Among the unconventional and unique bands that emerged from the land of Delhi, The Revisit Project deserves a special place. Enveloping different flavours of rhythmic jazz, old school funk and groove, unique to the musical structure of the band, the milieu it caters to, gets to revel in the long lost culture and nuances of a genre that is otherwise recognised and loved globally. The band that comprises Abhijit Sood on drums, Ishwar Dixit on the guitar, Raaed Ehsan Azim on the keyboard, Abhay Sharma on the saxophone, Sayan Sinha on bass, Varun Rajasekharan as percussionist and Vrinda Dhar as the occasional vocalist, has a style that blends commentary with intricate pieces of music.
Over the years, The Revisit Project has grown outwardly than being just a ‘tribute band’, with their three collosal albums namely ‘Brown Man’s Funk’, ‘Born In Delhi’ and the artsy ‘Capitalist Musician With A Left Leaning Avatar’. Their most recent collaboration with CRED and Salim Merchant under the banner Soundchk has been breaking the charts. Speaking exclusively with Showsha, Abhay Sharma shared his thoughts on the collaborative track ‘Making A Move’, the band’s stylistic approach and more.
Here are the excerpts:
Let’s begin with your association with CRED, Salim Merchant and Soundchk. What more can you tell us about this epic collaboration and how creatively satisfying it turned out to be?
First, I’d like to point out that Salim sir and this concept is extremely the need of the hour. Very few successful artists from the film music space are venturing out to associate with independent artists. This starts a much-needed trend, so to speak, and a huge shout out to CRED for coming on board because I think their creative board also really wants to associate with cutting-edge, absolutely raw independent talent. By raw, I don’t mean talent-wise but in terms of exposure. The best part of this entire process is that we were allowed to do exactly what we wanted to do, and no one ever stopped us from expressing ourselves the way we want, which is absolutely the most amazing thing that could have come up. And as the concept itself says, Soundchk, so there are so many various sounds within the independent music paradigm, and we’ve been able to express ourselves exactly as we want to. So, this has been a superb collaboration through and through. Thanks to CRED, Salim sir, Soundchk and his entire team by the way. Salim sir has this wonderful team working for him that has really helped us.
Apart from amplifying the wonderful genre of jazz, what are some other things that you wish to achieve as a group with the collaboration? And whether it will translate into more listeners dipping their toes in the fathomless ocean of jazz and funk?
I think what happens is people don’t associate with genres as such; people associate with vibes. So for eg, if a new film comes up on netflix that talks about music from a particular era, then people will continuously look it up and see, “achha yaar, ye cheez aur bhi ho sakti hai kya?” A very good example would be Rock On. So, when Rock On came out, everyone was into rock, although it had been around for 30-40 years. Similarly, when Whiplash came about, everyone else around the world was like, “Oh Jazz, drumming seekhte hain.” So, it’s about someone from the mainstream trying to tap into the independent music scene and that really changes things for all of us. So, it should become a trend in that case and only then people will be more interested in us. And whether it will translate into more listeners dipping their toes into jazz and funk – yeah that onus lies on us, primarily, the musicians. It is not about giving up the dream soon, it is primarily about continuously doing it for a good half or three decades and we need more bands. I think there are enough listeners because the same people turn up for an international gig. So somehow the indian funk, jazz, or that genre-inspired artists need to not give up on trying to make music and be up there. Because that’s what’s not happening-a lot of these artists are not putting music out which is why there is a lesser audience or niche audience.
So tell me what went behind the composition of ‘Making A Move’. Usually, in a jazz format, it’s the instruments that stand out but the lyrics and the vocal arrangement for this was equally impressive and it complimented the groove of the song. How did you all achieve that? What was your process?
So in terms of the song sounding a certain way, we wanted to base the song on how Steely Dan, this American band works, wherein they take Jazz and Funk elements and fuse it to the song they have written. This is an old song from back in the day. I wrote this 5 years ago and because I was in a rush toput the song out, I never really arranged it well. This time this is what we decided. The arrangement style is what really helps us, and I must congratulate the team. The vocalist, drummer, keyboard player and bass player. They really got on with the idea of changing it because it used to be a certain way and now it sounds different, all thanks to the team. The vocal performance, of course, Vrnda is a powerhouse, but I would also like to point out that Rhythm, the keyboard player really helped change and shape the new sound, and of course Aditya on drums. These three people really helped shape the sound.
I was speaking to the Indian Ocean a couple of months back and they were quite vocal about how your music is an inspiration to not only them but the whole country. With your unique sound, to what extent do you believe that your music has impacted the listeners and music lovers in a way that they are compelled to dive deep into the genre and subgenres of jazz?
