A slew of sounds typical to the city—from the echoing call of the azaan to the periodical announcements heard in Delhi’s metro—blend seamlessly in music producer Abhishek Sekhri’s (30) latest track Dilli. It, hence, brings vivid descriptions of the cityscape alive in the listeners’ minds, taking them back to alleys they might have once walked through. In this week’s Soundscape, the Sukhdev Vihar-based artist talks about the process of making Dilli. Excerpts...
Tell us about your music project ‘Goya’.
‘Goya’, which started in 2018, basically explores sonic possibilities. I emote and tell stories using sound as a medium. Most of my music is electronic in nature, but I use sounds around us. I sample musical instruments and create unique sonic palettes. Then I combine it with electronic instruments like the synthesiser. The idea was to put my music [forward] as an artist and differentiate it from the work I do at the studio.
Tell us about the pre-production process of Dilli.
Dilli is actually a result of a collaborative project between MAP [The Museum of Art & Photography] Bengaluru and the Berklee College of Music; they got together to select four music producers from India. I was the finalist from Delhi. Each of us had to create a track based on the sounds of our city. The concept behind this [Dilli], for me, was that I wanted to highlight the forgotten parts of Delhi and its secular nature. Basically, things that make Delhi what it is. One of the things you are going to hear in the song is the sound of the oars at Yamuna, highlighting that there is a river flowing through the city but we barely remember it.
I always identify Delhi with Bangla Sahib and Jama Masjid, so I recorded sounds from there. I also went to Chandni Chowk and Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. All these sounds encompass what Delhi means to me. I came back to my studio with all of these sounds. No instruments were used. Everything you hear are sounds of the city.
Given how busy Delhi is at most times, were there any challenges you faced while recording the sound?
One of the technical challenges was that it is hard to isolate one sound from another. I wanted to record the sound of a kulfi cart, but since there was a lot of noise in Chandni Chowk, it was difficult to record just that. Another question was: What do I portray Delhi as? Delhi is a place running so fast that it can get frustrating. I hardly go around the city. I am mostly working in my studio. But then, if I think about Delhi, these would probably be the things I would like to remember.
Abhishek Sekhri’s ‘Dilli’ is streaming on all leading platforms