Imaad Shah prefers to reside in between hazy lines, in that blurry space that’s part orchestration and part impulse — part intent and part instinct. Boy , the solo EP (released in April) he’s written under his stage name, Madboy, is a departure in a way, from his more sprightly leanings as one half of the funky, disco-ey, dance-y electro duo Madboy/Mink. Here, he sticks to a more controlled space with big synths and a tender sense of soul sitting alongside the introspective, misty vocal delivery. It’s almost rock ‘n’ roll with literally zero noticeable elements of the said style of music. The four songs that made the final cut, he says, are just “one slice of a work in progress”, merely a snapshot of a larger musical perspective that’s forever in construction, forever shifting shape.
Shah speaks excitedly about the process of production — how it’s never a chore, to the point where he’d spend days with barely any sleep just plugging away obsessively at little elements. He’s written, produced, and mixed the album entirely on his own. The songs had been shapeless little ideas for a while, he says, progressing slowly over time. “It’s sometimes nice to have germs of ideas that come from nowhere,” says Shah. “You’re not thinking, ‘What’s this going to be for?’” For the actual arrangements and recordings though, he went the “punk rock, old school rock ‘n’ roll” way: “Track everything in one go; not labour over things too much. The final bit was all done in the space of a few weeks or so. Of course, it’s a lot of fun to collaborate as well, but this was an enjoyably isolated experience.”
On the surface, Boy may well be a remnant of a distant, old-world sound; maybe retro in spirit. But it’s not revivalist in any way, and it’s not recalling old tropes. Rather, it’s Shah’s influences sort of battling each other in a modern setting, as he tries to add an individualist spin to sounds from the ’60s or ’70s — his expression and interpretation of something. The words, inconspicuous by design, just seem to float over the bounce of the songs, as in ‘Naked Soul’. “I think there’s a bunch of abstract themes,” he says. “I like listeners giving their own meaning [to the songs]. Very broadly, I was trying to build this mood of gentle sexuality, kind of stemming from the old days of soul music… this lovely style of delivery that was slightly more modern and forward-looking. It’s fantasy… a dreamy sexuality. I don’t want to break it down too much, but it’s about taking those influences and filtering them through something on my own,” he says.
Hearing him speak, it’s easy to discern his restless desire for creative exploration and further learning. He’s understated and mild-mannered, and tends to dissect and approach concepts of art from multiple angles carefully, searching for that one delicate state that’s in synthesis with his artistic vision at a given point. “At some point,” he says, discussing the constant torment artists suffer from while poring over their own work and its merit, “you’ve got to stop being too self-involved, [which is when] things take on an unexpected life of their own. That’s a very nice feeling.”
He’s confident enough about his music, and has plans for at least two more EPs, although he feels the validation of friends and family is what finally propelled him toward releasing Boy . He wants to be more prolific; to find that perfect balance between obsessing over work and putting it out before it’s too late. “You tend to move ahead in time. Suddenly, you’re interested in a sound which is a few steps ahead of what you were poring over yesterday.”
It’s a shame to lose the value — or maybe the immediate relevance or personal connection — of that past work. To counter that, he wants to focus on less time, but more concentrated quality in the studio, and getting stuff done, not just with his solo work but also with Madboy/Mink.
He’s ready to take the music live, which is also a space where Madboy/Mink’s sense of self really seems to shine bright. Shah’s sensibility as an artist, very much in sync with Sabah Azad’s (the other half of Madboy/Mink), lends itself wholly to the concert experience. The performative aspect of Madboy/Mink, the grand theatricality, becomes integral to their identity. It often, if you stretch the thought a little, borders on performance art.
All the more so now, given that they’ve been performing with a live horn section and dancers on stage, and Shah tells me how they tend to pay a lot of attention to that overall experience. “We’re both from a theatre background; both our families have been heavily involved in theatre. We’ve always felt that’s something we want to incorporate in our gigs. It’s a fine line in keeping that aesthetic. It’s incredibly enjoyable; constantly treading the balance between a choreographed stage show and going with your gut as a musician on stage. It’s not always orchestrated, it’s part instinct — what a bunch of guys with guitars on stage would feel like doing — and also thought. Even if a certain amount of theatre comes in… rehearsal is something we’ve always had great respect for. Working on something, chipping away day in and day out, fine-tuning it to the point of muscle memory, as we chip away at our limitations.” The aim, in a nutshell, is to always try to get better as musicians, from the writing and production, to getting the stage performance right, from sound, lights, the playing, the energy. It’s all packed in.
Madboy’s musical direction could, of course, alter greatly with the reserves of music he’s accumulated over time, and there are plans in the offing to release more music regularly with Madboy/Mink as well. Further, Shah is also a film and theatre actor. A movie he acted in, called M Cream , should find its way to theatres at some point this year. He composes and produces music for films, and wants to go back to theatre, with grand plans of directing a musical as well, although that’s a larger vision that might take a while. He’s got his plate full basically, and he’s not complaining.
In Boy , Shah tries
to add an
individualist spin to sounds from the
’60s or ’70s
