‘We had a special vibe in India’: Max Clouth Clan

Frankfurt-based jazz collective Max Clouth Clan’s second album, Kamaloka, is described as a ‘road movie wherein the protagonists travel to distant lands and engage in encounters’. The band’s frontman, Max Clouth, says that people in Germany have different associations and images with their music than those in India where he has toured extensively and learnt the secrets of ragas from 2009 to 2012. “For us as artistes, combining both worlds is what’s exciting,” says the guitarist and composer. 

Musically, how is Kamaloka different from your previous album, Return Flight?

With Return Flight (RF), we were exploring the possibilities of fusing jazz with Indian music. Kamaloka is more precise and to the point. After returning several times to India, I got immersed into the Indian culture and over a period of time, learnt more about the music and the people. The album merged these two musical worlds into one and the experiment we began with RF worked out pretty well.

Why did you choose to record the album in India?

After recording RF in Germany and bringing my Indian influences to Europe, recording the following album and bringing our European musical influences was the next step. It comes across in the recordings that we had a special vibe here that we could not get in Germany. Also, it gave us the opportunity to work closer with our Indian guest musicians — Varijashree Venugopal, Sriparna Nandi and Ishaan Ghosh. 

How did the concept of the album come about? 

Kamaloka is a Sanskrit word; it means detachment from the physical world after death. When I worked on the music for the album, my mother had just passed away, and that had a huge impact on the way I saw and, still see, my life. Not being against the material world, but not being attached — that’s key.

Which Indian fusion projects have impressed you of late?

I love Gowri Jayakumar and her project Run Pussy Run. I also really like what Varijashree is doing lately. I’ve just come across Shivaraj Natraj who blends Konnokol with beatboxing. Amazing!

Tell us about your upcoming Indian tour...

We’ll be touring India in November and December and look forward to playing with the artistes we’ve worked with before. Our tour will definitely deepen our influences and the bond with India, its people and musicians. It’ll also reflect in the songs and the sound of our next album.