Man, if some people in the Indian Ocean said that, then that’s pretty humbling, because main usko bachpan se jaanta hu. I’ve known them since I was, say 12. And now I’m 31. So, knowing that they like us, and they feel that, is an inspiration. And that’s quite a dream come true, frankly. You know what, I’ve actually never thought about the impact that it has overall. Because for me, personally, this music and I
think I can safely say it for the band as well, it’s about expressing yourself with the colours that you’ve been given. And for some people, the colours might be rock. For some, the shades of colours that they use to express themselves might be something else. But for us, it’s bands like Weather Report, Yellow Jacket, Charlie Parker, Jaco Pastorius, and Vulfpeck. And so, the culmination of that is what leads us to write the way we do and put music across. And I think what works in our favour is that we rarely don’t care how the song is being received. There are songs which maybe have 1000 views on YouTube for us, but when we meet musicians, or you know, music lovers, they rarely say that, okay, 300 of those users are just me. I’m just trying to understand how an Indian Band is not really giving two hoots about the reaction. And that is what really helps us become who we are with. We have a fearless approach. Because we don’t mind being misunderstood initially, “Yaar ye hai kya? ” I mean, that’s what we get a lot. Lots of
musicians fear the backlash of putting something out, which is not understood. So maybe it’s just that we have come across bands from Bangalore, from Bombay who do tell us that we are an inspiration to them. But again, we’re all on the same page. We’re all in the same boat. There is no one ahead or behind. I think as long as we can all agree to that, that we’re all doing this for music and not to just inspire or bring about a change that we are not revolutionary in, in our endeavour. We just really love what we do.
You guys will be celebrating 10 years of The Revisit Project in 2024. Despite the challenges and pitfalls, you guys stand strong and together. And that spirit of creative union reflects in all your songs and albums. After all these years, what’s the reason behind such a strong cohesion amid the band members?
Yes, 10 years will be a big deal. But I would like to point out that the first 3 years we spent trying to be a cover band that makes money so that the band becomes an earning commodity. The time when we started working on our original music is when I would start the metre of “our age”. But I’ll also be very honest, we have had 8-9 band members leave through the years, and so merely creating good music isn’t the only glue to keep the band together. I think that The Revisit band has been together thus far because the central idea of the band hasn’t changed. I as the founding member haven’t changed either, but that again, isn’t the only reason we have worked. I have made it a point to make sure that music remains the mainstay. There have been songs where I haven’t been a part of but have done well. That keeps me going and invariably the band. The idea that music takes precedence over someone’s ego/attitude is what has kept the band going. 99% of people leave the band for professional reasons because they want to make
more money or move to other cities. Not compromising on music all these years is what has kept the
band going.
With a band this big, there is bound to be creative differences, not only in terms of musicality but opinions on politics, life, society in general. How do you y’all navigate those things? And whether the band itself signifies.
Yes, of course. Revisit fights quite a lot. We have huge discussions around politics, life and other things after recording music. And that’s why we meet each other as well. We rarely meet over music. It is largely to fight, discuss or pine over things. If you read the lyrics, it has social commentary. The senior members
are always fighting, and the younger members feel we do things a certain way and then we have a rebuttal. But it helps shape things here. The more we discuss and have these little fights over things, the team chemistry becomes better. There has not been a month where Revisit hasn’t fought or discussed a political scenario. Half of us are left leaning and the other right leaning. The opposites help us stay together because we complete each other in a vanilla sense.
Being a majorly ‘only instrumental’ band (barring a few songs ofc) in a country like ours is not easy as I’ve already pointed out. So, throughout the course of your musical career, how often have you guys debated on roping in a full-time vocalist? What has kept your decision to stick to instrumental sacrosanct so far?
So what happens is whenever we hire a vocalist (this is before Vrnda), the person that we hired didn’t want to associate that much with the band. So that was one of the major reasons why we kind of kept it more instrumental. But I think ever since Vrnda has come about, she is a fully-fledged member. And she has taken on the responsibility of singing at gigs for us. What happens is, with vocalists, sometimes they
don’t associate with the band as such, they want to be the featuring artists because since I write the lyrics and the song, they say that maybe they can come on as a featuring person. But now, that’s not the case. I think Vrnda is pretty much a fully-fledged member. And she is the one person that I think of when I’m
putting a song together to sing. But, of course, I want to keep it very open. I want to make sure that we are also paying tribute to all of the instrumental music that we create. So, I have a straight up approach. If we work on one vocal song, the next month, we will work on an instrumental song. So there is nothing that’s sacrosanct in that case,that, this can be touched or that can’t be touched. I think as ideas come to me, if there are vocal ideas, we work on that and Vrnda is keen to sing. Otherwise, it’s instrumental because I have been writing for the last six, seven years. So that’s a habit that I’ve had. Usually, we’re already done with, say 20 songs before the next album happens. So, half of those ideas are instrumental enough, those are vocal. So yeah, it’s never about pitting one against the other. It’s about what idea comes first and what we like to work on. But yeah, we always maintain this parity that if we’re working on
a vocal song right now the next time we will be working on an instrumental song, which keeps things super interesting.
