theblueroombangalore-blog

[theblueroombangalore-blog]

Red Earth and Pouring Rain is a voice/ guitar duo featuring Harini Iyer on vocals and Abhijit Nath on guitar, that focuses on traditional and improvisational music seasoned with contemporary influences. Their interests span Carnatic, Jazz, Bossa and Latin music, aiming to bring the emotional core of each of these genres to fresh audiences. We talked to them about their influences, musicianship, and the industry as a whole. Read on and come catch them LIVE at The Blue Room THIS SATURDAY!

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Q: Talented musicians such as yourselves, who have played in venues abroad as well as here in India, must have some insight into how the industry functions here, as compared to places like Boston. How do you distinguish between the two?

A: Harini: I’ve only performed in Boston in a student capacity, meaning I never performed as a full-time musician, only shows through Berklee or the Indian Raga fellowship concerts and some wedding gigs for friends. As most people know, this is very different from the real world experience. I am also fairly new to the Indian music scene so give me a year and I’ll get back to you on this!

Q: Your influences clearly play a role in your musicality. There’s a tendency with some musicians to allow their influence to dictate their musicality completely, while you two have allowed them instead to guide your music. Where do you see the line being drawn between these instances in the music you listen to?

A: Abhijit: When writing fusion music of any kind, the challenge is always for both the music to speak to each other, and not float on top of each other, so to speak. It’s important to be immersed in the aesthetic and structural aspects of what makes the genre work, rather than use aspects of them for effect. That’s what we’ve been trying to do with the meld of jazz and Carnatic music- to add harmony while keeping the emotional core of the music intact. In other words, respect for, and a deep understanding of both genres is important. Harini: We don’t perceive music by how much it is going to influence or take over us. Having said that, you cannot create something unless you let it take over you and if that means being heavily influenced by something, so be it. We are always looking for creative inspiration from artists we look up to and even when we do let them influence us what comes out is very different because we are a summation of all our experiences and influences. It somehow ends up being different and some risks have to be taken to experiment and find one’s sound.

Q: Your influences are clearly incredibly varied, from RnB to Carnatic to Jazz music. However, with all these influences being melded together, your music still remains cohesive. How do you see these separate influences being perceived from a piece of music that you play?

Abhijit: Ideally, each influence is not perceived- it just feels natural. At lot of the music I’m influenced by is other traditional music that speak to jazz- Middle eastern & Armenian music (Dhafer Youssef, Ibrahim Maalouf, Tigran Hamasyan) and West African music (Tinariwen, Toumani Diabate). These are complex modal music forms that have long heritages, but yet have opened themselves up for harmonic exploration. My ultimate goal is to create a similar language for Carnatic and Hindustani music to speak to jazz as well, in a non fusion cliché manner. Harini: Going back to the previous answer, we don’t perceive music by our influences or genres necessarily. We both have a shared interest for the music we do and traditional improvisation and contemporary sounds are a big portion of it. Having been exposed to a lot of different cultures and musical backgrounds, we just go with the flow and jam till we find a sound and groove that we connect with. My personal influences have been TM Krishna, Bombay Jayasree, Aruna Sairam, Erykah Badu and Nina Simone. At Berklee, I was in the Balkan and Middle Eastern Ensembles which sparked my love for Middle Eastern sounds and timbre. I also listen to and perform a lot of Latin music and for instance, one would hear an unintentional Flamenco touch to some of my improvisation which is also very folksy. Now, how the audience perceives our music is completely up to their imagination. It might mean something to us and something completely different to someone listening to us. That’s the beauty of interpretation.

Q: Having worked with accomplished musicians like Javier Limon and Israel Suarez, you must have gained some insight that facilitated you making it to where you are now. What are some words of wisdom that you think might benefit younger musicians looking to make a livelihood out of their passion?

Harini: Every time I’ve had the opportunity to work with someone I look up to, I’ve always felt unprepared and the experience just breezes past that I never get the time to process it or present myself in a way I imagine seeing myself collaborate. This feeling of unpreparedness is always going to be there and the only way to get through that is to sit down and practice your instrument, to start somewhere instead of dreaming and planning big goals. A lot of times we romanticize the idea of practice, envisioning the result instead of trying to make the process bearable, because face it, the process is definitely going to be boring, hard and uninspiring most times. There’s a beautiful cartoon quote by Zen Pencils of Shona Rhimes called “a screenwriter’s advice” that talks about this. Working with Javier and El Pirana was incredible. They are top-notch musicians who have worked with Paco De Lucia and Anoushka Shankar. It was my first time being introduced to a Peruvian song with crazy polyrhythms that I wasn’t used to before. It was so challenging and I was nervous through every rehearsal and even the final show. It took me up to a year after the show to get comfortable with that song, and it is on the set list for the show at Blueroom. Hope you like it!

