9. Ajoy ChakrabartyRaga Bihag – Pahadi – Bhairvi (Vol 1)

Whenever I listen to that album, I know exactly where I am in myself – it’s like a mirror when you listen to it. Indian music has been a huge influence on all my music, from the beginning of Polar Bear. I only went there for the first time as a teenager, and met my family there. My parents gave me tabla lessons in this village, and it changed my whole perception of drumming, and the melodic nature of drums. When we got back, my mum said “we’re going to see a concert this weekend in Glasgow,” and she took me to see Ustad Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain. Since my mum passed just after that, that music took on a whole different meaning for me, because it reminded me of her.