- Describe your sound in 3 words!
Tritha : meditative, deep, universal
Manuel (World Wild Web) : energetic, colorful, adventurous
- In your music, you blend many different genres. Can you tell us more about your creative process?
T: My music is a reflection of my way of life. In harmony with nature, provoking rhythms if something is too slow or caressing sweet melodies if there is a need of love and care. Being an indian classical singer, who still wanted to reach out to the world, my process was to open my mind, heart and consciousness to different styles and genres of music. My voice gave me wings to fly and my soul spoke to others through my musical vibrations sometimes harmonising sometimes resonating exactly the same way. Training my voice on a single drone of 2 harmonized frequencies (the tanpura) over 2 decades, I learnt that blending other frequencies into it even in the most subtle way creates feelings within the body, giving rise to interesting symphonies matching with the time of day and night, seasons and emotions, as we study in Indian classical music. When we are in touch with this awareness, any music or musician that respects this idea of listening deeply and intently, is welcome in the creative process. In my creative process on my own, I usually start with a single tone and then introduce other sound frequencies through my voice sometimes, and sometimes with my instruments or loop machines elevating in a crescendo of sorts for both the music and the spirit.
M: For me , music has always been about blending things. Most of the stuff I like are mixtures of cultures and music genres. It just sounds sweet to me when I hear some sounds or sonorities I don’t know in a track, I feel the artist is actually teaching me something new and making me grow.
My creative process has evolved a lot over time, I used to write songs with a band before, and switching to machines and programming was pretty complex in the beginning, but I got used to it, and it’s getting quicker now. And for music, I don’t know, I guess I just sit in front of my instruments, and play until I find some melody, or some beat which has something special, some characteristic mood, and then I build the rest around this original idea. That’s why I think, for the kind music I make it’s important to work fast, not to lose the original feeling which gave me the direction for the track.
- Which album introduced you to Electronica? And which is your favourite album of all time?
M : It’s Impossible to answer i’m sorry 😉
T : Perhaps a project called Midival Punditz, they were the pioneers of electronic music in India. Even though Charanjeet Singh, the father of Acid House made the album “10 raagas to a disco beat” way back in early 80’s, i seem to find this album pretty eternal, matching my love for Indian music and electronica.
- When it comes to live perfomance, is realistically Electronica a genre that can be performed live?
M: Live music and recorded music are two different things, the game is different. That’s why I tend to aim for different things.
Live is not about being precise, but being present, and giving something to the audience which match the moment you’re playing. That’s why I try to let a lot of space for unprepared events, and improvisation, it’s also way more challenging !
I guess if you’re expecting some electronic music to be the same live and on recording, it’s closer to a DJ set than to a Live performance. But that’s ok too, it’s just different 🙂
T: I have always been a live performer whether the genre is Indian classical or rock or electronika. For me just the sounds change but the process is the same. I improvise a lot never knowing what I will create live. But yes being a singer known for her songs, sometimes i am asked to sing my popular ones, so then i try to make a track sometimes produced sometimes created live, but my vocals always reman organic and is never the same in a live show from another.
- If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
T: If i could change anything about the music industry or any industry in general, is to bring back the idea of ethics and values in it. Yes its important that distribution is important for the music we create and hence promotion as well. But in the past, it was so dependent on single individuals or huge labels that sometimes some brilliant talents have got a complete miss on the chances of being known. Internet definitely made it more accessible for independent artists to reach out to their fans and to the world in general, but even there the artists rights and copyrights is still such a vague area of understanding. In India, the film music has always rules predominantly and sometimes artists have to make formula based music based on “what sells”. The industry can be more open to newer styles and artists emerging for new waves and ways of music to come and harmonize or reflect the society we live in.
M: I guess I would change something about the way music is distributed on internet, when it started, we all had this idea in mind where the audience could be connected directly to the artists, and that would be better for everyone. But we can see that the reality is different, Internet has become closer to a ” winner take all ” model, and online distribution is basically a huge scam ! I think algorithms shouldn’t be in charge of presenting music to the audience. It sounds very toxic to me. I feel now It’s all about the time you can invest on your own promotion and your presence on social media. But I can feel thinks are slowly changing and this model won’t last for ever, people will get bored of it.
In which place or state of mind do you imagine people might listen to your music?
M: I have never thought about it, I just hope the music will somehow guide them to a happier state of mind, or a safer place for them
T: I i feel my audiences reach out to listen to my voice. And listen to new musical spaces that I try to create around it whether its on my own or with my talented collaborators who respect that and my background of the rich Indian classical music tradition. I feel now my voice has reached out to different audiences. Whether its a yoga centre or a club, whether its a movie or an independent music radio. But once they listen to it, I would wish that it will make them enjoy it and reach an enhanced and deeper state of spirit once they hear my music.
- Which book should we read while listening to your album?
T : Listen to my music, keeping your eyes closed. Focus on the sound, train the sensitivity of ur ears and concentrate on the music with you mind, heart, soul and body. After that any book will be a great read 🙂
M : The one you are already reading, keep focus !
- Is this collaboration a one off? Or should we expect more music in the future?
M: I can’t read the future 🙂
T: Usually my collaborations have been long-term. With Manuel, it started with his interest in Indian classical music and India, when he reached out to me. If he still stays interested, perhaps we will make more music together. I had found his bands in the past interesting and his solo creative process as well. He seems to get more and more into his gear (giving me some tips sometimes ;-)) and if he sends me some cool new sounds or tracks, i will surely try to add my musical creativity and voice into it. I have a nice recording studio set-up which I created thanx to the special situation of the world we live in. Where human travels can reduce, but sounds and music shall always travel…
- One last thing we should know about you?
T: That I am a very good cook 😉
Thanks World Wild Web and Tritha!
Listen to the EP here: https://hifilofi.streamlink.to/prophet
Follow World Wild Web
Website/Instagram
Secret Eclectic 