Kids Corner

Music

No Stopping Hargo

by SCOTT McDONALD

 

 

All Hargobind Hari Singh Khalsa, a.k.a. Hargo, wants to do is rock and roll. And while the young Sikh has always had to fight against preconceived notions and expectations, more than anything else, the path to his goal thus far has been marked by serendipitous opportunity and a refusal to be conventionalized.

Born and raised in Oregon, Hargo initially made his way to San Diego (California, U.S.A.) as an alternative to the Ivy League.

"My family bought a house in La Jolla while I was still in high school," he said recently from a San Diego coffee shop. "I applied to a few colleges - Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth -  but didn't get accepted to any of them. So I decided that San Diego would be a good place to go to school and break into the music scene. I started by playing a lot of solo acoustic stuff around town and it has just evolved from there. Now we have the band together."

Sporting the Sikh unshaved beard and turban, Hargobind Singh doesn't initially appear as someone heavily steeped in the likes of David Bowie, the Beatles, and healthy doses of classic rock as a child. But by the time he was 7, the son of two accomplished musicians knew just as much about Buffalo Springfield as he did about traditional Sikh songs. And while his unique upbringing directly translates into his music and sometimes makes it harder to define, he enjoys playing against the stereotypes.

"When people first see me they don't know what to expect," said Hargo. "And more than making judgments, I think they're confused. But I try to put people at ease right away. To be honest, I'll sometimes use profanity for that exact reason. If I'm casual right away, it tends to make things easier. And I'm like that anyway. But I just want people to hear the music for the music."

While he knows not everyone will "get it," Hargo has collaborated with a few very important people who do.

"I met (iconic photographer) Mick (Rock) through a family friend that's actually his yoga teacher," he said. "I went to New York to be part of a documentary on John Lennon, 'Strawberry Fields,' and asked if Mick might want to meet and take a few pictures while I was there. We met and hit it off right away. We actually have a lot in common. It's funny, but he calls me the Singing Sikh. We had a blast. And he told me I was one of only three people he's ever shot that wasn't already super famous."

Perhaps it was the fact that Hargo can burst into a British accent and do a hilarious impression of Rock on a moment's notice that endeared him to another undeniably infamous character in the annals of rock 'n' roll.

"I was asked if I wanted to meet Phil Spector," Hargo said. "So I went to his house in L.A. and didn't even recognize him when he walked in. But we met and he listened to my song from ("Strawberry Fields.") It was nerve-racking. But he actually said it reminded him of something John Lennon had given him. It's still hard for me to believe he said that. It'll take some time for that to sink in. And then we got the call later that he was going to produce the song. It was incredible."

Hargo released a full-length in 2006 and "The Faint Glow" EP last year.

And after a few years in the making, the band will release a new LP, "Out of Mankind," in January. Until then, Hargo and bandmates Sanjay Parekh, John Jolley and Ron Kerner will play dates around town in anticipation of its release.

Along with an upcoming residency at Stage Bar & Grill in downtown San Diego, the quartet plays Oct. 6 at Lestat's and Oct. 7 at The Ruby Room. The band is also performing Oct. 15 at YOUtopia San Diego Decom, a post-Burning Man "decompression" festival October 14 to 16 in Pauma Valley.

"It's time to put this record out," he said. "I just wanted to get the right band together, something I had trouble doing until recently, so we could tour on it. But it has given us the time to create awareness about it, as well as given us the chance to make it exactly like we wanted to. But I'm also constantly writing and probably have two or three albums worth of stuff ready to go."

While it's likely Hargo and the band will be taking things as they come, the charismatic bandleader will never lose sight of what truly drives him.

"Music is a joyful thing," he said. "And I feel lucky to be doing what we're doing."


[Courtesy: North County Times]
October 6, 2011

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