Ten years ago, Shriram Sampath and Swarupa Ananth found a chemistry that helped them create music. While he plays different types of flutes from around the world, including the Indian classical flute, and produces music, she is a percussionist who also plays the tabla. Together, they’ve travelled the country playing gigs, been part of different Mumbai-based bands and featured many artists in their own collaboration, Filter Coffee. Tonight, they play to Chennai’s audience at the IndiEarth XChange 2014.
The duo has of late been dabbling in electronic music. Says Shriram: “It’s amazing what is possible with just a laptop”. For their IndiEarth show, the ethnotronic duo is featuring vocalist Jhanvi Shrimankar to bring in a mix of Indian classical and semi-classical sound. They’ve been travelling with her the whole year, making music at different clubs, festivals and flea markets around the country. Shriram sounds excited about their upcoming performance. He says, “Every track will feature a percussion instrument and flutes from different parts of the world.” This is not the first time they are taking the stage in the city. Shriram says they’ve “had three super gigs in Chennai.”
At their most recent, two weeks ago at the Leather Bar, they entertained an audience older than the ones they are used to, who sat on the floor, listening to them play all night. “People are very liberal here,” he says, “Unlike in any other city, you have a mixed audience of different age groups and backgrounds coming to the show.”
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On the IndiEarth show, which brings together independent artists from all over the country, he says, “It’s going to be a very challenging crowd to please. These guys are the industry; they are the best in the business.”
It’s a great time for independent artists, but the scene is still growing and Shriram doesn’t think today’s artists will see the best days. “We’re at the cusp of it. There are some great venues opening up. The internet is a great place to be seen and heard. To up it, we have people like EarthSync bringing artists together.” The independent music scene in the country is small, and the musicians in the circuit, well-connected. So the exchange is going to be an opportunity for the duo to meet friends and bands they’ve formerly played with. Even though they are here only for one day of the three-day exchange, owning to a gig in Mumbai on the 6th, they hope to attend as many conferences and workshops as possible while they are here.
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