[theblueroombangalore-blog]

Ahead of their upcoming set at The Blue Room on August 31st, we spoke to alternative/garage rock act Kyojin about their new music, sense of humour and lyricism in an interview. Make sure you check them out on Saturday at ours as they play their new music for the first time in front of a live audience!

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Q. Why the name Kyojin? It's Japanese, does the band have any relation to Japanese culture, or do you have references to any?

A. I think the name Kyojin stems from essentially just a couple of nerds sitting in a room, coming up with names for their new band in 8th grade. Kyojin refers to an anime we watch, called ‘Attack on Titan’. I think being fans of anime, having that almost over-the-top sort of visuality and humour penetrate our music and performance has really helped set us apart as a band, but no, no direct references to anything Japanese!

Q. You guys have been playing for 5 years, is there a directional change you see in the music you wanted to play/make 5 years ago as opposed to now? 

A. There is definitely a directional change in the music we used to make as compared to now. Listening through Tana, our debut album, which is essentially a compilation of songs written by a 13-year-old Rahul, there’s a clear shift in both musicality and lyricism. We think the songs we’re making now definitely showcase a maturity in those aspects, at least compared to what we’ve put out before. There’s also been a shift in sort of more direct messages to more obscure messages, shrouded in story. A clear example of this is our song ‘Secrets’, from Tana: a traditional love song, no two ways about it. But comparing that to ‘Tennessee’, a song we just put out, it's clear that the message its conveying is sort of delivered through this story about a young boy in the throes of war. I think that demonstrates how we’ve changed and evolved.

Q. Blue, Toxic, Nasty Lady has the most plays on any of your songs on Spotify, why is it the single most distinctive song? It also released this year, is that a hint for more music coming soon? 

A. BTNL really demonstrates the wacky approach to music-making we take. I think to our fanbase, who are largely used to our antics, that song largely screams ‘Kyojin’. It encapsulates, with its zaniness, who we are as people, and what we like to portray ourselves as, more than any other song. More music is definitely coming soon! Our upcoming sophomore album is releasing the day before our Blue Room gig, the 30th of August!

Q. What went into the thinking of you guys using, essentially what sounds like mimicry for the words in the name of a song in a quirky way, to make it sound like BTNL? 

A. In all honesty, it was just something stuck in my head one day as I was walking around my house. As with most songs, you have a glimpse of something you think might be expandable to a good track, and you take it from there.

Q. Who do you think the band's influences are, and do you think there are many Indian bands playing similar genres? If you do, which bands have you heard play similar music? Are there any Indian bands the band would suggest/vouch for people listening to? 

A. There’s no hiding the fact that Rahul is head over heels for The Strokes. We can’t go a single session without him saying something along the lines of: “What if we do this? The Strokes did it!” But other than that, the influences vary greatly. From Arvind introducing subtle elements of jazz or guitar music that he garners from listening to bands like Polyphia or Feed Me Jack, to Aayush dying to incorporate percussive elements from the metal songs he listens to, the influences really are all over the place. We all really love Skrat, we think they bring an energy to the music scene similar to what we’d like to bring. We highly recommend, keeping our heritage in mind, classic Mallu rock bands that our parents brought us up with - Motherjane, Avial, etc. The truth is, growing up as a musician in an environment like this, your teachers slowly grow into your influences. From Thermal and a Quarter’s Rajeev to Parvaaz’s Sachin, we’ve been taught by the best, and we incorporate their influences into everything we put out. Q. Where is the band hoping to play next, since you guys are playing The Blue Room, are there more rooms we'll see you guys perform in? 

A. As of right now, we are performing at bFlat on the 13th of September, but dates will be added as they’re confirmed. They will be announced on our social media and our website! Q. What are your songwriting influences, is it a collaborative effort, is there just one person songwriting? What is the process Kyojin takes to write out the lyrics to a song you guys make?

A. Rahul writes all the songs we release. Imagine him walking over to the computer and switching places with me. Now he’s at the computer. This is an important narrative point, don’t forget it. I’m influenced by songwriters like James Mercer from The Shins and Aaron Weiss from meWithoutYou. I think beyond songwriting there’s a tendency for me to tap into story, no matter. As you’ll see from our upcoming releases, most songs I write now follow a story structure, and I’m really enjoying doing that for the moment.

