How do Sydney-based quintet Jinja Safari collect inspiration for the unique sonic blend of coastal chills, harmonic folk pop and tribal rhythms? They get around. Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Pepa headed off on the hunt for a little musical and spiritual awakening, setting his compass due east to India where he scored tabla lessons from a guru, drank chai in Delhi, and was confronted with crucial life lessons at high altitudes. Accompanied by beautiful photography of the local scenery, this is his story of chasing inspiration in India.
Pepa: I finally arrived in Delhi with my wife Gina after waiting almost two years from failed visa attempts. We spent the majority of the first day drinking chai with the locals but we also got to experience some of the ancient temples that Old Delhi has to offer. It seems like everywhere I look there is inspiration for new songs and visual ideas for our upcoming “Locked by Land” Tour.
My 23rd birthday was spent at the foot of the Himalayas in Manali. Gina and I bought a tabla and scored some lessons off a funky guru called Johni, who made the tabla out of mango wood and yak skin. We are still not professional tabla players yet but i’m sure we could be if we practiced for six hours a day for the rest of our lives.
The drive into the Himalayas was the most spectacular sight I have ever seen. Australian mountains only seem like mounds of dirt compared to these giants. It is dangerous though. Our jeep driver, Gohbint was sliding all over the place through the sludge roads that zigzaged up to the peak of the mountains. At one point our back tyre swung over the edge of the cliff and it exposed a good view of what death could have looked like.
This is me getting overly excited that we reached the top of a mountain that took over two hours to drive up. After this photo I nearly died from lack of oxygen but at the time I felt so alive!
In each village that we travelled to in the mountains, we met Spitian families that kindly let us stay in their mud houses for the night. They each had solar panels on their rooftops that gave them enough electricity to light up the house for a few hours of the night. Every house had a room that they used for their kitchen, bedroom and living area where the whole family gathered and constantly cooked us chai tea on their indoor fire. I couldn’t speck Hindi or Bhoti very well but I felt a strong bond with these people and really looked up to them. It made me want to live a simpler life.
I stumbled my way to the highest village in the world but every twenty minutes I nearly passed out from severe altitude sickness. The only water that we carried was mouldy mountain water that a monk boiled and gave to us. I also wasn’t eating because I had an ill stomach which I later discovered was only from taking my Australian malaria medication on an empty stomach. I realised that I should never pursue the dream to become a professional athlete.
After a little Spiti Safari adventure in the Himalayas, we made it to Agra. We snuck into the Taj Mahal before the sun rose to avoid being amongst the tens of thousands of tourists that visit it each day. It was even more epic in real life. While I was there I recorded some more samples that I could tweak for our future album. This time it was a really spooky combination of the different Muslim mosques’ call to prayer, each in a slightly different pitch to the another.
Other than collecting samples and inspiration over here, I have set myself a quest to bring back as many instruments I can physically bring back on the plane to Australia. In Agra, I got a chance to play a few harmoniums and sitars with some unreal Indian musicians in a music store. As expected they didn’t approve of my poor technique of playing the sitar so I have a lot to learn in the next four weeks.
All Photos Provided by Jinja Safari
