Vijay Krsna of the Kirtaniyas

Interviewed by Daniel Tucker

January 19, 2012

Vijay Krsna: This particular chant is quite a traditional favorite, and you can find as many variations of it as there are temples and asrams in India. "Krsna" is the name of the Divine Beloved, the male aspect of the Divine. "Govinda" and "Gopala" means he who protects and loves the cows, which is one of Krsna's favorite things to do. Another interpretation is he who gives bliss to the senses. ("Go" in the ancient sanskrt language means both "cow" and "senses"). Then the next line of the song goes "bhaja Murali Manohara Nandalala". Which means "Worship that beautiful Boy, the son of Nanda, who bewilders the minds and hearts of one and all with the sweet sound of his flute." So this song is about falling in love with Krsna!

Daniel Tucker: I know you have often spent time in India. What places there have most influenced your style of kirtan? Do you study with music teachers when you're there?

Vijay Krsna: I've spent a total of about 3-4 years in India mainly in Vrindavan, the land of Radha and Krsna. In Vrindavan everywhere you walk throughout the town you will hear Kirtans being blasted through a speaker (Extremely loud!) by a temple or a "cassette walla" as they call the music stores that play Indian style Kirtans and Bhajans. Sometimes you might walk past an old widow on the side of the street who is playing her kartals to herself while blissfuly singing Krsna's name like nothing else in the world really matters. So you're completely surrounded by Kirtan! This has been the way I have picked up different tunes, melodies and beats. I'd really say my style is quite "Braja" as they refer to Vrindavan for short. I've had no formal training from any teacher, just encouragement from my Beloved Guru-ji and wellwishers.

Daniel Tucker: Your new album Heart & Soul is overflowing with heartfelt singing, sweet prayers, ecstatic mridanga playing... all around an excellent album! What was the recording process like for you and your bandmates?

Vijay Krsna: Well it was really a journey! We came up with a plan of some of the nice chants that we and our friends and supporters liked, songs that expressed different moods especially through the melodies and beats. We then developed some ideas concerning which instruments we would like to have on each song. The important thing we wanted to do with this album was "what you hear is what you get." We wanted the listener to be able to "feel" the Kirtan as if it were live and they were sitting right there with us. So we stuck to that plan and gave it our best. The album was completely produced by myself and the group, so we learned a lot as the recording and mixing went on. An important lesson I learned (being a person who gets a bit OCD about having things under control, having my hands on everything so to speak!) was that, if my hands are all over everything, especially when things go wrong, where do I leave space for the hand of the Divine to come in and do "their" thing. This project is about them, inspired by them and for them, why not let them give a helping hand too?

Daniel Tucker: Thanks for sharing your music and devotion with us!

Vijay Krsna: Thank you Daniel. Keep up the great work. Kirtan gives benefit to all beings. You're doing a lot to spread the love, one might call it "wellfare work." Haribol!

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