the cost only a few months after it's release." It sold solely via word-of-mouth as no formal distributors were involved. Thanks to CDBABY.COM, many more will have the chance to experience Gautam's music first-hand.