A film by Jamun. Music : "A Distant Rumble" by GRAIN + Ankur Tewari

Director / Editor: Ayesha Sood | Producer: Udayan Baijal | D.O.P: Divakar Mani | Editor: Sajid Akbar| Sound / Titles: Madhav Shorey

GRAIN is the solo project of Gaurav Raina, one half of India's biggest electronica export - The Midival Punditz.

Q. Tell us about your time in India? Your travels and whom you played with. 

BS: India man! It’s always SO good to be back in the motha-land. I was in India for about 2 months and it was a super busy and fun time. I was shuttling between Pune (where I’m from) and Bombay for the most part. You see, I have a brother from another mother, Karan Kulkarni who is working in Mumbai right now as a film composer. I was working with him on my EP and his first feature film, Peddlers, directed by Vasan Bala, which just got into the Cannes Film Festival!

I also spent some time in Delhi where I recorded a bunch of acoustic guitar with some electronic music heavyweights including Gaurav Raina (Midival Punditz) for his upcoming solo project, Grain and Ashwin Mani Sharma (Jalebee Cartel). It was great trying to blend acoustic guitar sonorities into electronic music landscapes.

I also conducted workshops at schools and taught music to children at a govt. remand center (Bal Shikshan Kendra) in Pune with the help of ‘Make A Difference’ (non-profit). Those kids really have it tough and there is a lot violence in their midst. I was not really teaching music theory or anything, I was trying to expose them to the world of music.

I wanted them to connect with music so that they could vent out their frustration and aggression through music and rhythm. But they don't have means of access and can’t afford to buy musical instruments. I gave them 50 matchboxes filled with dal (lentils) and empty Coke/Pepsi 500ml plastic bottles that I filled with mitti (gravel). These turned out to be excellent shakers! And they can be made for free l I hope they’re still playing them.

Q. So where are you now and what are you upto?

BS: I’m hustling between New York and Boston, doing shows, recordings, etc. I’ve been travelling a whole lot. In March/ April I was on a residency tour with Arif Lohar and Arooj Aftab. We spent over a month and a half traveling the US across 5 states, playing shows and conducting workshops. It was some experience!

In July I will be working on my EP, scheduled to be released later this year, and shooting my first music video for one of my tracks, Bollywood Dream, which features on the EP. I will also be moving to New York in September. That is something that both scares the shit out of me and excites me at the same time.

Besides that I have this crazy gig at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in August were I will be playing classical guitar with the World Flute Ensemble for the U.S. National Flute Convention. That is something I’m totally looking forward to!

Q. What inspires you creatively?

BS: People. Music. Stories. Art… and all else that goes between!

Q. It's an interesting time in India for music. What's your take on where we are heading?

BS: India is definitely a hotspot for music now and where it will go is anybody’s guess. In just the last 5 years there have been so many more artists, bands and production houses coming up. Even the sound of giant Bollywood seems to be moving in a different direction.

India has a huge market for music, not just in India but overseas as well. I’m absolutely positive that with so many South Asians living all over the world, Indian music and its derivative forms will become more and more coveted, hopefully leading to more forms of Indian music and artists in the national and global scene.

Q. Anything new and exciting coming up that we should look out for?

BS: Oh absolutely! First off, my EP is being released later this year, which will be followed by shows around the East Coast.

Also Arooj Aftab, a collaborator and dear friend, is also coming out with her debut album which we are all looking forward to, I have worked as a composer and guitar player on the album. So now you have 2 albums to look forward to!

Also, here are some artists that I have been listening to nowadays. Always good to share the love!

Rh Factor – Hardgroove

Flying Lotus – Camel

Seeed – Jackpot Girl

M – Beat – Do you feel (intelligent mix)

agency: sapientnitro | director + editor: ayesha sood| d.o.p: shanker raman | producer: udayan baijal | sound design + music: madhav shorey

Q:How are you experiencing working in HD specially with the Canon 5D?

DM: 5D and 7D is the new wave of filming. The fact that it’s small, compact and easy to use, makes it even more attractive. And 1920 x 1080 (almost 2K resolution) takes the cake! To achieve the film look with low budget, DSLR's are the solution. I have been using 5D for quite a while now, and the choice of shooting the "The Good Earth Story" on 5D is the best decision we took in the pre-production.

Q:Can you tell us something about the setups/rigs you used for the shoots?

DM: While deciding the story board, we planned to incorporate lot of movements in story telling. So we researched about the possible rig set-ups for the Canon 5D. We found something called the 'Skater dolly', which is like a mini dolly for the 5D. We used lot of track movements using this and we also tested something called a 'PoleCam' , which is like a mini jib, again specially designed for 5D. Since most of our shots were of Good Earth products, I extensively used the MACRO lens.

