International Jazz Day: Jazz-hop outfit Fakeer & The Arc talks music and upcoming gig

The Bengaluru-based band, Fakeer & The Arc, plays a unique mix of jazz, hip-hop and soul. Comprising vocalist Oran “Fakeer” Brahma, guitarist Aniket Roy Chowdhury,  drummer Shubham Bhardwaj and bassist Lalsang "Donnie" Phaipi, the outfit initially began at Chennai's Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music. We speak to the band as they play a digital gig, Vh1 All  That Jazz Concert:

Aniket, Oran and Shubham met in Swarnabhoomi academy of Music, where we were studying jazz, hence the heavy influence of the genre on our music. After our music studies we reunited a couple of years later to form the Band Fakeer and the Arc, this is when our bassist Donnie joined us. All four of us bring in different elements into our sound and compositions.

The band is actually a collaboration between the jazz trio The Arc which stands for Aniket Roy Chowdhury and the rapper Fakeer. The word Fakeer signifies our philosophy of making art and music for the love of it and not to attain material wealth.
 

How would you define your music?
It’s our take on fusing genres like contemporary jazz and hip-hop together but still keeping the essence alive for both and fusing them with more styles of music in it. As we like to call it jazz hop.
 

Which other artistes are you guys inspired by?
Our influences come from a wide variety of genres, from psychedelic rock, folk to jazz and hip hop. Some of the artists we look up to are John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Anderson Paak, Common and many more.
 

Tell us a little more about your previous EP, Ikigai.
Ikigai was our debut release last year. It's a collection of three tracks that talks about the heartbreak, drug abuse, finding a better meaning or way to live. That is why it seemed apt to name the EP Ikigai. The word comes from the Japanese language and means finding purpose in life.

What are the themes and what are a few of the songs?
All our music reflects and talks about the environment we are in, and as the new album was written during the lockdown, it talks about isolation, distance and about the political situation we are in. Through this album we are trying to heal and survive through these times of peril.
 

What are you working on now?
We have hit the studio for our second EP, which is in the works. We have a few guest features in this EP. It is turning out to be a great experience for us recording it. We don't have a set release date yet but we are expecting it to be out by next year.
 

What will you be performing at the Vh1 All That Jazz Virtual Concert on World Jazz Day?
For the Vh1 Jazz day special we are performing an unreleased song from our upcoming EP. The name of the song is Flying Away which talks about escaping reality and finding peace. The tune was written in collaboration with T.ill Apes drummer Sange Wangchuk and has an upbeat, carefree vibe to it.