Musical duo Tinctures bring their fresh tunes to Hyderabad 

Bengaluru-based Aman Mahajan is known for his distinct instrumental compositions, which are influenced by traditional and contemporary styles from around the world. Sound, in all of its colours and complexities, is what interests him and his current musical project, Heads and Tales, deals with a similar amalgamation of various themes including minimalism and mathematics. “When my partner Nishad and I sat down to compose, we had about 15 different concepts in mind. However, the final set has six best ones that we’ve worked on for longer than a month,” says Aman, adding that the two first met in a private gig in Bengaluru. 

Heads and Tales is the first compositional effort of Tinctures, a musical duo featuring Aman on piano and Berlin-based Nishad Pandey on guitar. Performing entirely original repertoire without any spoken word, their 75-minute work is a convergence of genres including jazz, European, Indian classical and improvised music. “In our decade-long career, we’ve worked with artistes from different cultural and musical backgrounds. Many such experiences influenced us in this new composition. Our themes are based on a few everyday scenarios,” adds the pianist. At their performance in the city this Sunday, the duo will present six new tunes that deal with subjects that are beyond the realms of music and are influenced by certain ideas, such as machines and video games. “One of our favourites, Simple Machines, is inspired by the basic building blocks of all mechanised creations and imagines these materials in a human form, conversing with each other. The musical notes have been written in a way that will give the listener a picture to visualise,” he shares.

While Aman is a graduate from Berklee College of Music (Boston), Nishad studied classical music under renowned Indian Classical slide guitarist Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya. Apart from the gig, the duo will also be conducting a workshop, Inside the Music, that will focus on the approach to writing for piano and guitar, concept-based composition and Indian melodies applied to western harmonic frameworks. “The one-day session will be customised based on the participants’ background and interests – from a general seminar for music listeners to an advanced music lesson format for musicians,” informs Aman.

Entry free. At Tabula Rasa – Cafe & Bar.
On March 4, 7.30 pm onwards.