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Amidst the honks of our daily commutes this World Music Day will be a unique celebration of music! The Traffic Jam (TFJ), a travelling listening room on a bus! — becomes the stage for the city’s artistes. Bringing the music to commuters and enthusiasts alike this new and exciting initiative by Indie Sound Trail flips the script taking indie music directly to the audience in an age where the call-to-action of supporting such music unfortunately becomes white noise. City based artistes Dayve (David Emmanuel), Megan Rakesh, Praveen Alva, Dirty Ricky (mononymously known as Ricky) and WalterBrown (Sanjith Nair) grace the line-up for the debut edition of this festival of sorts.
During this experience the audience can engage with the experience in a ‘Hop-On, Hop-Off’ format. Further discussing the idea behind this fun celebration of music, culture, stories and the city’s neighbourhoods — musician and co-founder Joel Austin shares, “Bengaluru is home to an incredible community of independent musicians, yet many artistes still spend years chasing visibility while shaping the culture around us. TFJ — an idea imagined by Takshila and brought to life by Carol Pinto, Akash, Manikya, Milind and our wider community is one expression of this vision to create stages where artistes and their stories can take the limelight.” We chat with the featured artistes to learn what their set will look like and bring you all the deets you need to know.
Tell us about what your set is going to be like during this unique celebration of music and the city?
My set is going to be acoustic, intimate and rooted in storytelling. The songs span a range of emotions — nostalgia, love, heartbreak, hope and the realities of growing up. Most of them were written in the quiet of my bedroom and now I get to share them with the world.
Your music is turning the traffic in the city into a venue! What’s your favourite musical or sound element from the city that best summarises the city for you?
The sound that best represents Bengaluru for me is the chorus of horns that erupts when a signal turns green. It’s a reminder that a city is not its buildings or roads, but millions of people trying to get somewhere, all at once. Beneath the impatience is something deeper, a city in motion, full of people chasing possibilities.
What energy are you bringing to your set for this unique experience?
I’m bringing a fun, energetic set packed with original songs, stories and lots of moments for everyone to sing along. I love it when a crowd feels like one big group of friends, so my goal is to get everyone involved and make the bus feel like the ‘happiest' place in Bengaluru’ for an hour. You’ll hear some of my upcoming originals and hopefully leave humming a few of them on your way home.
Amidst the chaos of the city, what are some of its sounds that form its identity for you?
I think Bengaluru is one big orchestra. If you listen closely, there’s music hiding everywhere — in the chirping of birds, conversations at a café, hawkers on the streets and sometimes even in traffic. Everyone’s playing a part in the city’s soundtrack.
What will be the environment you’ll be establishing with your set?
The Dirty Ricky: My set is going to be energetic, melodic and built for a shared experience. I love the idea of turning a traffic jam into a dancefloor, so expect music that keeps people moving and enjoying the moment together!
Every musician is a collector of sounds and rhythms? Which ones do you feel sum up the character of Bengaluru well?
WalterBrown: This city is filled with sounds, some pleasant like the birds chirping or the heavy rain that can pop out of anywhere and some unpleasant ones like the sound of honking and people yelling obscenities! My favourite sound that encapsulates Bengaluru is the vendors who walk through the streets and yell what they are selling ‘paypaaaar’ or ‘soppuuu’! To sum it up, there is beauty in everything and Bengaluru really makes us appreciate the beauty in the mundane, like the sip of a strong filter coffee from Udupi restaurants or sitting in Cubbon Park on a Sunday morning just appreciating the lovely Bengaluru weather.
What will your set be like for the TFJ experience?
I’ll be performing original Tulu compositions that bring one of India’s oldest living languages into contemporary musical spaces. The songs are rooted in the stories, memories, landscapes and people of coastal Karnataka, but they’re ultimately about preserving culture through new forms of expression. Bengaluru is a meeting place of cultures.
We all have our commute playlist. But if you were to make a playlist using the city’s sounds, which ones would you say describes its personality the best?
Right in the centre of Bengaluru, you can step into Cubbon Park and hear birdsong while the city keeps rushing around it. That’s what makes it the garden city and that coexistence of nature and urbanisation is, to me, the true sound of Bengaluru.