KARSH KARSH REALITY REALITY
We get a sense of Karsh Kale the artiste and the music that comes out of his
Collectiv What’s happening in India now is a lot like what the States went through in the late 60s, believes Karsh Kale — the boundary-bashing pioneer of Asian Underground music. He is, of course, referring to the rise of a music revolution and the phenomenal proliferation of music festivals in the country, as he readies to perform at the Storm Festival, in Coorg. The artiste, who had an extremely fulfilling 2012, is set to make the best of this year. Among other ventures, he will play alongside Norah Jones in March.
Apart from his own performance, Karsh sees festivals like Storm as a great opportunity to spend time with other musicians. “I’m looking forward to it as it will be my first time playing there and I’ve heard great things about it,” he says, “As for what the Collectiv (his band — Karsh Kale Collectiv that’s been playing major festivals as well as the Coke Studio) will be doing, we are fired up and ready to bring a full set of old and brand new material.” He goes on to say that the proliferation of these festivals is a reflection of the output of artistes and the fact that audiences are demanding new music. “It has been a long time coming but now, it’s India’s time to rise in all directions; the festivals are at the centre of this revolution,” he points out.
The multi-instrumentalist recently collaborated with Papon and Carl Barat for The Dewarists, which was shot in Scotland. “Papon and Warren are musicians I have worked with, so there was a familiarity and yet an excitement. Carl and Ross Ainsely were new, so we had fun getting to know one another, jamming and drinking scotch. The song we wrote came from a very natural creative space. When I listen to the track now, I wouldn’t change a thing,” he muses.
Which brings us to the topic of Norah’s show in Mumbai’s A Summer’s Day (she will also perform in Bengaluru and Delhi), where he will perform. This will not be Karsh’s first tryst with Norah, however, having recorded with her before. He gushes, “Though she does have the Shankar genes, she is a selfmade artiste. I had a great time recording with her and Anoushka for our Breathing Under Water album. We wrote that song in about two hours at her house in NY and it went as smoothly in the studio. I look forward to meeting her again.”
Performances apart, in the pipeline are plans to do more writing and recording with the Collectiv. The artiste is also working on an album of vocal songs. “I’ll be collaborating with Salim Merchant, Gaurav (Midival Punditz), Nitin Sawhney and Warren for this project. I have wanted to do a vocal record for long, and now, I feel my voice is ready. There are a few film projects that are interesting and left-field,” he reveals.
The current thriving music scene in India has given rise to a number of unique acts. “I like different aspects of different artistes. Today, there is a wellspring of fresh takes on music, like Shaa'ir + Func, Dualist Inquiry, Nucleya, Advaita and, of course, veterans like Pentagram, Ankur Tewari, Midival Punditz, Blackstratblues, etc.
“As far as admiration goes, mine goes to any artiste who has the guts to push through the barriers that have existed for so long,” he pipes.