In a one-of-its-kind piece called Circle of Sound, sarod player Soumik Datta and drummer Bernhard Schimpelsberger have drawn inspirations from real-life stories and are telling them through music and film. Having played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai in the last two days (respectively), the duo is slated to play in Bengaluru tonight. Among their many feats — they’ve composed with Jay-Z and others, worked on the music for Midnight’s Children — their next album involves a collaboration with BJORK’s orchestra and Nitin Sawhney.
Excerpts from an interview:
How did the Circle of Sound come about? Is there a story behind the name?
Bernhard and I were playing shows in London for about two years already when we realised that we had accidentally stumbled upon a great sound which was more than just two parts. It was whole, a sum of both parts. That’s when we started the Circle Of Sound journey. With regards to the name, Circle Of Sound is music inspired by the way human beings across the globe are touched and healed by music and sound.
This being your first multi-city India tour, what are you most excited about?
We played a wonderful concert in February 2012 here for late Pt Ravi Shankarji’s festival in Dehli. That was a great welcome but now we are curious to see how the audiences in other big cities will respond. We want to connect with a young audience.
How aware are you of Indian artistes?
We regularly collaborate with many Indian classical musicians. Besides the older generation of established masters, there is also a younger generation of rising musicians. Anoushka Shankar, Akram Khan, Nitin Sawhney and Niladri Kumar. These are artistes we love collaborating with.
How was it working with Deepa Mehta?
Amazing! After composing the soundtrack for Sharmila Tagore and Om Puri’s Life Goes On, we were keen to get back into the studio. Working with Deepa Mehta on a film reworking of one of my favourite novels Midnight’s Children, was a treat!
Tell us about the new album? Will you be giving a sneak peek into that too?
Yes, definitely. There’s lot of the new songs have been developed from our extended touring in 2012. So the live set already contains much of the new, more progressive power sound. The new album will take our sonic journey to a new level. Over the last year of international touring we have developed some very strong new songs, which lead us into a new direction — more power, more grunch, more electronics and a sense of urban youth. As special guests we will have our dear friend and mentor Nitin Sawhney with us. Also, we will be collaborating with BJORK’s choir - our arrangement will collide with their ethereal Icelandic voices.
