New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS) Guess where the popular French folk rock band Moriarty, now on a four-city tour of India, gets its inspiration? From Merlin, the ancient magician who spun his spells in King Arthur’s mythical capital Camelot.
“In 2007, when we recorded our album, ‘Gee Whiz, but this is a lonesome town’, we spent seven days in a farm near Merlin the magician’s tomb in France,” band manager Sebastian Zamora told IANS.

The 15-year-old band — which listens to a lot of Indian music and intends to collaborate with musicians here during their month-long tour of the country — believes in “magic, folklore, jazz , ballads and cabarets, diverse genres we fuse in our tracks”.

The band performed in the capital Dec 20 and will be in India till the month-end.

The band, said Zamora, has been touring the world throughout the year and “this is the last leg of the tour around Asia. We performed in Canada, America, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. This is our first visit to India.”

“Our music is different from other contemporary European bands. We are rooted in the American blues of 1920s and 1930s — especially those songs which emanated from the French quarters of Louisiana in the US which have a centuries-old tradition of ballads narrating gripping stories of cotton fields, slavery, heroism, civil wars and love,” Zamora said.

One such ballad is the “Belle”. “It is one of our signature tracks that tells the story of a beautiful girl. It is a nostalgic American-French ballad.”

The band has five members — Stephan Zimmerlie, Rosemary Moriarty, Arthur Moriarty, Zim Moriarty and Thomas Moriarty.

Rosemary, who has trained in classical music and opera, is the lead vocalist — “but she also plays xylophone, thumb piano, spoons and tambourine,” Zamora said.

Arthur Moriarty backs up on acoustic guitars and plays the drum suitcase and the piano.

Zim Moriarty plays the double bass, acoustic guitars and music box while Thomas plays the chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, kazoo, drilling machines, Jew’s harp, dobro and the traditional Korean drum called the Puk. He also mixes architecture and theatre with his music.

“All our instruments are of the traditional variety used by grassroots and folk rock musicians,” Zamora said.

“We make music with a message,” said Zamora. The band, he said, has performed in prisons, mental institutions, on the streets of Paris, inside a ruined castle in Tuscany, on a transatlantic ship and even on a night train.

As for influences, the band lists many.

“For instance, the acoustic guitar plucked one night in 1957 by Joan Baez, a dobro (north African percussion instrument) played by Ali Farka Toure, Lewis Carroll, soft-spoken violence and anger and five diverse people who yearn to play as one,” Zamora said.

“Language is no barrier for us. We write our songs in both French and English. But we use vocals as another instrument. When Rosemary sings — mostly ballads — it just adds to the compositions as another prop,” band member Stephan Zimmerlie told IANS.

Zimmerlie describes Moriarty music as “spiritual”. “The Indian influence in the band is the Jew’s harp — which is a variation of a small string instrument played by the desert musicians in Rajasthan with their teeth. It gives our music an Indian feel,” he said.

The band has been playing its popular tracks like “Cottonflower”, “Fireday”, “Jaywalker”, “Jimmy”, “Private Lily”, “Motel” and “Animals Can’t Laugh” in India.

“We want the Indian audience to know us. We are also keen to meet Indian musicians to facilitate exchanges in music, lyrics and philosophy,” Zimmerlie said.