In a sense, electronic music producer Sid Vashi will be returning to his childhood tomorrow. He will be going back to the time he was about 10 years old and started learning jazz in his school in Michigan
In a sense, electronic music producer Sid Vashi will be returning to his childhood tomorrow. He will be going back to the time he was about 10 years old and started learning jazz in his school in Michigan. Life took him in many different directions after that, including an unexpected shift to Mumbai three years ago. It has been a bit of a seesaw ride musically as well, with jazz giving way to pop-punk and Vashi eventually finding his calling with Bollywood-inspired electronic samples.
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Sid Vashi at a gig
All that will be stripped back at this concert, though, and the musician will play the saxophone in an improvisational jazz set with a seven-piece line-up. "I do like playing electronically, and I think it works really well in a festival setting. But in smaller shows like this one, the intimacy definitely adds to the experience," Vashi says with an unfiltered American accent.
He continues, "Playing in an acoustic set-up is an opportunity to arrange the same electronic tracks I play in a different way. Songs are malleable; they allow you to play with their form. And while it is different playing a gig like this one, I grew up playing jazz. So, it's sort of my home base and it comes quite naturally to me. It's also something I have been meaning to do for a while."
So, does that mean that Vashi will now be leading a dual life as a musician? "We'll do it every now and then. It's nothing like a one-off set," he answers, adding, "We first performed for Sofar Sounds at Sassoon Docks in December and it's the same band that will be playing this time around."
That means more professional avenues are bound to open up for a person who didn't even plan on a career in music when he first landed here. Vashi says, "I came back to India to study for my medical exams and expected to be here for about a year. But then some people heard my music online and asked me to play gigs. I thought, "Yeah, I'll do this for a bit." Then it got a little serious after a while and I signed with an artist management company. Finally, I decided to give it a couple of more years to see how it goes."
He adds that while there is definitely a lot of talent on offer here, the Indian indie industry still has a lot of work to do. "We have to give people more opportunities to understand indie, because it is not always the most easily accessible music. Venues also need to focus on good sound, because at times, the audiences don't even get to hear the songs. And I think that it falls on the artistes to put more effort into their shows and add maybe visuals or set design or something to make it more compelling. But that's just my opinion," the electronic producer/jazz saxophonist signs off.
On: Tonight, 9 pm
At: The Little Door, Andheri West
Call: 9899928776
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