1. You went from a duo to becoming a five and then six-member band and then back to becoming a duo. Do you think that journey was necessary for you to find your sound?
Dzopa - In the beginning, we switched from being a duo, because we wanted to explore the possibilities of new instruments contributing to different musical arrangements. Also drums and percussions added enormous amount of energy, which enabled us to use electric guitars as well. Our path brought us back to where we came from, when we started writing and arranging new songs, though that does not necessarily mean that we do not want to add other instruments to our sound. On the contrary, our sound is based on two guitars, regardless of other instrumentalists.
2. Your music is an amalgam of classical guitar, flamenco, rock and jazz. What are some musical styles that you love but don't think that you'd be able to pull off?
Dzopa - As you pointed out, our music is an amalgam and we write our own songs and arrangements inspired by whichever genre or style we like. But our pieces are not straight traditional forms of either flamenco or classical, rock etc. We draw inspiration from and feel confident about using certain elements of various musical genres, which we incorporate into our own songs.
3. What are some of your influences?
Dzopa - Our influences are several ranging across genres like rock, flamenco, classical music, traditional music from all over the world, jazz, etc.
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4. Have you heard of the GoMAD festival? How did this collaboration happen?
Sabiha- Our friend and temporary manager - Ajay (who takes care of our business end whenever the band is in India) visited GoMAD in 2012 and 2013 for the love of music. He suggested we try out GoMAD Festival experience in 2018. He likes GoMAD festival because one gets to see so many talented musicians from across India in one place (People residing in Mumbai don't get to see that much at other festivals in India)!
5. What are you looking forward to from your trip to India and your performance at GoMAD?
Dzopa - We are looking forward to this wonderful festival. We expect to meet a lot of great musicians, to see amazing bands. We hope to have a great concert and we hope the people will enjoy themselves.
6. Any Indian bands that you've heard?
Dzopa - Unfortunately none and we hope to remedy this experience. However, we do know and have seen a great number of fantastic Indian musicians, such as Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain, Ravi Shankar, L. Shankar, etc.
7. What can we look forward to from your performances?
Dzopa - Our live performances are filled with energy and our every song is a journey in itself, through which we take the audience and try to communicate to them our musical passions and artistic dialogue. Our musical message is very simple and accessible, despite the feeling that some of the compositions may feel complicated on the outside.