Let us make an admission. For most of us, the weekend starts right when the clock strikes 5 pm on Friday. The Park’s annual event, Twilight by The Park, a two-day music festival that brings artistes and music lovers under one roof, only adds to this rush. The seventh edition of the event has an interesting line-up this year, featuring a host of performers headlining various acts. MetroPlus chats with two artistes ahead of their performance.
In sync
In many ways, it’s a homecoming for singer and song-writer Maalavika Manoj aka Mali, who will play with accompanying artists at Twilight by The Park.
Maalavika is excited about her gig, which, she says, is her longest yet. “Never have we played a 75-minute set before. I’m excited to see how the audience is going to react to such a long set of originals,” she says. She adds, “For the past few weeks, I have been playing solo gigs. With the presence of a band, it’s like hearing the set in a three-dimensional way.”
Emotions play a major role in her writing process. Which is why it is important for Maalavika to channelise her inner feelings every time she sits at the writing table.
“It is different for every song,” she says, explaining, “Sometimes, a song comes out of sadness. A lot depends on what zone you’re in. In that sense, I really don’t know what is going to inspire me for my next song.” She is always curious about the reception for her act. “There’s nothing like having an interactive audience who is in sync with musicians. Sometimes, they pleasantly surprise you and sometimes, it’s the exact opposite,” she laughs.
Maalavika is working on releasing a full-length independent album, consisting of nine songs including the recently-released ‘Mango Showers’.
A wild mix of genres
Independent musician Bjorn Surrao has performed at The Park a couple of times in the past. But this year’s festival is special for him. For, he has designed a unique set called ‘Jigarthanda’ — a mash-up of popular songs clubbed together with Hindustani and folk music.
- September 13, The Lobby Stage : Opening set by Bjorn Surrao from 8 pm onwards, which will be followed by Mali from 9.30 pm.
- September 14, The Leather Bar : Joshua and Akash will kick off the opening set, while Bullzeye will take the stage from 12 am.
- Pasha : Lost Stories (main set) and Karty and Viswa (opening set)
- Aqua : DJ Deep Bhamra (main set) and Joshua (opening set)
“We will be performing newly written material at the festival. It will have a mix of genres and hence the tagname Jigarthanda,” says Bjorn. He doesn’t have a favourite genre per se, but loves fusion music and pop. Bjorn will be showcasing a different gig for the opening night tomorrow. “My set usually has a flute, violin, acoustic guitars and vocals. But this time, we thought of adding bass along with Indian percussion,” he adds.
Bjorn Surrao debuted in Tamil with Naalu Peruku Nalladhuna Edhuvum Thappilla . He says he is trying to strike a balance between film music and independent compositions. Bjorn has plans to release three independent songs soon — all in Tanglish. He is in the process of collaborating with a music label as well.
Among other artistes performing is Bullzeye aka Siddhanth Kapoor, who will take to stage with a melange of techno and house beat music. One of the main highlights of the festival is Lost Stories, a sought-after DJ in India. Lost Stories will be aided by homegrown DJs Karty and Viswa.
For details, visit: http://www.theparkhotels.com/chennai-park.html or contact 42676000.
