Music composer and singer Ankur Tewari embarks on a journey across India to explore raw and unique sounds in the new season of MTV Sound Trippin’. By Team Viva

Beyond the rumbling walls of a recording studio or the soulful excellence of a symphony, there lies music replete with imperfections that’s strung out of edgy sounds and untrained voices. This music of serendipity connects people and places in ways no one knows about. Celebrating such rustic and authentic music, MTV brings back Sound Trippin’. Adhering to its core belief that each sound has a story, each instrument tells a tale and all these tales contribute to a song, the show will primarily focus on stories told through sounds. This season, music composer and singer Ankur Tewari embarks on a journey across India to explore raw and unique sounds. Excerpts:

Tell us about MTV Sound Trippin’ and what prompted you to be a part of it?

I have been watching Sound Trippin’ for quite some time now. It’s one of my favourite shows. They proposed that I should become a part of it. It was something that didn’t take me much time to jump on to because the idea was exciting and I was actually looking at something to challenge me in terms of making a new kind of sound. It was perfect in every sense. I have always believed that art enables you to bend things most people see as a straight line. That’s exactly what I get to do in the show by exploring unexplored sounds and creating music out of elements that don’t fit the routine.

How has been the experience of travelling and shooting on-ground, especially after the lockdown?

Well, you can say that it was challenging because I’ve been indoors for quite a while, so I was very nervous in the beginning. But we got a really good unit, a great production team and we kind of really did our homework. We did a bunch of meetings about how we could approach the shoot and I think by the second or the third day of it, we realised that we are in safe hands. We didn’t need to be that nervous because we had set up some stringent rules of how we were going to shoot. By the end of it when we returned to Mumbai, we all got ourselves checked and everyone was COVID negative, so we were relieved. It was quite something we were happy and proud about.

Out of the four cities, Uttarakhand, Goa, Mumbai and Jodhpur, where you travelled and shot for the show, which was the most memorable one and why?

We travelled via Dehradun to Mussoorie and Rishikesh, we travelled to Goa, Jodhpur and then came back to Mumbai. For me, going back to Uttarakhand was the most exciting because it’s my hometown. Being indoors for so long, I was kind of missing home, so being back to where I belong was the most thrilling experience. Having said that, the excitement levels that I got in Rajasthan was another level, it was just so surreal.

What has been some of the major challenges since the time you started and how did you overcome them?

I have been making music since the 90s, so if I start counting the challenges then there will be a never ending list. But the one thing that is recurring in an independent musician’s life is that every time you feel that you have found a comfortable spot, life throws another challenge at you. I think one must be on their toes all the time when it comes to doing something that you really love. It is not very convenient but the kind of satisfaction and the kind of love you get from doing something that you love is beyond comparison.

Gully Boy has been a raging success and people have loved your work. How would you describe that journey?

Gully Boy was quite a unique experience for me, especially because I do not make hip hop music. I listen a lot of hip hop, but I do not make it per se. For me, it was a very interesting journey as it was one of the few times where a major film from the country was expressing a unique, honest sound. Usually what ends up happening is that things get a sugar coating from the film industry but in this case it was the director herself, she was kind of adamant in presenting a raw image. So, it was an amazing experience for me to work on a project where everyone was bringing out their ‘A-game’. Every department was challenging the other department to get better.

What is next for you? Any forthcoming projects that you would like to share?

There are a few projects coming up, in terms of there are a couple of movies. Shakun Batra is directing one, Gurmeet Singh is directing one. Shakun’s film is with Dharma, the other one is with Excel and apart from that there are a few Netflix projects that are coming up. Right now, I just finished A Suitable Boy that recently released on Netflix. Then there is a show with Conde Nast that is coming out on Netflix where I’ve done music supervision. I have worked on my single, my EP and more.

(The show premiers every Friday at 7 pm only on MTV.)