Delhi-based jazz band Syncopation took the stage at Skinny Mo’s Jazz Club on September 2, delivering a soul-soothing performance as part of the Indian Sky tour in support of their album The Indian Sky. They dropped their first single titled Around My House, from the album on August 20. Each view of the sky, ranging from the hills to the beach resembles an emotion, which the pieces of the album have captured.
Making it to the news with their debut album Tune In (2013), the founder and guitarist Risshi S. Sachdeva has come a long way with the band. The band highlighted some of their unreleased tracks like Almora and Motherlove as well. Vatsal Bakhda (on keys), Ankit Chaturvedi (saxophonist), Nikhil Vasudevan (on drums), bassist Sonic and Risshi performed Homegrown, Amazing Love, Keychain, Around My House, Blues For Josh in the first half, took a short break and came back with an amazing second half of the gig. The songs Motherlove, Almora, Shine, Overflow and Smoke It were followed by an encore, titled Sonia. Their track Shine with Salim-Sulaiman for The Soundcheck Series was also released recently. A t2 chat with Risshi...
Tell us more about The Indian Sky.
We’ve come up with a new album called The Indian Sky. We’ve got six singles in the album, and Around My House was just one! We’ve decided that every month we’ll drop a single from the album.
What was the concept behind it?
The Indian Sky is self-explanatory actually, it’s all about our travels through India, playing gigs at various places. We play a gig, we hang out, we chill and suddenly we’ll be jamming and a song will pop up. And then we’ll go like, “We need to record this man!” That’s how the whole album basically happened. It is like a travel journal.
You guys visited a lot of places. Which among them touched your heart?
We’ve travelled across many places and even the hills. I think each place has its own charm. Let’s say Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Chennai, and the hills. When you’re chilling at night after the show, and soaking in the beauty of its place, you’ll realise how every place has its own beauty and it’s very difficult to distinguish. We’ve played at the Kasauli Rhythm and Blues Festival, in Mussoorie and even some cafes. If the vibe is good, we love it!
How do you distinguish and decide which vibe is good?
I think a good vibe comes down to us musicians enjoying the gig, first. I think that’s very important, because if you’re not enjoying it, how will someone else? I believe that it starts with you. And then obviously if the audience is listening, reciprocating, hooting and cheering, that’s great! In an improvisational instrumental set-up, there are always moments that suddenly erupt and you just go with the flow. When a member sets off, you manage.
How are you trying to push the envelope?
There’s a huge revival happening in the jazz scene. Our take on this is, when we started off, we were an instrumental band. We loved playing instrumental jazz, funk, bebop, we wanted to play originals and instrumental pieces only! When I came back from Australia I realised that people were mostly playing jazz covers. I kept wondering why aren’t people making their own music and really putting it out there. So, we started doing that as a band. We became one of the first Indian jazz instrumental bands to come up with originals and started putting out original music. Our first album was sold out and we kept following our principle.
How was playing in Calcutta?
I think it was fabulous. I got a very responsive audience and it was a listening audience. It was a really beautiful feeling. The people were intently listening, enjoying, hooting, and whistling and that was beautiful to watch.
Any musician that has inspired this band?
We love many artistes but we try not to bring their style into our music though. We’ll play a swing tune and suddenly go into a funk, and jump to a ballad. I think it’s about emotion. Music has always been about emotion for us and if through a tune the emotion is coming out, it does the deed!
What are your upcoming projects?
We have just been signed by Merchant Records for The Soundcheck Series organised for the bands of India. It’s an honour.
BAND MEMBERS SPEAK
“I started off very young when I was eight. I used to learn Hindustani classical and Western classical music. I went to Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in 2016 and met Sonic there. It was then that I got exposed to a lot of different kinds of music, including Brazilian jazz, pop, rock, and Latin. I learnt with some Brazilian pianists and had a great experience. After that, I moved to Delhi and I had my learning experience. I played around in the city with a lot of people across ages and taught in schools. I teach at Global Music Institute at the moment. The special part about Syncopation is that there’s freedom! I love how we have the freedom to play what we like,” said Vatsal.
“Syncopation is primarily an instrumental improvisation band! At this given point, I’m really enjoying what we’re doing in different places. The vibe is starkly different at almost every place we visit. This was our third gig of the tour, and it’s been really nice,’’ said Nikhil.
“Around My House from our setlist is my favourite tune. I’ve been playing with the band for the last few years, but this is the first time I got together before the song was made and everyone was putting in their ideas. Just bringing their sound to the song, instead of deciding for the rest, was a nice experience,” said Sonic.
“The tough part is actually going to the store and getting the appropriate saxophone. I mean, it’s easy to get the sound out of a saxophone, and not as challenging as it seems from the exterior,” said Aniket when asked about how he’s mastered the art of playing this instrument. “Usually after the gig, when the audience comes to me and tells me that they appreciated my music is probably the greatest gesture. It’s always gratifying to hear the applause. And it gives a reflection of what the crowd wants to listen to and it pushes me to do more of that for them,” he added.