Based out of Baroda, visual artist and singer-songwriter Shashwat Bulusu recently made headlines about his new two-track release, Aabad (meaning inhabited). His previous releases Playground, Winter Winter and Sunset by the Vembanad, fall into the indie-rock space, but it’s difficult to classify his music into a genre. And with his new tracks he experiments even more by mixing in Hindustani classical music. As he heads to the city for a gig, we speak to him about his unique music making process:
Tell us about your musical journey.
I started my formal training with the tabla when I was four and continued till I was 16. Somewhere in the middle, I was initiated into rock. Since then, I had this urge to write music which wasn’t really normative or formalistic because I wanted to try something new. I picked up the guitar and started writing my own songs and haven’t really stopped since. It’s been 10 years of writing my own music.
Your latest release, Aabad took you three years to finish. What was the process like?
Aabad was written over several months. Right before I went to sleep, I would make notes in my mind. And it took ages to just flesh out something tangible from those notes. It was after I had the core of the song ready in my head that I started putting it on paper and figuring out what the arrangement would be like, which again took several months to record and re-record till I found what was right. On the other hand, Charkha, the second track, is based on mental notes written first thing in the morning.
Why did you pick the themes of hope and perseverance?
I was stringing lyrics together and somewhere these topics reflected the conversations that were happening around me. I started exploring what would be the most extreme version of hope and that became Aabad. To counter this extreme, I started exploring an extreme version of perseverance and hard work. Both of these extremes are toxic, and both are also at the different ends of the spectrum.
What will the gig in Bengaluru be like? Will we get some new music?
The show in Bengaluru will have an abundance of storytelling. The performance will travel through multiple soundscapes and ideas. There will be a ton of new music at the show, coupled with what is already out there. I’m really excited to bring this performance to Bengaluru, and hopefully the city likes it.
Rs 299. August 6, 7 pm. At Bangalore Creative Circus, Yeshwanthpur