Everything about Rida & the Musical Folks is unique. Fronted by Rida Gatphoh, a singer and designer from Meghalaya, the six-member group of musicians and instrument makers includes Peter Marbaniang, an NID graduate, potter and self taught duitara and guitar player, Benedict Skhemlang Hynniewta, a painter and flautist, who makes his own bamboo flutes, and Bah Rojet Buhphang, a recipient of the Ustad Bismallah Khan award.
Together for over six years, their experimental music — combining contemporary, jazz and urban soul with traditional music — celebrates nature and wildlife, highlights the problems facing the state, like mining, and poses pertinent questions. “We perform in English and Khasi, and also incorporate traditional elements like U Sier Lapaing (musical storytelling) and U Phiang Jyrngam (poetry),” says Gatphoh, who began the group while documenting traditional instrument makers in Wahkhen, a small village. The band — who has performed across the country and in Vietnam — has released an album, Musical Nature, and is working on several new singles now.
Currently, the 37-year-old is merging her music with Dak-ti (mark of the hand), an initiative to revive traditional Meghalayan crafts like pottery, and bamboo and pineapple fibre weaving.
She also hosts Earthy A Fair, a festival of music, slow food, arts and craft that’s had editions in Mumbai and Bengaluru. “With traditional instruments and crafts dying at an alarming rate, we hope the fair will help drum up interest and encourage the artisans,” she says, adding that they will be setting up a craft institute in Meghalaya next year.
Details: facebook.com/TheMusicalFolk
