Arlind Staffan Moller or Ale Moller will be performing in Goa at the World Peace Music festival, Sur Jahan. The former trumpeter who can play around 37 instruments is in Goa for yet another show. A fan of the country and of the average Goan, who he thinks is very open and likes to listen to different sounds, will be performing on Saturday at the Kala Academy.
It has been quite a journey for Ale who grew up in a family that did not have a musical bone in their body. The resident of Stockholm started off in music pretty late, in his early teens, when his older sister came home with her boyfriend who had a guitar who was singing songs in a very merry fashion. This touched him and from that day he started playing. As most young boys and girls of his generation, he listened to a lot of music from England and America. It was pop music which was great and to which he listened to quite a lot. But the world was certainly bigger than that. His older brother came home after spending a year in India travelling around the country with memories and music records.
He brought music of the shehnai maestro Ustad Bismallah Khan and that opened his eyes. Ale said, “This is very soulful music and there is a whole world of music. I met immigrants in my town and they were from Greece and I started playing with them. I went to Greece to learn music. I learned with a famous music composer playing in big arenas and in small cafes, I learned a lot and the Greeks sometimes would ask me about my country’s music. And as a city boy, I had not heard anything. I returned home quite confused”. He realized he knew nothing of his country's folk music despite spending all his life in it. He looked around and realised there were so many good players tucked around. After his love for rock music, it was jazz that had caught his fancy. He played jazz on the trumpet for several years to earn his livelihood. He realised folk music was just as complicated as jazz music. It had rhythms he could not understand. He decided to leave his city and move into one where there were a lot of folk musicians.
He became a student to older musicians. They gave him a lot of inspiration. The starting point of his music now is this music but he has now been working hard to modernise it in an artistically interesting way with new instruments but keeping the soul of the music intact. He said there was so much to like in folk music and it was important to play it. The music now he says has revived and is studied at university level and it is also possible to study other folk music styles from around the world. He has met musicians from all over the world and recently met a musician from West Bengal in Stockholm.
He has visited India on numerous occasions and it has always surprised him with its music which he feels is very rich and deep. Playing in Goa, he said, “I have performed twice and the reaction is lovely and they come after the show to thank you or to pose a question. I really love that. They are great listeners here.”