“I grew up in a typical Punjabi family. My dad was into old Punjabi music, and I used to sing hymns in temples,” says the 62-year-old, who was born and bred in Seremban.
Raggy plays both covers and original songs. “I was exposed to all sorts of music growing up and that kind of explains the different types of music that I play now.” He was influenced by his older sister’s preference for country music and his older brother’s love for crooners Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard.
Besides learning the harmonium, Raggy also took intensive tabla lessons from one of the best tabla players in Malaysia, and by the age of 12, he was performing in temples and private functions around Negeri Sembilan.
“I was even supposed to go to India to get a degree in tabla but that didn’t happen,” he tells FMT.
He recounts how friends of his older brother would often be at the house to practise playing the guitar.
“I was about 12 while they were in their late teens, and that made a world of a difference,” he says, laughing. He adds that the only reason he was allowed to hang around with them was because he could tune their guitars.
They eventually asked him to play the tabla for them and in return, they taught him how to play the guitar.
Raggy’s first mentor however, was none other than renowned jazz pianist, Michael Veerapen, who was his senior at the King George V secondary school.
“He told me that if I wanted to do something, I had to do it seriously, and so he taught me about chords and how to play some songs.
“It completely changed my direction in music – I was no longer just doing it for fun,” he recalls. “If it wasn’t for Michael, I would still be stuck playing A-minor and E-minor chords.”
While attending university, Raggy began playing in pubs around Kuala Lumpur.
“It was the glory years of the Malaysian blues and rock scene, and the musicians were very supportive of each other,” he says, recalling the times when Jim Madasamy of the Blues Gang used to him call on stage to jam.
“They were excellent musicians and yet at the same time extremely humble.
“They would even buy me drinks because as a student, I only had enough money for one drink,” he says, laughing.
George Grenville Pereira, the acclaimed keyboardist who played with legendary bands, The Falcons and Alleycats, eventually became the manager of Raggy’s band.
“I was very fortunate, for he was the one who got me practicing seriously and pushed me to be the musician that I am today,” he says.
Some of the other artistes that influenced Raggy include Santana, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton and Ritchie Blackmore.
“I’m also a huge fan of Tina Turner as a performer.
“If I’m going to perform live, I want to do a ‘Tina Turner performance’- I want to give 110%,” he exclaims.
Raggy has released three albums which he self-engineered in his home studio and was about to work on the fourth when the Covid-19 pandemic forced him to shelve all plans.
He livestreamed his performances regularly on Twitch instead to stay connected to his fans.
“I’ve had to learn about OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) and livestreaming from scratch. Prior to this I’d never even chatted on Skype,” he says, good humouredly.
Once he got a hang of it, Raggy spent a considerable amount of time perfecting the quality of his livestreams, paying attention to the smallest details.
“One thing about me is that I will keep on trying. Even though I don’t succeed, I will keep at it.”
Raggy is currently learning how to play the banjo, and despite the challenge, he is thoroughly enjoying the process.
As for his future plans, he says he’ll continue to improve his craft and learn new skills.
“Music is one of those weird things, where we invest all of our time and energy up till the point we go mental. But it’s also the thing that allows us to feel emotions in a way that other things can’t.”
Catch Raggy’s livestreams on Twitch. You can also check out Raggy’s website, Facebook and YouTube channel.