Plugging in to live electronica

Sid Shirodkar and Shatrunjai Dewan (right) during a performance

The musical era that we inhabit is such that a lot of people who started off playing traditional instruments in their childhood went on to find their voice within the spectrum of electronica. The two-piece act, Paraphoniks is a case in point. Shatrunjai Dewan and Sid Shirodkar extended their love for the keyboard to make modular synthesizers and other electronic elements an overriding influence in their music, as is evident in Silhouettes, an album for which they will play a launch gig tonight. The duo has also roped in Sahil Shah on drums and Azamaan Hoyvoy on vocals for the set. We caught up with Shirodkar over the phone for a quick question on their music, and on how they overcame a major setback a day before the gig. Edited excerpts from the conversation.

Can you describe your set for this album launch tour across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru?
It's an electronic music performance, but with a lot of live stuff happening on stage since we are playing with a band. We have integrated the guitar in our previous sets, but this one has more keys. So there are the keys, vocals, drums and a few other things here and there that are mostly synth-related, but are played in as live a way as possible.

How much does the fact that you know how to play traditional instruments inform your music?
Sonically, if you're a guitarist or keyboard player, you experiment with different sounds in context to your instrument. But more important than that is the kind of musical training you get when playing a traditional instrument, in terms of harmony and just general music theory. That definitely informs the music. So playing an instrument definitely helps in the composition stage.

The laptop and hard drive that contained the music you've been pre-recording for this gig got misplaced a day earlier. What sort of setback did that create?
The fact that we have live influences for this gig is both a blessing and a curse. For, considering that a lot of the parts are live, we haven't lost as much of the set as we would have otherwise, since we have back-up [of the base electronic sounds]. But the flip side is that we won't get as much time to rehearse with the band.

On: Tonight, 9.30 pm onwards
At: Todi Mill Social, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel.
Log on to: insider.in
Entry: Rs 300

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