Chennai-born singer and violinist Rini discusses bringing 'The Moon Drops India Tour' to the Chennai audience
Renowned singer and violinist Harini ‘Rini’ Raghavan offers a unique fusion of Carnatic, jazz, and electronic music, creating a captivating sound. Her The Moon Drops India Tour is making its way to her hometown, Chennai, this month. The talented composer, who has collaborated with legends like AR Rahman, is set to showcase her vast musical capabilities in a show curated by Quriosity. Ahead of the performance, we chat with Rini about her tour, her singles, and her musical journey. Excerpts:
Tell us about the ideation behind The Moon Drops Tour and how it ties in with your songs.
Since the last tour in 2023, I have released four singles and added new material and experiences to our repertoire. Of these, the first one was Moon Thuli (moon drop) — inspired by the Latin meaning of the words which means ‘a vaporous drop shed by the moon’ (also referenced by Shakespeare in Macbeth). I use it as a metaphor for love across space and time. The phantasm element of it lends towards my entire repertoire — a dreamy groovy set with live instruments layered over spacey synths. It is also a theme for this tour’s live experience.
Experimenting with Carnatic music has become popular now. How did you give it a distinct feature?
My main influence in writing Carnatic fusion music was learning jazz harmony at Berklee (College of Music) and being exposed to other global music there. I majored in Electronic Production and Design because I fell in love with synthesizers and timbres. So my approach was bringing together different timbres within a ragam, exploring harmonies within it and contrasting them with harmonies that use notes outside the ragam, building a progressive composition that takes you somewhere and has a journey.
Tell us about the band accompanying you and how they have added to your music.
On bass, I have long-time collaborator Achal Murthy from Luxembourg. On drums, I have Ranajoy Das from Delhi for the first leg, and Maxime Cholley from France (based in NYC) for the second leg. On guitar, I have Andrew Cheng from Malaysia (based in NYC), and on saxophone, I have Shahar Amdor from Israel (based in Boston). My music has always had the space to have different musicians play and bring their flavour to it.
Tickets start at INR 499. September 21, 7 pm onwards. At Barracuda Brew, Nungambakkam