Tune in: Melody Matters

Twenty-eight-year-old Salil Bhayani is a musician, a composer and an orchestrator based in Los Angeles. He started learning Indian classical music at the tender age of six with his grandfather, a trained singer and a harmonium player, being his first teacher. In a quick chat, he tells us about his musical favourites:

One song you have on repeat on your iPod these days: None, really. It’s always something different. I like to keep it mixed up!

Can you name five songs that that best describe your life which would those be and why?
Being a hopeless romantic, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique has to be the first one. Mirrors by Justin Timberlake, Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel, Paris Sunrise #7 by Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, and Can You Feel The Love Tonight from The Lion King soundtrack.

Is there a song you love to listen to when:
You’re happy and upbeat: Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop The Feeling
You’re really low: Anything by Beethoven.
You’re working out:  Billboard Hot 100.

How would you describe your taste in music?
My taste is partly based on pure reaction to something I listen to, and partly an afterthought that’s borne out of analysis. But, mostly, I like or dislike something first, and then comes the ‘why’. My music education and intuition helps me pin down usually what I like or don’t like in most cases. But, the times when I can’t pin that down is when I know it’s magic.

Favourite time to listen to music: Right after breakfast, and before I start working. It puts me in a good space mentally, and inspires me to create.

One band/musician that you want a private concert from: The Corrs.

One live act you would love to see at least once in your life: LA Philharmonic performing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony next month at the Hollywood Bowl!