Mridangam rhythm gets an electronic makeover

The North Axis Project has unveiled its latest track, ‘Mridanga’. It is a collision-driven, bass-infected composition that originally mixes Kerala’s rich music heritage with electronic sounds.

“The idea behind the track is to detect the voice of the mridangam, and it is to remagin within the modern music structure,” Siddharth Bhayani said, who leads the band. Prerna, he shares, came during a visit to a South Indian temple, where he was “mesmerized by the complex mridagam rhythm pattern”, played during a ritual. This hit me how those beats felt – as it could echo for centuries, and still can move people, “” ” Mridanga ‘is not just a track, but a dialogue between tradition and innovation.”

Traditionally, Mridangam is central to Karnataka music, deeply expressed. “We not only treated Mridangam as a tool, but as a language, translating its vocabulary into new rhythmic structures, which could live on a danceflor or in a cinematic setting. Modulation and spatial FX,” extends Siddharth.

Siddharth’s musical influences are inherent in Indian classical traditions and global subculture. In the Indian side, legends such as AR Rahman, Shivamani and Karsh Kale have influenced their vision for fusion. “They showed me that cultural depth could be used without losing.”

Their journey is also “shaped by the raw energy of” rock, heavy metal and punk rock “. Bands like Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana influenced his “early understanding of music rebellion”. Siddharth says, “That aggressive, no-orols attitude naturally infected my sound design-especially in the North Axis project,” Siddharth says.

In the electronic side, artists such as Acid Pauli, Bonobo and Buddha Bar movement have impressed their music. Psytrance has also been an inspiring factor. “Fusion of all these sounds gives its unique identity to the Northern Axis project: root, rebel and rhythmic,” they say.

Siddharth is now working on a dramatic live act that brings musicians, road artists and electronic elements together. He is also working on a new track, inspired by the infectious energy of Nashik Dhol Tasha. He said, “It has a raw power in its rhythm, the way not only the legs move, but also the soul. I am working on weaving the sound of drums in electronic texture, and in this process the energy of the roads will be taken to the danceflor,” they say.

These tasks follow the trajectory of the previous northern axis release like ‘Dhin Na’. They also manufacture ideologically rich tracks such as ‘Haveli’, ‘Minar’ and ‘Angan’, whose voices were inspired by architecture. Siddharth shares, “These tasks investigate the acoustic soul of the Indian space, which translates the echoes of the courtyard, domes and aspects,” Siddharth shares, whose background in the architecture helps them to “sound too much like space”.