Stand-up comedy is emerging as a serious business and is finally finding place in contemporary art scene. At the forthcoming The Park's New Festival, the new-age artistes will break the conventional forms of their media. They chat with Shrabasti Malllik
Why is it called Filter CoffeeIJ
Shriram: We want to bring a certain kind of freshness to the music and coffee for a lot of us is the creative fluid. Swarupa and I swear by good Filter Coffee anyway and when a close friend said ‘why look outsideIJ You love Filter Coffee, so be Filter Coffee’, we couldn’t stop ourselves.
Swarupa: And coffee is such a universal thing for something fresh and new, isn’t itIJ
Tell us about collaboration with Jahnvi Shrimankar and VJ Shreya Naik.
Shriram: Music or art in its very nature is collaborative and some of the best creative works happen when artists from the discrete forms meet. Jahnvi is one the best folk and semi-classical voices in the country today and this past year we have collaborated and toured extensively with her. For Jahnvi, Filter Coffee is a place where she gets to open up on her creative and artistic side limitlessly which makes each and every gig sound so different from other.
Shreya Naik aka Plan B, with Filter Coffee happened more like an accident. She ideates and conducts participatory art installations. We were at a gig and while managing and producing our gig she tried experimenting with visuals on our live set and after that gig we just couldn’t let go off her!
How did you come up with the idea of fusing the tabla, percussion and the fluteIJ
Shriram: We started playing music with just a flute and tabla, which came very naturally to us as classical musicians. later, Filter Coffee happened over a period of time and organically, rather than a preconceived idea. Here we were with a flute, tabla and percussion playing Indian classical music and at the same time we were exposed to a great deal of crossover music, which inspired us to do Filter Coffee. The music that we make and perform is a celebration of the music we follow, without the need to box it into one specific genre.
How have you used tabla and flute in a contemporary set upIJ
Swarupa: It’s a love affair that has been prevalent for a long time, with contemporary music wanting the touch of ethnicity through the use of classical instruments and classical music wanting to be showcased with a more modern soundscape. Also, the ability of the younger generation to play these instruments to context helps blend the two together very well.
So more collaborations ahead...
Swarupa: Yes absolutely! The idea behind Filter Coffee is to explore our music by way of collaborating with different artists. We would love to work with more classical instrumentalists, folk artists, visual artists, dancers, rappers, beat boxers, poi spinners and the bunch.
What are your future projectsIJ
Shriram: We are currently working on an album which is Indian Classical music with a contemporary electronic perspective. The album explores ragas woven with hypnotic grooves, ambient sounds and progressive melodies and will be out later this year. We are also collaborating with a great bunch of Australian artistes this month for a unique album.
What’s brewingIJ
Swarupa Ananth and Shriram Sampath will perform with folk and classical musicians