Mathew Joseph's music is not the kind you listen to driving home late at night without a strong cup of coffee.

"It's soothing," said classical guitarist Dr. Joseph. "It's the kind of music you listen to in order to relax."

Dr. Joseph is a doctor on the surgical ward at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. He plays and records his own music in his spare time.

His new classical guitar CD, Eclectia will be released in Bermuda next week.

This is his second album. His first, 'Firefly' was released in 2004, and was a reflection of his experiences with the magic and mystery of his homeland, and of his many travels in the high Himalayas.

"I have been playing since I was 12 years old," said Dr. Joseph. "I am originally from Kerala, a coastal state on the Southwest side of India.

"My father was very much into music. He had a large music collection and played a lot. From the time I was young I use to listen to a lot of different kinds of music."

As a child, Dr. Joseph was heavily influenced by The Golden Gate Quartet, and greats like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and the Beatles among many others.

"Jethro Tull, was another English band I use to listen to," he said. "More recently I have been listening to a lot of contemporary classic guitar.

"One of my major influences now is Andrew York. He won a Grammy in 2005. He plays a classic guitar, and I play one myself so I was really drawn to his style of music."

Dr. Joseph's teacher at the Bermuda School of Music, Steve Crawford, introduced Dr. Joseph to the music of Andrew York.

Dr. Joseph got to meet his musical hero during a recent music festival in Bermuda.

"I got to know him quite well," said Dr. Joseph. "One of the tunes on my new album is called Tribute to Andrew York. It has a strong Andrew York flavour to it."

Dr. Joseph has achieved some recognition for his music.

He was a finalist in the International Songwriting competition in 2004 and in the UK Songwriting contest 2005 in the Instrumental category with the track 'Kaliyug'.

His music is such a mix of different styles it is sometimes difficult to pigeon-hole it.

"The best word to describe it is 'eclectic'," he said. "It is a mix of so many different styles of music. Sometimes it is a bit of a problem.

When you have an album that spans so many different genres, it doesn't go down too well with the music shops because they want it to fit on a particular shelf in the music store. They don't want it scattered all over the place."

But, he said, these are the days of the independent musicians, when musicians can basically do what they want.

"A lot of sales basically happen on the Internet," he said. "You are selling songs individually.

"I was having a discussion with one of the industry executives who was interested in my music, and he was saying one of the main problems was that it was widely spaced in terms of genre.

"I was saying 'maybe you should have a new genre called eclectia', and that is how the album got titled."

The cover of the album was designed by his 12-year-old son, Mathew Jr., a student at Warwick Academy.

"He did this on his computer," he said. "It perfectly describes the music.

"I think it probably took him a half an hour using Microsoft Paint. He is a very good artist. His handwork is excellent."

Dr. Joseph came to work in Bermuda, because he had a friend who worked at King Edward VII Hospital.

"When he left, I came here," said Dr. Joseph. "I have been here for five years and I am leaving early next year. This is a sort of goodbye.

"This is why the first song on the album is called 'Beautiful Island'. It has a Reggae flavour to it."

He said his one regret is that he didn't get to play music and perform with more Bermudians.

"Joy Barnum is a very talented singer," he said. "She sang the backing vocals on Beautiful Island.

"I really wanted a Bermudian voice on there somewhere. The problem with working with other musicians, is that I usually work on my music after midnight, because I am a doctor."

Other people featured on the CD include David Estes and Robert Smith.

Dr. Joseph said it would be difficult to give up medicine and become a musician full-time, because of all the touring that is required.

"You have to tour as a musician in order to be successful at marketing yourself," he said.

He said music production, recording and music composition do not require the same amount of touring.

Last year, he composed music for the Waterspout Theatre's production of the Tempest.

"That was the first time I did something similar to soundtracks, and I got very interested in that," he said.

When he goes back to India he is hoping to look for opportunities in India's booming film and television industry.

"India is a mixed bag in terms of opportunities," he said. "For one thing there is a lot of competition.

"Copyright protection is more of an issue. It is also a huge and growing market."

Both of his sons, Mathew Jr. and Mammen, eight, take music lessons, and Dr. Joseph is very proud of them.

"My son Mammen is very talented musically," said Dr. Joseph. "He will often come to me with suggestions. He will say, 'Maybe you can use this in your songs'.

"I listen to his suggestions because sometimes he has some interesting ideas. Their mother, Sophie, is more involved in teaching them music. I am basically an illiterate musician. I don't read or write music.

"My wife has learned music, and she teaches my older son piano. He also goes to formal lessons at the Bermuda School of Music."

Eclectia will be available at the Music Box, The Metaphysical Bookstore and from the King Edward VII Memorial Gift Shop.

It will also be available online through a company called CD Baby in the United States at www.cdbaby.com.

For more information about Dr. Joseph go to www.mathewjoseph.com.