Every city’s suburb is a mix of myriad cultures and people. Born in the lanes of Surat, Tapi Project’s music self-explains their style which captures the essence of Indian urban folk music.
Elements of jazz and world music are weaved into their contemporary folk numbers like Suburban Zindagi which talks about crammed city life.
“When Swati and I started jamming, we discovered something that has a lot to do with society, state of the world and how we can conserve. With an intention to observe and record the Indianness, we named ourselves after the local river,” says guitarist Yogendra Saniyawala, revealing the essence of their musical philosophy.
Greeting the world
Starting out in 2014, they made an impression on indie music aficionados with a self-titled debut album by late 2015. The band’s ‘local is the new global’ mantra worked well for them as they scored a record deal from Western Asia.
“While on an artist residency in France I realised that people want to know where you come from. So I switched to writing in Hindi and Urdu for this project,” says Yogi, who composes the songs for the four-member outfit, which includes vocalist Swati Minaxi, drummer Gaurav Kapadia and guitarist Anand Joseph Mani.
Their “feel and rhythm driven” sound got them invites from the famous World Sacred Spirit Festival and also led them to tour 12 European countries. Expanding their sonic spectrum by including instruments like an accordion, the band is already charting out plans for their second Europe tour and a sophomore record.
But, before long-term plans, there’s the Kochi show where they’ll perform new songs like Hoga Kya alongside older ones.
At Forplay on January 27.
From 7.30 pm.