A firm believer in taking Indian music to the world, Karthick Iyer’s long and illustrious musical journey led him to IndoSoul and the formation of his band Karthick Iyer Live.
Comprising musicians from diverse musical backgrounds including Vikram Vivekanand on guitar, Naveen Napier on bass, Ramkumar Kanakarajan on drums, Sumesh Narayanan on mridangam and percussion and Karthick Iyer on violin and vocals, the band is a melting pot of varied genres and styles.
Performing a unique genre of music they fondly call IndoSoul, which is the title of their debut album, the band often collaborated with multifaceted musicians crossing over genres, cultures and languages defining their signature sound.
Beginning at the tender age of eight, Karthick has over 20 years of experience in the field of classical Carnatic music. His soul-stirring voice and emotion-driven violin performances have helped him create a niche audience for the popular multi-genre music he is associated with now. Excerpts from an interview:
How did the band come together?
I took a break from the Indian film industry after performing as a freelance musician. I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do. Meanwhile, my sister was getting married and she called a group of friends and me to play for her reception. We played a bunch of covers and contemporary Carnatic music. That was the first live concert and, sort of, the start of Karthick Iyer Live. I put the band together slowly over the course of the next few months. I had a basic idea of the instruments that I wanted. Things fell into place and I met the right people.
What led you to IndoSoul?
The music we play came from the entire process itself. We wanted something long-term to pursue. So we made a practical decision to play Carnatic and contemporary music. That helped forge a strong musical relationship and get our sound together. Organically, the five of us started to fuse and create independent music. That’s what led to IndoSoul.
What is at the heart of your music?
At the heart of the band’s music is the essence of Indian music at its best. The commonality throughout our songs is Indian classical music. At the core of our music is the soul, of course. That’s very important for me. I believe music has to be soulful and stir the listeners.
Where do you see your music taking you?
The band will travel a lot. We are planning to bring out an EP with new collaborations. There are a lot of new possibilities in the international and Indian circuit. But we will keep it organic with no fixed agenda and are open to anything new.
SWEARING BY THE BREW
Filter Coffee is equally passionate about being ambassadors of Indian music albeit with a different approach. Comprising flautist Shriram and percussionist Swarupa, the duo brings a high-octane virtuosic blend of Indian rhythms and melodies fused with ambient electronica soundscapes. The decade-old band that loves giving a holistic audio-visual experience will be teaming up with fellow artistes Jahnvi Shrimankar and Mahesh Vinayakram as guest artiste. Filter Coffee’s unique brew of Indian folk, classical music and textured sounds with stunning visuals and a lifestyle deep rooted in music. Their debut album, titled Raagatronic, is memorable for establishing their signature grooves and melodies blended with harmonic and rhythmic precision they popularly call ethnotronic. Renowned for their catchy urban grooves, the band is excited to perform in Bengaluru which they fondly is their favourite place to play in since the vibe is great and the audience fantastic. Excerpts:
How did your musical journey begin?
We used to stay in the same area. We met through a bunch of common friends playing together and decided to stick around since we had common interests musically too. We have done a lot of music over the last decade. Our music has taken different forms from pure Indian classical music to fusion to extreme hard core fusion with a band to present day Filter Coffee with just the two of us.
What makes you such obvious fans of the brew?
Its filter coffee or nothing for us! Why do we have filter coffee in the morning? It’s your morning drink that wakes you up and gives you the head start for the day. Filter coffee is fresh in every form and we believe what we play is also like that. Our music is a brew of a lot of different things. We try to experiment with our coffee adding vanilla and chocolate. Likewise, we like to collaborate adding different flavours. We love filter coffee and consume a lot every day. We even carry our own filters and coffee powder on tour. We swear by Bru and nothing else!
What inspired the term etnotronic?
We didn’t coin the word. It was two years ago on a tour of the UK that our London organisers put up a poster with the name ethnotronica for us. We picked it up. It is, essentially, Indian ethnic music in all its forms blended with electronica contemporary music. It’s completely our perspective.
What is at the heart of your music?
At the heart of our music is our own take on Indian music. It’s a very organic process. We make sure we personally enjoy and connect to our songs. We interpret in our relevant format and we are firm that we have a take on every song we do.
What’s the future got in store for Filter Coffee?
In the future, we want to take our music to the masses. We have had a good run for the last 10 years in different avatars. This year we are going to focus on producing auditorium shows. We are not pure or totally a fusion band. We are right in the middle with a bit of both worlds and we like it that way. This is our take on music and we keep Indian classical music alive and look at it differently.
