With new album Notorious Partners in Crime, John Fishell and flautist Deepak Ram fuse East and West into an adventurous collaboration built on friendship, respect, and fearless creativity
You’ve described your partnership with Deepak Ram as “like a fancy wine with a greasy cheeseburger.” What first drew you to this collaboration, and how did you know it would work musically?
I met Deepak in the mid-90s when I moved to South Africa, and we’ve been close friends ever since. Over the years, we both moved around the US until we found ourselves in the same place — my hometown of Washington DC. That’s when I decided to leave teaching and put everything into being an artist. Deepak and I are very sensitive to each other’s strengths, and our instruments just sound good together. We played a few small shows, realised it clicked, and now here we are with a full record and tour.
The new album Notorious Partners in Crime reimagines some of Deepak’s instrumentals with your lyrics. How did you approach writing words for pieces that already had strong identities in instrumental form?
I had to be very careful. For “Lenasia,” I went through countless rewrites trying to capture Deepak’s stories of growing up in apartheid-era South Africa with some kind of poetry. Deepak prefers me to follow his melodies note-for-note, but I haven’t managed that yet. Instead, I used his motifs as instrumental breaks and sections within the songs. My priority was to leave his parts intact while shaping the pieces into proper popular music songs.
“Space Time” is an especially adventurous track, shifting time signatures and blending genres. How do you balance technical complexity with keeping songs accessible?
For me it’s about pairing complexity with a simple, effective melody or a groove that works with a straightforward lyric. That makes it more digestible. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin were masters at this. When I play those songs, I’m counting frantically in my head while trying to look relaxed — Deepak, of course, handles it effortlessly.
You lost several guitars in a flood but recorded “If I Were a Carpenter” on a restored 1952 Gibson J-45 from your father. How did that affect your connection to the track?
Honestly, I have a stronger bond with that guitar than the song itself. It’s been in my life forever, and it just suited playing with Deepak. The flood was devastating — most instruments were ruined. But the J-45 was at a repair shop, so it survived. That guitar carries enormous emotional weight.
Your career has spanned rock, jazz, world music, and teaching. How did those paths prepare you for this cross-cultural project?
Deepak is a bansuri master, while I’m more of a jack-of-all-trades. But I’ve always been the “pop/rock guy” who brings punch and structure to jazz, classical or world music. What really matters is our mutual respect and the supportive relationship we share. That’s the foundation.
You’ve got a UK tour coming up in October. What can audiences expect from a Notorious Partners in Crime live show?
This time we’ll be performing as an acoustic duo, so everything will be fully exposed — no percussionists or bassists to hide behind! It will be more intimate, which is both exciting and terrifying. I’ll lean on the strength of the songs, while Deepak is always wonderful to watch in any context.
With Notorious Partners in Crime about to be released, what excites you most about this next chapter?
I hope this is only the beginning. We definitely have another album in us if this one does well. More than anything, I want to perform this music around the world. If there’s an audience, I want to be there.
