Chris Hajian: Love Guru's Music Master

Chris Hajian

Mike Myers' upcoming film, Love Guru, is about an American raised outside of the country by gurus, who returns to the U.S. to break into the self-help business. Myers' character, Pitka, must settle the romantic troubles of a hockey player whose wife has left him for a rival athlete (ASCAP member Justin Timberlake). New York City-based film and TV composer Chris Hajian was called upon by Myers to help him arrange and produce songs for his character to sing and play – namely, sitar versions of American pop songs. Hajian was uniquely qualified to tackle the assignment.

"My ancestors are from Armenia so I did grow up with a good knowledge of music from the middle east and there is a relation between those cultures musically," says Hajian. "But, also, my collaborators (ASCAP writers Mustafa Bhagat and David Freeman) are accomplished performers of Indian music – Mustafa plays sitar and David plays tablas – and they have both performed with Mike Myers in live settings. I learned a lot from them. I listened to a lot of Bollywood recordings, both the old classics from the ‘70's and 80's and the more "pop" productions that are current today. But the challenging part was taking classic American pop songs and making them work in this Indian hybrid comedic style."

Hajian, who lives in New York City and works at his own custom-built recording and mixing facility, is used to challenges, not the least of which is attracting L.A. based film and television music execs to consider hiring an East Coast-based composer.

"There has been an upswing in film and TV production in New York and I think it will continue to grow," says Hajian. "However, I do still make frequent trips to Los Angeles. Even though filming or post-production might be based in New York, many of the music execs are still based in L.A. There is no substitute for personally connecting with the people you're working with. Also it's helpful to meet with my agent as much as I can."