Q. There’s a sense of humour you guys have which mostly appears in video, do you think this would ever influence your music? BTNL is kinda funny in the manner of the sample vocals in the beginning, but other than that, do you think that your humorous influences will ever show up in the music?

A. There’s definitely a humorous aspect to our music, but it’s quickly contrasted with darker, more serious themes. I think a good example of this is ‘Older, Wiser’, my personal favourite song in terms of lyricism from our upcoming album. It's sort of a dry, humorous take on a very dark concept, which I think perfectly represents how we like to showcase and appreciate humor. Also Rahul has been typing everything all along. I just took that plot and I twisted it. And there’s nothing you can do about it. One order of twisted plot, coming right up.

[theblueroombangalore-blog]

We spoke to Bangalore-based progressive rock act Iram about their approach to making music, the struggles they face as musicians in Bangalore, and their upcoming August 24th show at The Blue Room. Make sure you catch them live for a laidback evening, guaranteed to leave you in awe!

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Q. According to you, Iram is influenced by a wide variety of music, “from sufi music to post rock to minimalism.” How do you think your music factors in all these various roots, while still maintaining a cohesiveness?

A. All of us have something different to offer but every one of us understands that we firstly need to serve the song. Also I think none of us are too boxed into any one particular genre although we might say we are inclined to one but honestly we listen to all kinds of music and that helps us subconsciously compose and arrange without it sounding too forced or overpowering.

Q. The Blue Room as a venue offers an intimate space for artists to showcase their music, while it remains uncompromising of the strength behind an artists songs. For the kind of music Iram plays, which has a very uplifting, ethereal feel to it, how do you think the setting that The Blue Room offers changes that?

A. I think a space like blueroom can only enhance the experience of listening to our music and that is mainly because our music while being uplifting and ethereal also has a certain intensity which is very powerful in smaller and more artist focused spaces.

Q. What is the lyrical process like for you? How do the textures and the feel of the music bend or change the lyrics for a project like Iram?

A. The biggest struggle being in bangalore has been traveling for jams and recordings apart from that I think bangalore is one of the best cities to pursue independent music. The spectrum of listeners is wide and that is always helpful for a musician to flourish having Said that the independent industry has its struggles which are slowly easing up a bit but it’s slow and I think the most important traits you gain from being an independent musician are patience and perseverance and both these traits are generally a result of really intense bouts of emotion and that always helps us write. Considering our music is dark and intense it is a result of our struggles and experiences our lyrics too are about keeping faith when it’s really hard not to give up.

Q. What are some of the challenges you have faced as an independent artist in Bangalore? Is this struggle reflected in your music? If so, how?

A. The music always comes first before the lyrics and while composing there are some words that tend to pop up and what those words mean is generally the direction the songs take lyrically. In terms of the music I guess it is what the composition makes you feel. Music by itself can make you laugh and cry. When you put down words to a piece of music it has got to be honest and the feeling the song generates is always authentic.

Q. The music Iram releases often has an almost transcendent feel to it, almost other-worldly. How do you feel this is reflected in the image you put out as a band? There’s a challenge as an artist to actually market yourself and your image in this day and age. What is your relationship with this process?

A. Honestly speaking we haven’t consciously tried to project an image. Those who’ve listened to us perceive us a certain way and that again is subjective. Marketing a certain image is a bit out of our comfort zone and I guess we’re learning what’s best for us and how to put that out more often.

[theblueroombangalore-blog]

We spoke to Gauley Bhai about their upcoming show at The Blue Room, their relationship with their upbringing, having all been brought up in Kalimpong or Calicut, and how this mixing and melding of culture has provided them with a unique pathway for their music. Gauley Bhai is performing over at ours on10th August. Make sure you don’t miss it!

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Q. Gauley Bhai is a project that clearly involves a lot of interspersing and overlapping of cultures. Along with this, in your own words, comes an “intersection of geographies and musical roots”. What about music, in your opinion, makes it so malleable and mixable with culture, and vice versa?

A. Our music reflects the currents of migration. We've all left our hometowns to find work in the city. Our music draws from a sonic and visual memory of home, but it’s also heavily influenced by the city - Bangalore, that is. So whilst there is a resonance of the landscapes - physical and cultural and political that we grew up in - our sound is also urban. We've stayed true to the confusion and contradictions inherent in any process of migration- memory, desire, longing, belonging. So all of that is reflected in our sound and lyrics.

Q. With an album like Joro, which treats the interaction between music and culture so intricately and carefully, there is a tendency for the music to stand out among the music that is being released today. With such a unique sound on your hands, how do you go about portraying this originality in the marketing of your album?