Q:A lot of these are pretty new or unheard of – how did you find their performance as compared to industry standard equipment

DM: These accessories are new to the industry and have not have been widely used or even tried. To use it correctly and to extract the maximum output from these gadgets was the main challenge for us. When we learnt the possibilities of these gadgets and the interesting shots that we could achieve, we ended up with some really nice shots.

Q:What was it like working with JAMUN on this?

DM: I have known JAMUN since it started and I also have a strong personal connections with the people who created JAMUN. I can happily say that I am almost a part of JAMUN. It's a coming together of like-minded creative people who want to create quality work in terms of content and use the best/latest in technology. We all put in our thoughts on the table to bring in a shoot plan which is best for the product, and "The Good Earth story" was a brilliant shoot.

Q:How do you compare working in HD to film and where do you see the future of film making going?

DM: I can only see the future of film making in DIGITAL. Film is dying and even the biggest manufacture of film cameras like ARRI have stopped producing film cameras last year! So, digital is the future. It gives the liberty to first time/amateur film makers to experiment and to explore their ideas with minimal costs. Frankly, a good idea well presented, no matter what the medium in which you want to shoot and showcase, will surely be accepted by the audience!

Here is what Madhav had to say about working with Jamun and other fun stuff:

How do you conceptualize sound for visuals? Is there a process/ritual you follow? 

MS: Sound and visuals are connected at many levels. Personally, I've always been able to picture certain kind of visuals - abstract, surreal or real life, when I hear various sounds or music. So this philosophy or interpretation of mine makes things interesting as it works in both directions. When I see a visual I can instantly imagine certain sounds, melodies and music. I can then go back and forth between the audio and the video and work towards a perfect sync in terms of mood, pace and emotion.

How is working with the 5D Mark II and collaborations with Jamun both as a graphic artist and a musician?

MS: It's great fun and very satisfying for me. Not just because our medium is new age - but because this fresh approach to film allows us to explore so many different moods and aesthetics. I love the people I work with and that's paramount for me!

As someone who consistently cross collaborates with other artists, what do you find exciting about working with this medium?

MS: I think this medium is most exciting because of the fact that it comes from a complete nothing to something so wholesome. Quite like an ideal meal, picture a nice ambiance and background music - you start with wine, starters, a full course meal and desert.  You feel a sense of completion. But it takes a lot of thinking and work to make it perfect right ? Similarly from the initial conceptualization and brainstorming to editing and post production to sound design - scoring and graphic design to a tight end product. It's like a journey and it's great fun!

With this  new and emerging technology to create sound and visuals, which is easily accessible, what do you think is the future of film and music in India?

MS: We have finally come to a point where to be able to do film, music or both have become so accessible that now it's finally real life as opposed to reel life. The best part about this evolution is that now as an end result people working creatively with such mediums are not making decisions based on what a big financier may want or like but keeping in mind the concept, the emotions and people's reaction to the end product. It's a quicker, more direct and hands on approach which can never be a bad thing really - the less diluted the better.

As an electronic music artist, how was collaborating with Jamun to create background sound for the two films?

MS: I think it was an awesome experience. I'd have to say that in spite of being as versatile as an artist as I possibly can, I do have a certain space in my music. Fortunately the good part about working with Jamun is that it makes it easy for me to push forward my individual idea of sound / space and music. In short, our idea and take on "good music" is very similar - so working out a collective approval on the music is not something that is so difficult for us.

Can you talk a little about the equipment you use to make music?  Also, some new gadgets you are most looking forward to? 

MS: I use a bunch of various gear and techniques to make music. As an electronic music producer I used to write most of my music with a computer using a basic DAW like Ableton or Cubase with a bunch of VST instruments. But over the years I have begun to enjoy writing music using hands on techniques like field recordings, lots' of sampling of sounds from unheard of sources and I also use some amount of analog synthesizers now. Some of the hardware I use like the Moog Voyager or the Dave Smith Mopho are analog - old school synths and sound very chunky. My latest toy is the iPad - I have a massive amount of various synths installed on it and another bunch of recording effect units that I can use with a touch of a finger and the tactile nature and efficiency of it makes it such a handy tool that it's now an essential part of my studio.

director: AYESHA SOOD

producer: UDAYAN BAIJAL

d.o.p: DIVAKAR MANI

editor: SAJID AKBAR

music: MADHAV SHOREY