Singer-songwriter Tarang Joseph says, “I found that writing music for an instrument I had limited knowledge of created certain limitations, which led to interesting results.”
The young artiste, who recently released the lead single titled ‘Take Me Away’ as part of a four-track EP, was talking about the creation of these songs at his studio in Bengaluru.
“I grew up with 80s music; my mom loved ABBA, Boneyam and Michael Jackson, and they were always playing in our house. Although I enjoyed them a lot, I never really got into them. Then, about a year and a half ago, I was listening to artists making house music with disco influences and I liked what I heard.”
Tarang says he started listening to dance music again, “especially Silk Sonic by Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak – they took the ’70s and brought it back in a way that sounded fresh.
“I became interested in the whole idea of disco and its history – how it came about and how it died out. It’s a really fun genre, I wanted to make a disco project,” he says, “It was the first time I had a clear structure of what I wanted to make when I started, which I never had before.”
Also read: Singer-songwriter Tarang Joseph on how he draws inspiration from personal and philosophical influences
“I usually start expressing myself through music and let it take shape. I don’t have a vision as such; I just do it without a plan and get somewhere. I believe I needed some experience to understand that the way I start composing will shape my final product in a particular way.”
The second conscious change Tarang made was a change in his songwriting style. “I am primarily a pianist and that is how I start my songs. Then I started to consider the idea that writing songs with other instruments gives different results.”
“It was a fascinating process for me. I’ve been playing piano since I was three, and because I’m quite skilled at it, I tend to overcomplicate it with music from that end. So this time, I decided to just write a disco EP with drum and bass vibes, and structured the whole process around that.”
“This latest E.P. Liquid incense This happened because I was experimenting with a new songwriting style. Nowadays, a lot of house music serves disco but with an electronic feel. We decided to take the disco influence, combine it with live instrumentation and create a unique sound. I am very happy with the result.”
Tarang Joseph | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
When Tarang says “we”, he means bassist Surya Kalyanaraman, guitarist Aadesh Vinod and drummer Shourjo Chatterjee. “I usually make music alone, but this time I’m with a band. Working alone was getting lonely and boring,” he says, laughing.
But one band gave Waves more than a great EP – that EP took the band to many places.
Incidentally, steps forward
When the band was invited to play at Bengaluru’s Under-25 Summit this year, Tarang said they had “some great projects” lined up for 2023. “Unfortunately, we got a 4pm slot — everyone knows there isn’t much of a crowd at that time of the day as most people come late.”
“Aadesh suggested that since I had all the songs and unfinished demos, we could hone it and complete it as a band. We had four days for the summit and since we were sure there wouldn’t be too many people there, we could use the time productively.”
From left: Surya Kalyanaraman, Tarang, Adesh Vinod and Shourjo Chatterjee at this year’s Under-25 summit in Bengaluru | Photo credit: Special arrangement
“Over the next three days we completed the song with everyone collaborating on chords and parts, and Surya co-wrote ‘Take Me Away’.
Tarang revealed that on the day of the summit he learnt that his timing had been changed from 4 pm to 7 pm, and what added to his nervousness was that actor Abhay Deol was giving interviews on stage from 6.30 pm till just before he came on stage.
“We had to go on stage and play right after they finished, and we only had those four new songs ready. Abhay Deol had brought in a great crowd and it was all scary, but we didn’t want to lose them.”
“Luckily, the mixing engineer for that stage was someone I work with regularly. We started with Bruno Mars’ popular number ‘Locked Out of Heaven’, and the crowd got even bigger. We introduced ourselves, told them about our new songs and then played for them.”
“I have never received such a response from the audience for a show before!” Tarang says, his voice still brimming with excitement. “The lyrics for ‘Take Me Away’ were completely composed just the day before, and yet, the audience was singing it back to us. So we knew these songs were perfect to play live.”
Tarang says that apart from the songs, he loves that era, “It was the fashion and culture. I wanted to show it visually as well, so we shot our music videos specifically for Insta reels to commemorate that time. But instead of 80s New York, our goal was to bring forward the disco movement in India.”
Take Me Away is now available on all streaming platforms
