A platform for creativity – Avi & The Uprising, with their infectiously hummable ‘Wahe guru’ tasted international viral success through the platform of balconytv, garnering 75, 000 hits in a matter of weeks and making it to the Top 60 of balconytv along with the likes of Mumford & Sons, Victor Wooten and The Buzzcocks. Amrutha Ananth caught up with them.
You have just released ‘Boom Boom Shiva’. Tell us how it all started?
Vedantic thought fascinates me. ‘Shiva’ was an interpretation of ‘tat twam asi’ and also a contemporary relatable picture of Shiva. In the ‘Kali Yuga’, dissolution generally points downwards, thus the chorus. In terms of the video, Shadipur Depot and all its colours and drama somehow captured the essence of the song.
The debut video has a montage of street performers including fire breathers, magicians, stilt walkers and contortionists featured! Any ‘behind the scenes’ anecdote that you would like to share with us?
While shooting the band scene, hundreds of children from the colony surrounded us and started singing along to the chorus ‘Boom Boom Shiva bring me down’. The energy was phenomenal. The entire colony was like a living performance. There was an act everywhere. The inherent class divide between performers of two very different backgrounds was erased without a thought as we celebrated the unity in art and our performances were mirroring the abandon and joy of theirs.
What is the ‘new/catchy’ element according to you in your upcoming album? How do you thinks its new?Our thinking is new. We are reflecting the global disillusionment with post Industrial economy, polity and commoditization of the self while also capturing contemporary India in all its beauty and chaos. Sonically, While we are sticking to a ‘roots’ approach, our subtle use of instruments like the esraj and pakhawaj in the arrangement is purely contextual and thus fresh. Every new audience that we have ever played to inevitably sings most of our choruses and goes home with multiple ear worms we are told so I must be writing ‘catchy’ songs.
Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?
No. I’m chief god of small & all things at a startup called Avi & The Uprising. I’m also the C.E.O., C.F.O., C.O.O. and chief clerk of this esteemed Fotune 500, 000, 000, 000 organization.
How has the reaction to the video been?
Overwhelming. People really took to the video and for a while it was virtually omnipresent. Here’s a You Tube comment I particularly liked -‘Stepping away from the glitz and glamour that people are so bombarded with nowadays, making most song/video experiences jaded and predictable. This video takes a cool departure from that and steps into the heart of the song, the essence of India and portrays real people, their hardships, their talent, the essence of India and portrays real people, their hardships, their talent, in the most artistic and unique manner! Watch the video with your heart, you will be surprised and intellectually stimulated ! Thank you for the music!
What was the overall theme mood that you’re trying to capture in this album? How did you hit upon a certain theme?
The Uprising is as much spiritual and personal as its social and political. The whole question of identity to me is critical. Ramana Maharishi was once asked ‘who am i?’ he answered ‘figure out who’s asking the question and you’ll know’. We are all one consciousness, we must get back to that knowledge that we in this country have had for years. You cant be defined by your name, your race or the shoes that you wear. Pete Townshend of The Who says the same thing in Quadraphenia – ‘I’m one’. So in a way we explore the objective and the subjective and the central human themes of conflict and evolution at macro and micro states.
Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?
We had been sticking to a set list of 13 original songs and one cover that no one in India
knows ( Shivers by Boy Next Door), we were hoping to cut an album for the last two years and move on, that didn’t happen so we moved on anyways and now we play 8 old songs that you’ll hear in this album and 8 new songs that are more subtle, gentle and folksy in some ways, I love how these new songs like ‘old Bombay’ and ‘eulogy’ sound with the trio – our new minimalistic avatar in particular. For some special gigs, we love playing music by the folk who influenced us like The Doors, Dylan ,The Beatles, etc. but that’s not the norm, usually I have too much original material to get off my chest.
Has the city you have been living influenced your music in any way? If yes how are we hearing it in your music?
Delhi is schizophrenic and intense, with 10 different empires buried one below the other. Mohammed Bin Tughlak moved the entire city out of Delhi and then back. Delhi was Shahajahanabad, where everyone smoked hashish and knew the rules of Urdu verse. Delhi is Gurgaon. Gurgaon’s the millennium city, where everyone plays golf and drinks wheat beer. Gurgaon is where Dronacharya taught Arjun. Delhi’s al the centre of political corruption where some of the richest thieves in the world dwell in farmhouse palaces and ride serial killer BMW’s. It’s where thousands of landless labour gravitate towards a mirage of the promised land only to shiver to death in the metallic cold. All my themes from the ones of faith & surrender like ‘Wahe Guru’ and ‘Love’ to ones of defunct post industrial values – like ‘Who’ and ‘Tamasic Electric Tools’ are stamped by Delhi.
What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
As the name suggests – the band’s an extension of a solo singer songwriter project. I’ve penned most of these songs years ago and have been fortunate to work with some brilliant and experienced sessionists who have become core members over the years. The lineup’s quite flexible though and its fun getting new energies on board. When I toured Australia, I had an Australian backing band, that’s just how it rolls. Since we were born out of the Delhi and Gurgaon School Of Music faculties, skill or professionalism isn’t an issue. As I decide to work on a new set list, I call the guys over and brief them on the structures and then we just meet twice before the show and on the night generally… Boom.
