IN CONCERT
Ganga Giri
Where: Upstairs Cabaret
When: Sunday, doors at 8 p.m., show at 8: 30 p.m.
Tickets: $23 in advance, available at Lyle's Place, Ditch Records and the McPherson Theatre Box Office and online at hightideconcerts.net, $25 at the door
Ganga Giri is a bona-fide globetrotter.
The Australian didgeridoo maestro and bandleader travels the world to perform club gigs and outdoor festivals and also to discover new sounds to incorporate into his own music, which fuses a cornucopia of tribal rhythms with deep electronic grooves.
Hence, his affinity for Victoria and the Gulf Islands might come as a surprise, especially to those who have become desensitized to the splendour of their home province.
"It's a really beautiful part of the world and it is dear to me," said Giri, whose Sunday show at Upstairs Cabaret is one of only two Canadian dates he'll have played this summer.
"I've said to friends I've developed over here that I would come whether I was touring or not."
But it's not only the stunning landscape, laidback culture and throbbing concert festivals that have Giri returning year after year.
His partner, whom he met at a gig he played at Sugar Nightclub in 2008, lives in Victoria.
In addition to spending time with his sweetie, he's been working with producer Daryl Chonka to lay down tracks for Giri's yetto-be-completed new record.
"He's got an amazing studio on Saltspring Island that overlooks Burgoyne Bay," Giri said.
"I've spent a bit of time over there just getting back to the creative side rather than living out of a van or a suitcase."
He added that the album, which he plans to finish after he returns to Australia in the fall, will feature new sonic flavours as well as many that will be familiar to dyed-in-the-wool fans.
"I've been working with a lot of Balinese musicians. It'll have big gamelan [drum] orchestras and monkey chants fused together with dub, dubstep and break-beat genres.
"We're really marrying ancient culture with new, big bass lines and beats. Of course, there's an Australian indigenous feel and we've got a Rasta [master of ceremonies]. And the didgeridoo is kind of the driving element between it."
He says it's a formula that translates well in a live setting, attracting revellers who wish to dance in a crowd of supportive others.
"It's a community kind of good feeling - that's what people seem to say." [email protected]
