Elephant Stone's Sitar Rock

Montreal sitar-based pop band Elephant Stone's debut album, The Seven Seas, is frontman Rishi Dhir's love song to his beloved India.

"I feel like I left my heart there," says Dhir, who grew up listening to The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" and his parents' vinyl copy of renowned sitar master Ravi Shankar's Live At Monterey 1967. "It's such a rich country. Just feeling the culture, the heritage, the arts, the music and the mangos, it invades all of your senses — both good and bad. You can really get lost in the experience."

As the bassist for The High Dials, Dhir toured endlessly with his former mod rock bandmates for nearly a decade. But Dhir had grown disillusioned with the rock 'n' roll lifestyle upon getting married in 2006 and travelling to Indonesia with his wife, and decided to devote his time to becoming a classically-trained sitar player.

It's been 13 years since he purchased his first sitar after a trip to India for a cousin's wedding (his brother bought an Indian percussion instrument called a tabla at the same time, and Dhir is now learning to play it, too), and Dhir still doesn't feel confident enough to play actual classical sitar music, so Elephant Stone is rooted in his love of '60s pop.

"At first I just wanted to take my lessons and become a good sitar player," he says. He tries to practice about an hour a day, and has for nine years.

"But I was brought up on The Beatles and The Kinks as well, so pop is part of my musical interests. I thought maybe I could do a fusion-type thing because I love Ananda Shankar and what he's done, but if I tried it would probably get too gimmicky."

Dhir isn't quick to dive headfirst into traditional full rock band duties just yet. The group — named after the Hindu elephant god, Ganesh — just completed a mini-tour and with a child on the way, Dhir doesn't know how much touring will be done in the future.

Although Elephant Stone were originally intended as a classical outfit, their unexpected transition into sitar-led pop has given Dhir an opportunity to better entrench himself in his homeland's culture, and he's not discounting any future musical possibilities with the band.

"This band is a very direct representation of who I am. I've always loved Bollywood, pop, and sitars. Philosophically, the band is what I believe in, and it's a very personal album."

By the four arms of Vishnu, you can catch Elephant Stone live at Toronto's Supermarket on June 18 as part of the North By Northeast Music Festival, anda t Montreal's La Sala Rossa on July 4.