Even though this is musician duo from Mexico, Eblen Macari (above, right) and son Kabalan’s first visit to India to perform two concerts organised by the Embassy of Mexico in Delhi, they seem remarkably familiar with Indian culture, especially the music. “Our sound is influenced by Hindustani classical and Carnatic music,” smiles Eblen, 53, a musician for over three decade.s He was first introduced to the sound of the sitar in the Beatles album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and their hit single Norwegian Wood , and says he’s been hooked since.

While their music blends include the conventional Mexican Mariachi, it is the mid-eastern Arabic sounds and Indian sarangi, mridangam and the tabla that form the underlying tone of most of their tracks. “Just like Indian traditional music is based on the raag, Mexican traditional music is based on Son Jarocho. We mix a variety of sounds from across the globe to compose our originals,” says Eblen, who has over the years build up a formidable music collection of Indian music with CDs of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Zakir Husain. His 24-year-old son Kabalan, however, just got into music 8 years ago and brings his generation’s sounds into Eblen’s tracks, with percussions and psychedelic music which give the compositions a totally different touch.

Though the duo seem to love everything Indian—food, music and the cultur— they are not familiar with Bollywood. “But we’re sure the audience here will relate to our music since its so close to our culture,” saus Kabalan.

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