ARTIST OF THE MONTH:
SUMESH
NARAYANAN
You play a variety of percussion
instruments. What’s your
most favourite and why? How important is collaboration
according to you? Tell us
your best collaborations
Anything and everything that
I create are essentially sounds
that I make with my mouth.
It is quite funny actually but I
have to hear the quickest and
closest representation of that
musical idea as and when it
comes. Its gotta be my mouth! As a creative artist, it is very
important and integral for me
to constantly look to newer
fields to play in and to acquire
knowledge in any form.
When 2 or more artists come
together it also brings about
a cross-pollination between
the respective audiences and
that’s is a very healthy way
forward in creative streams.
Because experiencing music
or watching an art form is
innately creative by itself.
My best collaborations have
to be with the band Indosoul
and the acclaimed dancer
Mythili Prakash who’s
production I had scored the
music for along with Aditya
Prakash and performed for
the premiers in London.
To a person who has never
seen you play, how would you
describe your music/sound?
I’m a "hand-drummer” who’s
trained in what’s called
Carnatic Music from South
India for over 20 years. The
training has equipped me with
the capacity to assimilate and
try to understand other forms
of musical presentation in a
constant attempt to widen my
vocabulary and to strengthen
what I already know.
Tell us about the different
instruments you use
During the traditional
concerts or kutcheris that
I play in, I only use the
Mridangam. But when I play
a percussionist role, I have
a more hybrid setup that
includes the Bongos, Darbuka,
Congas, and the Cajon apart
from the Mridangam.
What genres of music do you play
and which is your most favorite?
I play Carnatic and
Contemporary Carnatic,
so that’s my identity.
Maybe Funk? Rock? I
don’t know honestly.
Artists you’d love to play/
collaborate with
I am LITERALLY open to
collaborating with as many as
I can, just here to do my thing
and learn a lot on the way
Tell us about your set up
I have my mridangams
custom hand-made here
in Chennai by some of the
finest artisans in the world.
I use the LP Generation II
bongos, Meinl Darbuka, a few
Wuhan cymbals and splashes
and my Cajon that's made
by Sela. I get my hardware
fabricated according to my
needs here in Chennai as well
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
19