A. We're still trying to figure this one out! We've been promoting ourselves so far: we did the groundwork for the launch, the album recording and the upcoming tour on our own. It’s been hard work and frustrating, but also a labour of love, as this is our debut. We've tried to stay away from any kind of simple categorization/pigeon holing: so some people treat our music as folk, others as jazz, others as rock - we're not too concerned by this - what has been a big marker for us is the way audiences interact with the music - most people don't understand Nepali, yet there is an instinct to connect with the music, the grooves. this is most important and I think it will help us as we go on. We're also working on two music videos that we hope can help push the album further. 

Q. What challenges do you face with writing lyrics in a language that most of your audience may not speak? Do you feel that there is a necessity for the audience to connect to the music more than the words, while with other music it may be a mix of both, as a result of not speaking the language?

A. I think I've answered this above. We were very clear that we wouldn't be making music in english - rhythmically or lyrically - but wanted to stay close to the sounds and tongues we grew up with - of course people want to understand the lyrics, so we have a booklet with translations attached, but somehow the music is able to transcend the limitations of language - as it should be!

Q. You’ve talked about Gauley Bhai reflecting what matters to the four of you, coming from different areas of our country, all living in a city now. What about the current state of the Indian mind-set is reflected in your music? What do you think the importance of art is in reflecting a zeitgeist of any particular region?

A. We're not trying to reflect any one mind-set, the music is deeply personal. But of course, we exist as individuals within a social structure, so the songs do touch upon being away from home, for example, and receiving news about home- like the Gorkhaland Andolan which not many people in Mainland india know much about. We have captured the rhythms of the spaces we grew up in, the metaphors, the visuals, the music is all reflective of that- but it is also not shying away from our position of distance- we are writing from the city, about home, and the city itself is also home.

Q. How far, geographically and chronologically, do your musical roots take you? Does living in a city like Bangalore tamper the folky nature of your music in any way? How do you compare music as it exists in more traditional areas of the world, and the form of music that exists in cities like Bangalore or Mumbai?

A. The beauty of folk, we feel, is that it adapts as it travels, that it has a resonance across contexts. For the band, having grown up listening to a fair bit of folk music from both Kalimpong/Nepal and Calicut/Kerala, the influence has shaped the way in which they write and play. However, we believe that folk transcends binaries of traditional and modern/contemporary. It has an affect on the listener that goes beyond. We have cultivated our sound and identity carefully, and whilst folk plays a role, we don't shy away from saying, so has R&B, funk, and the blues. Music allows for this conversation across generations and contexts, else it runs the risk of becoming reified and homogenised in specific ways. 

Q. How is the current situation with live music in Bangalore affecting you as musicians? How do you think it's affecting the creative atmosphere in general?

A. There has been a clampdown on live music resulting in a decrease in venues; forms like stand up comedy seem to replacing music and of course there is always the desires of the market to contend with. It's been difficult, but we've been lucky to receive support from venues like The Humming Tree and Bflat who have helped us share our music. its now time for us to take our music outside the city, with the upcoming tour. but yes, we are struggling with how to survive as full time independent musicians- we are all currently juggling other work, and playing as well- it would be helpful to have an ecology that supported musicians to work on their music full time.

[theblueroombangalore-blog]

Our calendar for August is overflowing with such insane talent! Check this space for curiosities about the bands we’re hosting, and what makes them special to us. 

[theblueroombangalore-blog]

Welcome to our first interview post!

We spoke to Ketonation about her journey as an artist as well as her performance at The Blue Room on August 3rd. Give it a read, drop a like, leave a comment, and make sure you catch Keto live at The Blue Room!

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Q. You’ve mentioned that Ketonation is being presented in a whole new persona at The Blue Room. What sets this persona apart from the previous tone the project took on? What do you think the importance of persona is to an artist or a project?

A. Since the very beginning of my journey as Ketonation I always wanted to present myself as a versatile artist. Throughout my college years in Singapore people put a tag on me as being a jazz singer as a lot thought I sounded like an Aretha Franklin or an Ella Fitzgerald. This confused my path of discovering my own strength. But I always considered myself an all-round singer, as I dove into singing Hindi pop songs as well. I also never considered myself a blues or Jazz songwriter as much as I sang those genres of music as I was never confident of performing my own songs, although I wrote a whole bunch of songs all through college and after. Hence I stuck to singing everything that came my way. From completely commercial music to Covering artists such as Chubby Checker, Whitney Houston and the likes. This defined Ketonation. I never got to present the true strongest side of me. Coming to your question of the importance of persona. When you sit down and define your purpose as an artist everything falls into place. I was always inclined to writing soul, RnB songs. I found that I could express my melodic twists and turns with much ease and the meaning I put to these melodies much more naturally. People began to feel and resonate with this vibe of mine the most because it captured the strength in my voice and expressed the truth in my music. This is one of my personas that I developed into a project that defines me as a singer/songwriter. It took a while to muster up the courage to put it all together. But the journey is what matters.

