The world may be going gaga over K-pop, but for singer-songwriter Tarana Marwah aka Komorebi, inspiration comes from the nation a little more to the East.
The 25-year-old New Delhi-based artiste says her stage name in Japanese means “sunlight that filters through tree leaves”.
Komorebi, who performed at Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, recently, says: “Growing up in Canada, I watched a lot of anime and listening to the soundtracks inspired me to make music. I don’t sing in Japanese though.”
So, what was it about Japanese culture that fascinated her? Komorebi says, “They are way ahead of everyone else in terms of writing music and stories. It is a bit niche; you won’t find too many people who watch anime. But the ones who do, swear by it. It has a larger than life and colourful appeal that inspires me.”
She says her musical journey began when she was quite young. “I started learning Western classical when I was seven. Then I jumped into jazz and did a lot of choir singing, and finally, I came to electronic music.”
Her style of music is definitely a mix, she says. “It is electronic overall. I write songs as well but it is presented as electronic music. Some tracks are more acoustic electronic and others are completely electronic.”
While most singer-songwriters primarily play acoustic music, what drew her to electronic music? Komorebi says, “I am primarily a keyboardist so it is fun to translate my knowledge of playing keyboards and piano into synthesisers. I love the way a synth sounds; it is a different ball game. Using my knowledge (of these elements) has became a part of my identity as an artiste.”
As for her musical influences, she says, “Bjork, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Imogen Heap, Air and Zero 7 have had a huge impact.”
Komorebi’s latest work is the video for her song, ‘Little One’, from her debut album Soliloquy, which released in 2017 .
She says, “The song is close to me. It is about my relationship with my brother, in the form of a lullaby. The director, Misha Ghose, and I talked about how to bring certain things to light such as nostalgia, dysfunction and memories. It is very relatable; something that anyone can listen to, feel and understand.”
Adding that she writes her own music and that she also collaborates with other musicians, Komorebi says, “Inspiration comes from anything that is personal to me. This whole project is an extension of the internal working of my mind and my perspective on the world.”
Her future plans revolve around the release of her next album. The aim is to release it as a video game. “We are still working on it. We want to combine the two worlds and make it interactive and dynamic,” she says.
Little One can be streamed on YouTube. Soliloquy is available on SoundCloud.
