Peering through a stand of tall reeds I can see an Indian gentleman with a bindi painted on his forehead sitting cross legged on a couch. He’s watching Master And Commander on cable and wafts of pungent incense emanate from a table beside him. Spotting me, MS Maniam stands and ushers me in, asking in a cultured Indian accent ‘Can I offer you something to drink? Tea perhaps?’ So this is the man who has been a regular fixture at Singapore superclub Zouk for more than 10 years and whose percussive skills are sought by everyone from events promoters to record producers.
‘I still don’t know the names of the DJs after all these years’, he says with a twinkle in his eye. ‘But when I’m playing, you will see that all my attention is focused on who is spinning – I have to fit with what he is playing.’
11 years ago, Maniam was already an established tabla drummer with regular work on Singaporean television. One evening he was playing a classical concert at a new venue called Zouk – Indian traditional covers of pop classics. In other words, oriental muzak. The owner of Zouk was impressed with the tabla player however and asked him to come back for an audition that afternoon.
‘I knew nothing of clubbing then. For me, pop music meant Elvis Presley the Beatles and Tom Jones you know. I didn’t want to do the audition - my Guru is very strict – but the owner persuaded me to come back at 3pm. It was all very strange to me – the DJ was playing this weird sounding music and I didn’t really know what to do so I just started playing my tablas. And after 15 minutes they asked me to come back later that night. I asked “what time” and he said 10.30pm. I thought he was mad – I was usually in bed by 9.30.’
But Maniam came back, wearing what he thought was a pretty sharp suit covered in glittering sequins and grabbed the crowd’s attention right away. The rest is history. Except that he comes across as the same carefully mannered and slightly naïve gentleman he must have been back then. I notice that his speech is slightly peppered with incongruous phrases like ‘happening man’. It’s all part of the man’s not inconsiderable charm. ‘My guru had more than 58 disciples, but he told me that I would carry his name around the world. But he also said to me “Maniam, I know you are going to shine like a blue diamond. But always remember, don’t have ego –thinking you are the best in the world” I always remember those words.’
These days he plays a variety of drums – he says his wife encouraged him (‘she gave me the vitamin pill – you know, the push’) to expand his percussive repertoire to include a variety of drums, from congas to timbales to djembe. The problem with just playing tablas is that they have keys, so if a dj mixes two tunes in different keys it’s gonna sound strange with the drums. ‘I especially like the Egyptian tabla – depending how you hit it, it can sound like so many different drums. I learnt it while spending three months in Egypt.’
When he plays, Maniam applies traditional rhythmic patterns he learnt from his tabla guru, blending these with African and Latin rhythms. He can as easily follow instructions as play freely, just letting his beats flow in and out of the music. Buddha Bar luminary Claude Challe was so impressed with his playing down at Kudeta, they spent an afternoon recording some beats which will no doubt appear on an upcoming compilation. As for Maniam, he maintains a disarming equanimity about his success. ‘I feel I have been blessed with this gift and to have the opportunity to share it. I will keep doing it as long as I am wanted.’
Judging by the pack of tripped out party goers gaping at the fingers ricocheting off his drum later that night at Kudeta, he’ll surely be around for a long time to come. JD