Q. The Ketonation set at The Blue Room is a far more intimate occasion than a classic full-band show that might take place at larger venues. How do shows like these compare to larger shows? How do you prepare for a more intimate set as compared to a heavier one?

A. I have always loved playing intimate shows more than shows at larger venues. I feel like I connect with my music and my audience better at a smaller, intimate venue. Larger shows definitely give you an adrenaline that puts you on another level, but I do find smaller shows more peaceful and relaxing. The audiences are much different. There are so many people who just like to sit back and solely listen to the artist. This really helps me open up and be myself and vice versa. I love that!

Q. We’ve had the pleasure of listening to amazing renditions of soulful songs by you, what do you think the importance of covering music is for an artist in the modern industry? How do you go about making a song your own?

A. I think for me it was more of a journey of learning how to be a better singer by improving my vocal techniques to be a better performer. Covering the greatest of singers in the world helped me develop an image for myself as a powerhouse. Which was always my aim. I sang everywhere and all the time. Adding a carnatic and hindustani base to this really helped define my style of singing. This slowly lead to putting my own touch to songs that I cover.

Q. A talented vocalist such as yourself, who has participated in a variety of both studio and live situations, must have insight into how the two are different. What are the differences between live and studio performance from a vocalist’s point of view?

A. Studio recording is a whole different ball game. My first ever studio session was a disaster. The silence was deafening and almost distracting. You really have to internalise your emotions and control the dynamics you tend to use when performing live. This took me a while to get used to.

Q. Performing originals is a brave undertaking for any artist, how does the intimate setting of The Blue Room affect that? Is it even more daunting or maybe more comfortable for you as an artist?

A. I always told myself that when I decide to perform a whole bunch of my original content it is going to be in a small intimate setting where I can get a proper feedback from people listening and a space that has a happy, peaceful vibe going, where I can connect with my audience. This is a really important factor for me. It can be a little nerve racking as you’re put in the spotlight, but then again that helps me sing and express much better.

[theblueroombangalore-blog]

Welcome to our blog! If you haven’t visited yet, we’re nestled in a little street in the basement of a house in Jayanagar, Bangalore, and are on a mission to spread more music (albeit of a different tradition) to the discerning rasikas of South Bangalore. With house concerts becoming steadily more prominent in the music scene, we hope to make the best of the time we’re in to contribute to Bangalore as an alternative to traditional music venues. We are non-alcoholic, non-profit, and completely privately supported. We hope to expand and collaborate with partners in various streams to provide fair, diverse, meaningful and impactful music experiences for listeners and artists alike. 

Originally intended as a space for jazz, we’ve noticed that the dearth of music venues and the recent crackdown on the local music scene renders us responsible to do whatever we can to promote the hardworking and incredible musicians and artists of our community. We open our space to smaller ensembles that will benefit from the 50-person capacity of our space and minimal backline (equipment stash). 

In addition to concerts, The Blue Room hosts workshops and masterclasses by renowned musicians from around the world, listening sessions, and our most precious element, our monthly jazz jam titled “Anand’s Jazz Loft” in honour of Anand Ramakrishna, a great proponent of jazz whose intent to develop the music scene inspired so many others. We also hold piano and vocal lessons by our founder and curator, Samhita Nagaraj, whose passion for teaching and music found its expression in the creation of this very space.  In our seven (official) months of existence, The Blue Room has only recently been benefitted by the loving work of our volunteers, Rahul Menon (social media and long-form content), Nicaia D’Souza (social media and creative work), Nithya Shikarpur (A&R), Mihir Singh (resources and business development), Akrti (sound tech and operations) and Samhita Nagaraj (manager).  Most importantly, The Blue Room would not exist without the silent yet incomparable help of Naga Belur, Asha Malatkar and Aman Mahajan, whose love for music and selfless spirit keeps our space in existence at all. 

Keep in touch with us! If you’re an artist hoping to play here, or a photographer or videographer interested in volunteering work, write in to us with your work at theblueroom.blr@gmail.com. We’re also @theblueroom.blr on Instagram and The Blue Room on Facebook.  We hope that our work resounds with you and enfolds you in our tribe.