When people from worlds apart come together to create music, it is easy to call it magic. And when the people in question are Bombay Acoustic People, the coalition becomes more than magic – it becomes a musical, conceptual movement.
The duo created a combination of organic instrumental music for a packed audience in the ‘Club Night’ series at BFlat recently.
The Bombay Acoustic People is the coming together of two guitars and minds—Sankarshan Kini on the steel-string guitar and Anurag Shanker on the nylon-string guitar.
Not new to Bengaluru, Sankarshan says: “It feels good to be back home since both of us spent a considerable amount of our lives here. I love the response we get here from a great listening audience.” Anurag adds that the city has a chilled out vibe. “There are a lot of venues when compared to Mumbai. It’s a good ecosystem to play in.”
On the ‘Club Night’ series, he points out that they are playing a selection of songs from their set that is organic since it is instrumental music. “We want people to absorb the most of it so we keep changing it up. Today is a mix of old and new.”
Recalling their formation, Sankarshan says he approached Anurag to create a guitar album featuring many guitar players.
“Before long we figured out that the two guitar setup was standalone and working well. That is how the project grew as an experimental writing arena for both of us to bring in whatever was catching our fancy and see how the other person responds. It was prolific initially. We wrote a lot and we were happy with it.” Anurag adds: “We are both fulltime musicians and it was amazing that we could do anything. Thought it began as a subliminal level of talking on the idea, the conversations crept into the writing and became a holistic experience. We clicked instantly though we are not at all similar. We talk to each other through our music.”
When asked about the freedom that a two-guitar setup gives, the duo agrees that freedom is a good word. “Because there is only two of us, there is a lot more scope for experimental chemistry and a lot of improvisations. We make changes from gig to gig,” explains Sankarshan. Anurag points out that the two guitar setup is minimalistic and, at the same time, challenging. “Since it is magnified if you make a mistake. But it has worked pretty well for us. This doesn’t happen in bands since they are set. Here, we have arrangements too. But there is scope for chemistry. People complement us on the impact since we tell stories and allow them to escape in today’s crazy world. People are happy to getaway to this minimalist world full of colours.” He further hopes that people get the opportunity to unplug by the tales they tell through their songs. “It’s the ultimate idea of music – to affect people’s lives.”
On the obvious name denoting two people playing acoustic from Bombay, Sankarshan says the ‘people’ implies that they are happy to throw this open to collaborations. Anurag adds that their music is open to further interpretation. “The guitar duo is the beginning. We hope to take it to an ensemble format -maybe something different or quirky. So we are forecasting ourselves to an expansion.”
Looking ahead, the pair choruses that they have contemplated on scoring for films. “Because the music is open, we are game for any form of experimentation,” says Sankarshan. Anurag adds that the ensemble format is the ultimate goal. “We hope to be loud enough to play without amplification. We also want to take it to people in different ways – on the streets, other stages and festivals. So everyone can enjoy it since our music has the potential to affect anyone.”
