While the live music scene has taken a major blow amid the shutdown, artistes, producers, music managers are exploring creative ways to keep the scene going. Rapper Feyago, for instance, had to postpone a 13-city album tour indefinitely, but has used this time to come up with four new tracks and his own record label.
“I had just started touring when venues began cancelling gigs until ultimately the entire country was shut down! Releasing four music videos with zero capital and no access to studios or outdoors was a huge challenge! We recorded, mixed and edited everything at home, shot videos on phones with talented artists from the East, and released the music independently. It is very hard to predict precisely what’s coming next, but if people are going to live indoors in perpetuity, then artistes will have to depend more on online gigs and subscription-based income,” Feyago tells us. We caught up with Feyago to explore his plans further:
Tell us a little about the music you've released in the last few months
In 2019, I took a break from touring and decided to spend a year in remote villages near the Himalayas. I lived with monks, learnt farming and explored simple living, this was an extremely inspiring experience. I wrote a whole bunch of songs during this period, four of which we decided to release now.
Work Song is a fun rap song about the sheer joy of procrastination, You & I is an eclectic jazz rap ballad, This Is The End is an innocent ukulele rap love song set in apocalyptic times. Dreamin’ featuring Akansha Rai is a song that talks about wishful thinking, aims and aspirations.
Tell us about your label El Entertainment. What was the idea behind starting your label?
EI Entertainment is an attempt to provide a platform for creative, hardworking artistes from the East who find it difficult to make it all the way. We are looking to work with unique names who want to take their sound global by offering something which represents India, but can also be enjoyed by people from every race and culture. Most trending artistes borrow sounds from the West and rehash them in regional languages, selling modified western sounds. We are looking to create unique, global sounds from India and take it to the world.
We have signed the amazing Gaanpakhi who blends Hindustani Classical and Jazz effortlessly, giving birth to a distinct sound. YoBoi is another artist on the roster, he is a young producer, his sounds are very contemporary and diverse.
What do you think is the future of live music in the country?
I think the future is going to be better in every possible way. I say this because everyone has had a really long break to pause and reconsider the choices they have made. Some musicians will emerge with really good content while some others will consider other job options, venues will restrategize their revenue channels. The industry will boom because the audience really misses going out. Ticket sales will increase, venues will be booked to the brim and event managers will have more spending money. I also sense a shift from mainstream content to independent, regional content, be it movies or music.