The stage at Phoenix MarketCity is already crowded with six members of the band Dogo Fara, all the way from Reunion Island. But the musicians made space for three more, as members of the All for One dance crew hopped on stage, rendering koothu style steps to the band’s Afro-Maloya dance beats.
As Bengaluru-band Swarathma took to the stage next, Global Isai Festival, organised by Exodus and Unwind Centre, came to an energetic end. The two-day indie music festival, happening simultaneously in Chennai and Mumbai with Pune next in line, brought both pop and experimental bands and musicians from across the world: Canada, France, Spain, Reunion Island and different parts of India.
While the lineup has always been interesting over the past nine editions, 2020’s highlight for this writer was the percussion, rhythm and the exploration of how it can be made to sound fresh. Take for instance, Canadian rapper Shan Vincent de Paul’s collaboration with mridangam player Yanchan. The duo debuted its Mridangam raps series in the city at the festival. Pushing boundaries of what constitutes Carnatic and what constitutes hip hop, Shan rapped to Yanchan’s mridangam beats. They sat down on a raised platform at the centre of the stage, and invited the audience to sit around them, almost as if they were in a sabha.
They played not only their own compositions, but also a cover of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘DNA’. Shan, who moved to Toronto from Sri Lanka to escape the civil war in the 1990s, sang songs from his new album, Made in Jaffna . “Any time a community goes through suffering, there’s always a period of frustration and anger before the healing can begin. I hope I’ll get there soon,” he said.
The duo is followed by One Rusty Band, from France. The rhythm in this band, comprising husband-wife Greg and Lea, comes not only from the drums but also from Lea’s tap dancing and washboard, which she wears like an armour. (This is known as a vest frottoir, or rubboard. It is usually played by stroking spoons down it, but Lea strokes it with special gloves.)
Greg is the musical core of this dirty blues pair: he plays — all at once — guitars he has fashioned himself, the harmonica, drums, and the cajon with his feet, while singing in a gravelly voice suited for the rock and roll vibe. They were joined by Chennai’s own, 14-year-old Amithav Gautam, an up-and-coming blues guitarist.
The visuals
And then there was Subhash Dhunoohchand, aka Tablatronics. The Carnatic-trained musician from Reunion Islands melded the live tabla beats with electronic music. Imagine a vidwan , take him out of a sabha, and put him in a nightclub.
Speaking of nightclubs, electronica band Janski Beeeats’ performance was something out of a fever dream. On stage were a man with a black monster mask, with fully bared teeth, and beside him on the electronic drum pads is a man in a blue teddy bear costume with glowing red eyes. The visual component is an important part of their music; they play against a manga-inspired animation playing out on the screen behind them.
The animation is incidentally from a comic, Janski , that is being written by Jean-Sébastien Vermalle, frontman of the band. It is the story of a young boy who needs music to fight against his infection, and Jean-Sébastien brings this character to life on stage with his synthesiser.
These hypnotic visuals attracted crowds that were far scattered across the mall. On both days of the festival, it was after dark that people gathered in greater numbers near the main stage, like moths to a light show. In the day, the crowds were scattered across the mall — one stage was near the cab waiting area, and the other against the fountain on the way to the foyer.
As the music played on the main stage, the Tamil Graffiti Crew comprising Vijayaraj (Vijz), Pavithran (Maxy), Goutham (Go3) and Dinesh (Mr Dezee), have painted Dr Dre with his red earphones on a billboard on the second stage. Dr Dre was depicted looking over at the dance crews of Chennai who were challenging each other to hip hop battles.
The Chennai audience has taken well to hip hop dance, but when it comes to music, Kollywood still rules all — the experimental indie music at GIF, was not everyone’s cup of tea.
Eddie Prithviraj, director of Unwind Centre commented, “The same festival has gone to Mumbai, and that place is packed... Why does everyone want to go for Bollywood and Kollywood? There’s real talent out here, how long will you watch just movie songs?”
