(Posted on behalf of Little Big Noise)
British Council brings Circle of Sound, the story of how two men leap over cultural borders to find a unified language in music to India this January. It is a project between two young masters of improvisation – British sarod maestro Soumik Datta and Austrian drumming visionary Bernhard Schimpelsberger. Together, they explore themes of identity and journey and the music they have created together is inspired by real-life experiences. Circle of Sound comes to India for the first time, with shows at Blue Frog in Mumbai on January 17 and Counter Culture in Bangalore on January 18.
Trained by the legendary sarod master Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta, Soumik also studied western composition at Trinity College of Music and is today the world’s leading Electric Sarod player. Bernhard Schimpelsberger studied for many years with tablamaster Pt. Suresh Talwalkar and percussion legend Trilok Gurtu, and now plays a customized hybrid drumkit with a distinctive style of his own. Together, they have collaborated with musicians as varied as Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Talvin Singh, Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney and Akram Khan, amongst others. They have played on the soundtrack for Deepa Mehta’s Midnights Children, Sangeeta Datta’s ‘Life Goes On’ starring Sharmila Tagore and the British comedy sequel ‘West is West’.
For Circle of Sound, these two cross-cultural innovators weave together Indian classical, punk, processed vocals, synth bass, live looping and electronica to spectacular effect. It’s a live drum and bass set that takes you on a breath-taking journey through India and Europe. Soumik performs on his own version of the electric sarod bringing in everything from distortion guitar, bass and of course the sarod while Bernhard joins him on his hybrid drum kit.
The name Circle of Sound comes from the way the show has been designed and explored – each piece of music is inspired by stories from real people who have been touched or influenced by music in some way. From stories of a Scottish mountain climber, fighting for survival in the middle of a blizzard who drew inspiration from a song of his childhood to stories of a young traveller in India, initially overwhelmed by the chaos of the country who later finds peace on the shores of Kerala, listening to the sounds of the waves. Circle of Sound brings together music, films and voice-overs to tell these stories.
The duo have released their first album ‘Circle of Sound’ in 2012 and are currently working on their second album. The new album will feature a collaboration with acclaimed musician Nitin Sawhney, and also a second collaboration with Bjork’s ethereal choir from Iceland. The show has travelled to UK, Spain, Austria, Singapore, North Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Algeria, Egypt and evolves through the year, and the two musicians keep adding stories from new countries they journey through. They finally bring it to India, from where the beginnings of the inspiration for their journey began.
Tour Details
Ahmedabad
Date: 16th January 2013
Time: 8.30 pm
Venue: Natarani Amphitheatre
Entry: Free for Natarani members, call 2755 6669/0566 for tickets
Mumbai
Date: 17th January 2013
Time: 10:00 pm
Venue: Blue Frog
Entry: Rs. 350
Bangalore
Date: 18th January 2013
Time: 9:00 pm
Venue: Counter Culture
Entry: Rs. 500 (Rs. 200 entry + Rs. 300 cover)
For more information, please contact:
Little Big Noise
Neysa Mendes
Phone: +919821336963 | Email: neysa@littlebignoise.in
