When violinist and vocalist Karthick Iyer released his debut album IndoSoul in June last year and began touring, he realised he had estimated a different target audience. Iyer, who has previously worked with the likes of A.R. Rahman, Raghu Dixit and Susheela Raman, says, “We went into our album production and branding with a wisdom that said our target audience is between 18 and 45. But, we found that people brought their parents with them to the gigs. That was pleasant to note.”
Iyer, who has toured Europe, the U.S. and Australia with folk artist Dixit, Raman and indo-acoustic band Emergence, ventured into his solo fusion project in 2011, and is now ready to set out on his own international tour. The IndoSoul Tour, which runs between July and August, includes six shows at clubs as well as auditoria across the U.S. and Canada. “There’s been a lot of fan interest. We released our U.S. tour promo video on YouTube and Facebook — there have been a lot of people asking us to come to their city or State. They’ve even offered us a list of venues where we can perform — some of these have worked for us,” says Iyer.
There are still a few more dates to be confirmed, but the band is happy to play in a mix of clubs, such as Joe’s Pub in New York, as well as more Indian-centric settings such as the shows in Toronto, Knoxville and North Carolina arranged by local cultural associations.
Putting together a tour came with its share of lessons. “The first tour requires a bit of effort for it to materialise the way you want. Conventional wisdom says that with the second and the third tour, it gets easier, because people get to know you and promoters talk to you and to each other. If you can put up a good show, they’ll already start planning for the next year and the year after, on the back of this tour.”
The other takeaway is planning as early as possible. “Auditoria in the West tend to get booked a year in advance. These are small complexities that arise when things are planned later on, even if it’s a decent amount of time to work in advance.”
Iyer and his band — comprising Vikram Vivekanand on guitar, Naveen Napier on bass, percussionist Sumesh Narayanan and drummer Ramkumar Kanakarajan — will also promote their six-track album IndoSoul . The release features a glimpse into Iyer’s take on fusion that is both tempered as well as unhinged, on tracks such as ‘Boundless’ and ‘At the Theatres’.
Iyer, who’s performed at sabhas as well as clubs in India, says the music has been received well. “People agree it’s energetic music, but, at the same time, it’s classy. The blending of Indian and Western elements is much more evolved and refined. That’s what IndoSoul is about — going to the depths of different genres to find the commonality among them,” says the violinist.
There’s a follow-up release that the band hopes to complete by the end of the year, but, in the meantime, Iyer and his band are treating fans to a unique collaboration. Their recently-released recordings, called the Old Madras Sessions , features a reimagining of yesteryear Tamil songs ranging from ‘Kodai Kala Katre’ (Ilaiyaraaja) to ‘Sara Sara’ (Mohamaad Ghibran), with help from Puducherry-based artist Dondieu Divin. Iyer says, “This was sort of an introduction to our second album with him, towards the end of the year. We plan to sit on it as soon as we come back from North America.”
