Touring through the ambient avenue
KOCHI: The Drift Tour is all about breaking out of inhibitions. Krishna M Sujith, the guitarist of Space is All we Have, says that this multi-city performance tour marks a transition for the sextet. “A lot of things we wanted are slowly coming together; concerning the band and its music. We wanted to let go of our old selves, everything that was holding us back, and rise together to start afresh,” says Krishna, who has been the only constant presence in the project since its inception.
Founded by a group of architecture students in 2013, the act’s story involved many challenges, including major lineup changes and an almost two-year delay in releasing their debut album, ‘Thank You, Universe!’. They’ve managed to stay active in the indie music circles with constant releases as singles. “We put our music out as singles to gain traction and to keep the interest for the sound alive among netizens. Back in the day, people used to buy albums to help the band generate some income.
Now, with the advent of apps like Spotify, listeners are falling out of the habit of owning physical records in the form of cassettes or CDs,” laments the guitarist, speaking for other members Shiyasz Abdul (Vocals), Yogeendra Hariprasad (Keys/Samples), Prabhat Gopal (Bass), Shashank Akella (Guitars) and Aniketh Ashok (Drums).
Staying relevant has also meant evolving and enriching their sound over the past six years. “When we started, Space is All We Have’s major instrumentation was guitars and bass which created an ambient sound reliant on delay and reverb effects pedals. Yogeendra (from fusion band Pineapple Express) joined us later, bringing with him a heavier and synth-driven, spacey electronic twist,” he says. While experimenting with sonic elements, the group has committed themselves to comment on social issues utilising the literary tool of personification—the attribution of human characteristics to something non-human.
“Our track ‘After Effect’, with the motto ‘death of humanity will be the rebirth of nature,’ addresses how humans are ruining the planet. ‘Keepsake’ talks about how the system corrupts people and creates a herd mentality rather than promoting individual thinking. ‘She’s from Venus’ is based on women empowerment,” adds Krishna. The act has played major festivals like NH7 Weekender and Monkey Town Arts And Music Festival alongside bands like Thaikkudam Bridge.
The current tour started on September 20, 2019, and will go on till January 25, 2020. It has 19 confirmed shows on the schedule. It’ll see the outfit play tracks from their upcoming album Alongside older tracks, the crowd in Kochi will get to hear new numbers like Space Mafia and Exposure at their show on November 9 at Plug N Play, Edappally.