Spiritual funk in Bandra

A still from the video with James Miranda's bungalow in the background

For Mumbai guitarist Ishaan Mehta, Bandra holds a lot of memories from the times he spent walking and exploring the bylanes of Ranwar, Pali Hill, Chapel Road and the area around Mount Mary's Basilica. Musically, too, he's been influenced by the place, especially since he has spent a lot of time jamming with friends at trumpet player James Miranda's Bandra bungalow. So, when the experimental ensemble he formed last year with Akshay Dabhadkar and Bharat Chandore called Mukti Funk wanted to shoot the video for their second song, the rooftop of Miranda's home, which has a great view of St Anne's Church, seemed ideal to encapsulate the city's beauty.

"The song, Arz, was shot in the monsoon. I've known James for a while and as we are a group that aims to collaborate with different musicians, we wanted to feature him in this song. His house was the ideal setting for the video, giving it a vintage and green vibe," Mehta tells us.

The song also features Adil Kurwa on bass and a choir that includes city vocalists Brecilla D'souza, Urmila Sivadas, Karma Tsewang, Tiana Taraporvala, Jasveer Singh Kalra and Mallika Soni. Uniquely enough, the choir has lyric-less parts throughout the song. "It's a spiritual song and feels like a prayer of sorts, but not in a religious way. Which is exactly what the word means in Urdu," Mehta says, adding, "Not having lyrics leaves it open to interpretation."

Ishaan Mehta

While their previous release was a song about Kashmir, their next one will feature Karma, a singer-songwriter from Nepal. "All of us love [legendary Nepali singer] Bipul Chettri and we wanted to get a bit of that vibe," Mehta explains. Even though Arz has some electronic elements, they plan to keep their sound organic, and are even looking to make a song with an Indian classical vocalist.

Log on to Mukti Funk's YouTube page to listen to Arz

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get lAtest updAtes