MIDIval PunditZ

Since their Six Degrees Records debut in 2002, the MIDI val PunditZ -- the first Indian electronica band to hit the international scene -- has ushered in a new era of possibilities for the sound of 21st-century India. Their unique and expansive artistic vision marries the soulful elegance of South Asia's extraordinarily rich traditional and classical music heritage with the exuberance and limitless potential of modern Western electronic music.

Listeners around the world have embraced their culture-crossing expressions with huge enthusiasm, and their audience is growing rapidly: one of the tracks from their first, eponymous album, Fabric, was used on the soundtrack to Mira Nair's hit film Monsoon Wedding. Now, with their newest Six Degrees release, MIDIval Times, the duo of Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj -- who work as producers, remixers, and club impresarios as well as live artists -- document the musical, emotional, and intellectual journey of the past three years. "Our albums are a collection of experiences that aren't restrained to any one genre," Gaurav observes. "This album is certainly more lyrically deep and more Indian, in terms of lyrics and ragas, than our first recording project. What we're trying to do is to stretch Western audiences towards Indian sounds, and to stretch Indian audiences towards modern, electronic, Western music. But this album is really a diary of our journey from the time we recorded our first album until now."

Tapan agrees. "Since the first album was released," he observes, "we've grown so much; we've traveled a lot, and evolved as musicians. We've been involved in remix projects, we did a film score for a Bollywood production, and we've even been composing music for an acclaimed bharatya natyam, or South Indian classical dance, troupe based in the UK called Angika." "Working with all of those different kinds of energies and artistic approaches has really spurred us artistically," continues Tapan. "Combining those aesthetics with new technologies and our already established sound is the force of the new album."

While many fans originally came to know the PunditZ through their work in Tabla Beat Science (alongside Karsh Kale, Bill Laswell, Gigi, Ustad Sultan Khan and Zakir Hussein), it was through the pair's signature, live "Cyber Mehfil" events that their aesthetic vision developed. This sensibility remains the cornerstone of their work, the two say.

The Urdu word mehfil means people gathering to share art, whether it's music, poetry, or dance. At the MIDIval PunditZ' events, this beloved traditional concept finds new expression in a marriage of time-honored sounds and electronic dance music in an atmosphere that sates all the senses with custom visuals, flowers, and incense.

Over the past several years, the MIDIval PunditZ' nights have gone worldwide. "We started out with 150 people on our mailing list," Tapan marvels, "but now we're hosting our mehfils in places like London and Germany." He says that regardless of where they perform, there's a pan-cultural understanding of their work that bridges national boundaries. "Electronic music is making lots of different cultures blend together," Tapan observes. "Even though the energy of every crowd is different, and they all come with different points of view, in the end there's more similarities than differences between audiences, whether we're on the West Coast or at home in New Delhi."

Gaurav and Tapan have a lengthy history together: the two first met in grade school. Eventually, both came to be part of New Delhi's vibrant club scene. Gaurav, an architecture student, moonlighted as a radio DJ; Tapan, whose day job was as an information technology specialist, also worked as an engineer at a New Delhi recording studio where Gaurav's station booked time. Reuniting in 1994, the two set up their own studio, and by 1997, the MIDIval PunditZ were born.

Tapan says, "Today, there are analog artists who have adapted themselves to the electronic world. But we're electronic artists who have huge respect for people who are analog." To underscore that admiration, Gaurav adds, they invited a number of distinguished and well-known vocalists and acoustic instrumentalists to collaborate on this project. "We had a real exchange of emotions and of thoughts," recalls Gaurav. "We respect all these artists so much, so the opportunity to work with them has tremendous meaning for us."

Gaurav continues, "Sultan Khan, the sarangi player and composer, is somebody whom we respect immensely and whom we've worked with a lot in the past couple of years. It's a very big honor to be working with him." Khan's soulful singing and the earthy sounds of his bowed instrument infuse the track "Saathi" ("Companion"), in which Khan's solos are buoyed by a lilting, playful beat.

The exhilarating, joyous track "136" finds two old friends collaborating with the MIDIval PunditZ: vocalist Vishal Vaid and actor Ajay Naidu. Vishal appears again on the track called "Khayaal" (which is actually the name for a whole genre of North Indian classical songs). The percussionist/producer Karsh Kale contributes to several tracks as well.

Also appearing as a guest artist on the track "Rebirth" is the rising young sitarist Anoushka Shankar, the daughter and protŽgŽ of the legendary artist Ravi Shankar. "She's a very dear friend of ours," says Gaurav; the track features a serene solo by Shankar, framed by gentle beats.

Another exciting collaboration finds the duo paired with Kailash Kher, whom Gaurav describes as "a new Bollywood playback singer." The song, called "Ali," definitely has a Sufi-ish vibe," Gaurav says, referring to the ecstatic Sufi singing tradition in the Indian subcontinent. (Though Sufism has taken root in Muslim communities from West Africa to Indonesia, it has been the wellspring of a unique and extremely vibrant musical tradition in South Asia called qawwali.)

Sufism also finds a home in the track "Raanjhan," which samples the vocals of the celebrated Pakistani female singer Abida Parveen. "It's an homage to Abida, who's an artist we love," observes Gaurav.

Gaurav believes that the MIDIval PunditZ use traditional and classical Indian music in a fresh way. "We think of that music as a friend, not as a god," explains Gaurav. "There are other musicians who explore their roots music in a very academic, very serious way. But we use it in a way that is very light."

"We're not classically trained musicians," Gaurav continues. "So we use Indian classical music in a more simple, feel-good way." He likens the MIDIval PunditZ' relationship to the classical music of the subcontinent in this way: "It's like the relationship of Sufism to mainstream Muslim belief. Sufis emphasize the individual's very personal, loving relationship to God. We feel the same way about Indian classical music: it's not something to be worshipped from afarÉ But embraced and cherished!"

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