Gods Robots’ Shri and Janaka will perform tomorrow at Zerzura. They told Iknoor Kaur about their debut album and ‘tech’ experience
Making the best use of technology, Mumbai’s Shridevi Keshavan and San Francisco’s Janaka Atugoda created music for nearly half a year over Skype and Gmail. They collaborated in October 2009 and managed to understand each other’s music without meeting physically. They never felt like they hadn’t met because they were seeing each other and coordinating their music.
Previously part of a Reggae band, Janaka said, “We spoke to each other and understood what we thought of music as individuals and something clicked. Shri is trained in classical music and I’ve been a part of a Reggae band so we managed to mix different elements to create mixed genre of music.”
Popularly known for their track Stay, which played on the BBC World Radio, the pair said that Internet is the way forward. “A lot of people in the world connect through the Internet. It is the way people will make music in future and we can see that happening,” they added. Gods Robots launched first video of their song Stay in 2011.
Calling their work “result of a creative connection,” Shri said, “We came up with a process that helped us develop our skills. I recorded my part and sent it to Janaka who further worked on it. Then both of us gave our inputs and finally had a track ready. It is all about how much effort you are ready to put in.”
In spite of their online jamming sessions, the two did experience a major change in their music when they finally met. However, the fact that they belong to two different sides of the world didn’t hold them from refining their sound virtually. After two and a half years of countless emails, Skype conversations and file transfers, the pair is set to release its first album named after their band, Gods Robots.
Their debut album will be a collection of 13 songs. Commenting on the name Gods Robots, Shri said, “There was a time we didn’t get out of our houses at all and were literally working like robots and technology was a core element in producing the music. Gods Robots defines us.”
A year ago they launched their first EP (Extended Play) featuring four of their most popular tracks and gave fans and new listeners a taste of what Gods Robots was all about. “We were in talks with a label regarding the release of the EP, but we dropped the idea. Then we spoke to Sony and finally thought of releasing the complete album,” said Janaka.
Both say they have evolved as musicians. “After experimenting so much, I think we spotted our grey areas and worked on them which made our music better,” they said.
live performances help them get close to their fans and understand what they expect from the duo. They will be performing tomorrow at Zerzura. About their future projects they informed, “There is a movie project in pipeline, but we can’t disclose any details about that right now. We are recording our debut album with Sony and will be performing the same for the first time at Zerzura.”