As a follow-up, your last album was epic. From the name to all the songs, I got the taste of distinct flavours of everything that The Revisit Project is capable of pulling it off. Since, tis’ the season of collaborations, will you guys be open to work on a collaborative album featuring vocals from various indie artists like Suryakant Sawhney, Peter Cat etc?
Of course, we love to work with new artists in terms of their sound and everything, we would love to do that. The thing is The Revisit Project functions based on systems. For Eg, if we add a new musician to the roster, we spend 3 -4 months with the person to check out their vibe. As long as that’s happening with an
artist, where we have sat down with them, we’ve understood their vibe and vice versa and that really helps us grow as well. If the other artist becomes a part of the system and we become a part of theirs, is when the collaboration should happen. A lot of artists are so busy with their own work that, for me, it
would be unfair to meet randomly one day and say “arey let’s just collaborate”. That’s not how I work and would suggest others should not as well, but of course they can do what they want. As long as other artists are part of the system, where we’ve sat down, chilled and played music together, as long as that happens, we would love to collaborate with anyone.
In a country like ours, where one cannot freely be political or philosophical without being attacked by someone or the other, your music has subtle undertones of commentary that is fierce but melodious. How important is that trait for you guys as a band?
Yes, I think as you rightly pointed out that you do get attacked for your opinions. But I think that is part of being in a democracy, and which is where I understand that India has always been this way, India has always accepted new things. And there’s always accepted new religions and made that a huge part of their own ethos as well. And I think as long as you can express yourself, you will be attacked, no matter
where you are in the world right now. Because the world is super connected, we get to know how right now, politically, Scandinavia is going through its right-wing phase. Similarly, the rise of other political leaders in the West, and the conservatives are on an upswing right now, everywhere else in the world. And I think that is absolutely okay. Because that is being in a democracy, where everyone gets a right to express themselves. And as long as the first part of the thing is being allowed to express yourself, I think we are totally okay with being attacked as well. And that’s why some of the messaging is subtle as well, because I don’t want to bore someone with an outwardly disposition about Oh, okay. So, we are very politically exposed, and this is not okay, that is okay. No, that is not for us to decide. We just like to point out what we see and how things work and at least with The Revisit Project, I know most of us believe in individual responsibility over collective and then the individual micro kind of leads to a macro effect in that case. So, in a similar fashion, with Revisit also, my aim is never to say that all of us should be a certain way. No, the aim of my writing is to tell how things exist. And this is what we think is happening and what you have to say, in an almost like a mirror, not virtue-signalling just the truth being relayed in a form of afunky message. And that’s what this is about. And as long as our country will allow us to do that, I think we’re pretty much okay. We don’t mind the backlash at all. I think that’s part of a healthy democracy and discussion.
What’s the future of independent music in India as of today? Where do you see yourself and all the other artists on the same ark heading to? Is the future promising or bleak?
I think I have a pretty simple take on things. Independent Music is primarily the individual artist paying for everything. And as long as the artist is responsible enough to make money- firstly, save, invest, put all of this together and look at music from a larger viewpoint, wherein, okay, this might not be hip right now. But it is important to at least start this, at least do this. Because most of the artists don’t end up getting paid from the music that they make. But what happens is it starts a chain reaction, where then there are other younger artists, other younger musicians who think if this guy is doing it, I’m also going to do it, and I’ve always said, this independent music is an endurance game. It’s about standing in the same place for more than four, five, six, seven, or eight years. For example, now we get gigs at respectable places, with respectable budgets, which is the start of something good. So I feel we need more venues, firstly. We need at least three to five good venues in each city. And we need good music schools, which is finally happening. And the most important thing we need is artists who are ready to give up on the best part of their youth trying to make music that is important and good to them. You know what I mean? And it’s not about said, x, hip hop, or jazz or funk, just artists not giving up will be the biggest push to the independent music scene, because you’ll like it, or you don’t. The independent music scene runs on good financial cash flow. And for an artist to maintain that they either have to be from an affluent background already, or they have to be very smart to get a job or to get the right cash flow going from other sources, which is a very tough process. So, frankly, the immediate future looks bleak in that case, because the cash flow defines the age of the artist, unfortunately, right now and not the music. Because as long as you’re putting music out, people will end up listening to you. So, the future is bleak in that case, because a lot of artists do not end up making money. So as long as the artist is smart enough to manage finances well, and keep the insurance game going, it will never be out of work. But yeah, great venues, great musicians, and a very spirited attempt at doing this- and the future will take care of itself. I think we need to worry about how we are going to do things today. And as things stand today? It’s okay, it’s not the greatest thing in the world. We need a lot of good musicians and as long as we are all spirited and we do this, we will have an okay future. But yeah, it looks tough because of the financial need to do things. As long as that’s sorted, we will be good.
