As Kayaka gears up for its Hyderabad debut at Windmills Craftworks on April 17 and 18, the ensemble — featuring MD Pallavi on vocals, Bruce Lee Mani on guitar, Osi Gomango on bass, Yadhu Nagaraj on drums, Siddharth Kamath on keyboards, Karthik Bhat on tabla and percussion, and Arjun MPN on flute and saxophone — brings with it a striking blend of 11th-century Vachana poetry and contemporary soundscapes. Known for weaving folk, blues, jazz, and Indian classical influences, the band reimagines socially charged verses into a powerful, immersive live experience. In conversation with CE, the band talks about their music, what audiences can expect from their Hyderabad show and more.
Excerpts
What excites you most about bringing Kayaka to Hyderabad?
Kayaka is a fairly new band — we’re just a couple of years old as an ensemble, though all the individual members of course are seasoned highly-regarded musicians in their own right! This will actually be our first trip outside Bengaluru, we’re very excited indeed to bring our music to Hyderabad.
Are you planning anything special or different for this show here?
Kayaka works primarily with Kannada poetry from the 11th and 12th centuries, penned by ‘Vachanakaras’ as they are called. These writings stem from working class individuals like cobblers, weavers, barbers, sex workers, even thieves and contain powerful social commentary that still resonates. Selections of this poetry are re-imagined in a genre-fluid frame of contemporary music. Each composition is informed and driven by the lyric; and fuses musical styles from West-African folk, blues, jazz, rock and funk to Indian folk and classical. We introduce and present the songs in a way that allows the audience to experience the world of the Vachana movement. From upbeat grooves and driving rhythms to ambient ballads and subtle acoustic textures, Kayaka delivers a memorable and meaningful concert experience that speaks strongly to current times.
The Vachanas were bold, questioning, and even rebellious for their time. Do you think today’s music still has that courage?
Oh, absolutely. Music with that kind of courage is definitely around, but does not ever seem to rise to the ‘mainstream’. The biggest hits even between the 1960s to 1990s often featured songs that spoke ‘truth to power’ openly and that seems to be something that just doesn’t happen very much now.
Is there ever a moment on stage where things don’t go as planned and does that sometimes lead to your best performances?
Unplanned things happen quite often, and sometimes yes it can lead to some great moments, even sublime ones. But the opposite is also true and some unplanned stuff just results in… sheepish looks and requests to ‘please let’s not release that recording!’.
For someone who is listening to you guys for the first time, how would you explain your music?
Not much explanation required really. We do delve into the poems and talk about the meanings, but across our last few performances, people seem to ‘get’ the emotional power of the songs quite well, without following a word of the language. The music goes to various places, stylistically — but we try to keep those journeys within the scope of the lyric. So, just show up with an open mind, and you should be fine!
Has working on Kayaka changed the way the band listen to silence, space, or everyday sounds and music?
This happens every time, I put myself out of a ‘comfort zone’, creatively. So yes, working on this material for as long as we have, I think it will have that kind of impact — in various degrees and ways for each of us.