There’s no signal in his office, so Nikhil Kaul has to step out to chat with me over the phone. “I think the walls are really thick; it’s like a fort.” He’s speaking at breakneck speed, with earnestness and lots of excitement; for good reason too.
This Monday, May 9, saw the release of Better Late | Vol. 1 , the first release by Lowlit, a record label/artist collective/curating platform for left-of-centre electronic music in the country, founded last year by Kaul and Vishnu PS.
Kaul lives in New Delhi and spends the nights as electronic producer and DJ Frame/Frame, while PS, who’s in Bengaluru, writes and performs as Soulspace. The album, a compilation release, mastered by Keshav Dhar (Skyharbor), features 10 songs by a range of musicians, including well-known ones such as Audio Pervert and Da Saz, _RHL, Ox7gen, and Kumail. “Lowlit,” Kaul says, “is a reflection of mine and Vishnu’s taste in music; a sense of what we think is music that’s on the fringes vis-à-vis genre.
All the artists on the album are pretty chameleon-like, in that they all make music that doesn’t fall into one micro-genre, like ‘deep tech house’ or something. It came from this realisation we had that we’re not alone anymore, which I felt when I first started out. That’s essentially what Lowlit is all about: a platform for artists and also people who listen to this music, with this policy of aggregation.”
Beyond being just another compilation, Better Late is also a kind of ‘curation’ by Lowlit, where they’re trying to represent this large chunk of music being made in the country. They want to function, and be recognised, as a ‘collective’ more than a traditional label with contracts tying down artists. They contacted some of the musicians to contribute new, original songs for it. But that’s not all. A song such as ‘We Live In Shadows’ by Ox7gen is actually a re-release, first featured on his album Recess , as Kaul felt not enough people originally heard that song.
There’s also ‘Take 1’, the debut release by Schlick (aka Bradley Tellis), which Kaul heard through a common friend, and it eventually found its way on to the record. Then there’s the seven-minute long slippery, pastoral ‘Lone Space’ by Soulspace, which sticks out on early listens.
The songs have a sense of identity and as Kaul says, “subtlety of melody, and nuance and maturity”. There’s also a stylistic theme running through it, a “late night vibe” if you will, instead of being necessarily in-your-face. Although there’s enough to dance too, in case you’re wondering. “We wanted to mix it up, and showcase the scope of this thing,” says Kaul. “We have by no means covered all the people who make this kind of music. But we just wanted to at least show a little more than the tip of the iceberg. Like Yeh ho raha hai desh main .” People from all parts of the country have been sending them their demos, further substantiating Kaul’s belief that there’s a need for such representative platforms in the country.
Outside of the release, Lowlit also did Ribbit: The Lowlit Beat Desk Ver. 1 on March 23 at Antisocial, a gig space in Khar. “We wanted to create a situation which was not a workshop in the traditional sense; something that would fuel interaction. A lot of producers are the same in the sense that they’re always huddled up in dark spaces and never leave their house,” he laughs, “so it was nice of them to stay.”
The event turned out a reasonable success, with 18 producers taking turns to create parts to a song in one particular session, then creating beats using samples written out on random chits, and a couple of other fun exercises. That’s something they want to do more often, to invite participation and collaboration, but they’re content with maybe three a year in the major electronic hubs of the country: Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, given the logistics involved. The album release as well should hopefully be the first of many. But that’s where the small matter of money comes in. They’ve released Better Late as a free/pay-what-you-want download, so revenues have become a bit of a concern. “The idea of running a record label in 2016 is really very stupid,” Kaul concedes, and is clear about not getting restricted or confined to traditional models.
For now, they’re a loss-making organisation, investing out-of-pocket for all expenses. But that’s something they’re fine with for the time being, given that there’s a long-term plan and vision at play. Lowlit aims at propelling, or assisting, the growth of the scene itself. Beyond the Beat Desk concept, they intend to get into live events as well, which is one way of generating income. Again, though, it’s not straightforward, Kaul doesn’t want to do regular gigs with a standard list of artists. Instead, they want to curate the music, feature like-minded artists and present their talent.
“We want to see what we can do to make it more interesting than your average gig. At least the nerds should get something from [the experience]; it can’t just be ‘walk-in-walk-out-go-home’. We’re all nerds, nerds also make up the chunk of our fan following; it’s all about the nerds,” he laughs.
Better Late | Vol. 1is available on SoundCloud or download it for free on lowlit.bandcamp.com
The writer is a freelance journalist
“We want to see what we can do to make it more interesting than your average gig”
For now, they’re
a loss-making organisation,
investing out-of-pocket for expenses
