MUMBAI: Zian Calcuttawala aka Bulli Bainbridge gets its name from Facebook games. His love for music began at a tender age of 10 when he picked up the drums. By 21 he stepped into the professional arena of music. Mumbai showed him the gateway to what he wanted to pursue when he first came to the city in 2006. He used to play with few bands and then working as a full-time artiste manager and promoter for a few years at BlueFrog. While doing so he soon realized that he wanted to be part of the musical creation process.

“I used to play at college fests like Malhar and Kaleidoscope. But started working as a full time in the music scene when I joined Blue Frog in 2010. I was managing artistes there for a year and a half. During that span of time, I was also playing with the vocalist Siddharth Basrur. There I created a strong network around me. As much as I was enjoying my work there I realized that it was not what I was meant to do,” says Zian.

He applied for sound engineering and music production in the UK. Before moving for studies he did artiste management of NH7 in 2012. He states, “That was an amazing experience as I made one of my strongest networks there. That’s how I was able to work closely with Megadeth, Karnivool and Periphery. I am so found of OML because it gave me so many friends. Moving to London, once again it was an incredible phase of my life. I got the chance to volunteer with one of the famous studios called Abbey Road Studios London. My association with them didn’t end there. They made me their official representative in India.”

With the enriching experience he got in UK, he moved back to Mumbai in February 2014. He’s been working as a music producer, sound engineer and a freelancer since then. He explained, “There are two sides to what I do actually. First I along with my colleague Siddharth Talwar, We composed for advertisements and short films. On the other hand, Siddharth played for a couple of bands and I used to produce for the young independent artistes.”

While doing all these he came up with an idea of having an EP or album of his own. This is how Just This Once happened. Zian will be releasing the EP with Nrtya-the independent music label.

The EP has five tracks Pre-Game, Drop, When It Hit, On The Ledge and Party Is Over. He said, “The EP is based on a concept. I made it with a thought that I’ll make for one time. But as I went on I realised that the way I composed the songs made sense in another way. Each song tells about the different frames of mind that you find when you are on a night out.”

Zain’s music shows the way he has been trained. Growing up he was exposed to analog music like real old school music. He feels that’s a powerful and natural way of doing music. He said, “Every time I get along with bands I don’t put on extra layers and production. Being a songwriter I think it should be done in a natural way to reach the people. I am always excited to work on something which is very raw and natural. I love to take my own modern skills on it.”

Zain comes from fairly musical society. He was born in Mumbai but spent his first ten years in Nigeria. American music was just too strong, prominent for percussion and vocal driven. His parents were opened minded and always backed him in his journey. The family, in fact, embraced a lot of African cultures. He was inspired by some of the renowned musicians like Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti and more. At ten he moved to music and that kind of was a gateway to music. His father is Bodhi and mother is half Jewish and half Catholic. His grandfather is from Calcutta that’s how he gets his surname from. Grandparent spent their days in a small place in Gujarat.

He is solo artiste but as Bulli Bainbridge he sometimes works on collaborations. He says, “The most important thing one can work as a producer or a composer is collaboration. You cannot grow in a vacuum. You need new ideas, influences and new voices for music. In my opinion that’s where the magic happens. I am always excited to meet new faces and collaborate.”

He further said, “As a solo artiste it’s maddening but you know it is character development exercise for me. I have started taking up the responsibilities of a lot of things. Talking about how I manage, I think it just happens because of the territory. In order to be a successful independent artiste, one needs to be clear about what they are doing.  Secondly, go out and network with right kind of people to collaborate with. That way artiste will build his pool of people.”