Coming to You, Live
Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj of Midival Punditz.
The opening track to Midival Punditz’s fourth album, Light, is nine minutes long. The track has a cinematic quality, with big horns and subtle variations, in a buildup that hooks you in and refuses to let go. This is not classic Midival Punditz, whose heavy beat-laden tracks have made a generation of dance music fans lose it on the floor. “Two years ago, we decided we wanted to move towards a live sound. We have since been playing in a band set-up, with a number of classical and folk musicians most of whom have collaborated with us on this album,” says Gaurav Raina, one half of the outfit.
Raina and Tapan Raj have been making music across a wide range of genres — from ambient to trance to drum ‘n’ bass over the past 18 years. These electronic genres have masterfully been blended by them with Indian classical and folk music. With Light, however, the music sounds truly synergetic. Their collaborators over the past few years include Kutle Khan, Malini Aawasti, and Pandit Ajay Prasanna, among others.
“We are not sampling artistes on this album. In order to truly collaborate, we have invited artistes to come to us with their ideas. While it remains our music, a lot of thought has gone in from our collaborators as well,” says Raina. For instance, in Nadia, Aawasti sings in a folk style from Uttar Pradesh. The vocalist croons the first three lines over and over throughout the track. “According to the rules of the folk style, she can’t expose the last line of the poem until the end of the song. We had to keep that in mind and compose the track accordingly. The end product is truly amazing. That last line really hits you,” explains the musical duo. Another example is the smooth integration of a lilting solo by Motherjane guitarist Baiju Dharmarajan in the track Rushing. The solo has been layered over a frenetic, unrelenting beat.
While each tune sounds different from the other, the album has been created to be experienced in its entirety, says Raj. Tracks do not flow into each other, yet the album has the sense of a musical journey. “We have already thought of the visuals and lighting that will go with the tracks when we play them live,” he says.
Midival Punditz has been preparing fans for this album with gigs that they have played in a live setup over the last couple of years. This album cements the direction they want to head in, but they aren’t giving up on electronic music, or the DJing format just yet. Raj explains, “We played a DJ set last week and had a great time. But we are blessed with collaborators who are good instrumentalists. Staying in the electronica domain is important to us. It’s what drives Gaurav and I. But now we are very excited to interact with the audience on a personal level. That is the high we get from live music.”
kevin.lobo@expressindia.com
Source:: Indian Express
