His grandparents were born in Calcutta, his father in Fiji and he is an Australian by birth. Jason Singh may be making his own chapatis and getting bowled over by Bollywood beauties, but as the frontman of Australian band Taxiride he is a musical sensation Down Under ? singing songs, playing the guitar and the electric sitar.

“Pretty early in life, I realised that music was my true calling,” Jason tells GoodLife over phone from Victoria.

“Even though both my parents were chefs, I found my passion in music. Growing up, I used to wrap myself in different bands and used to remember all the song lyrics. And I always wanted to have a band of my own.”

It was keyboardist and vocalist Tim Wild with whom Jason set up Taxiride. “It’s quite incredible that Tim and I used to play in separate bands. We would even compete against each other to be the best band in town. So, he knew who I was and I knew who he was, even though we didn’t interact much. Then we decided to put our heads together rather than compete against one another.”

For a start, the Taxiride duo produced music in Tim’s kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s funny that the kitchen was the centre of our world,” laughs Jason. “We would take all our stuff to Tim’s house and then start practising and song-writing in his kitchen, near the refrigerator.”

So what kind of music did they produce? “I don’t know how to classify our music but all I can say is that it’s not pop and it’s not really alternative,” feels Jason. “Our music would be alternative to alternative if there’s something like that. Of course, that again makes it mainstream. But yes, our music has done pretty massive at times here in Australia. Our first two albums have hit number one in the charts straightaway and our singles have been the most played tracks on Australian radio.”

But Jason feels that the Indian launch of their third album Axiomatic (EMI India, Rs 199) brings his music to a full circle. “The word axiomatic means a statement or a situation that doesn’t need proof to be believed,” he explains.

“You see, the governments come up with fabricated statements that we have to believe without questioning. And even in our context, if you find our new sound different, don’t believe it.”

India, believes Jason, is very much in his roots. “But I haven’t found out how Indian I am because I haven’t travelled to that country. I want to come to India to perform with Taxiride and believe me, that would be the pinnacle of my musical career. Sometimes I feel that just Tim and me can come over, get a tabla and a sitar player and jam with them. I really want to be there and meet my family.”

Even in Australia, Jason does have his desi connections. “Oh! My dad always listened to a lot of Bollywood music, especially Lata Mangeshkar,” gushes an excited Jason.

“And thanks to him, I have also been exposed to Amitabh Bachchan and his films. When I was young, I was totally in love with Manisha Koirala. She was so beautiful! In fact, I almost wrote a letter to her, but that never happened.”