etc . In order to tackle those I had to reduce the timings of the sessions , and also host sessions that connects artists 1-1 with each other , or create groups so that the artists can get to know and learn from each other . However , hosting the online part of the program also works to our advantage because we now can work with artists from across the country and there are no geographical barriers here .
With regards to the Artist Residency part ( offline component to the program ) there is a beauty and charm of hosting it in Goa . Everyone is game for coming here ( usually ), its cheaper , its fun and beautiful and you get the chance to be amongst other musicians and professionals in Goa . Artists end up forming bonds and connections and also get a chance to interact on a deeper level with each other . Also , there is a lot more room to host multiple formats of workshops and sessions at the residency – we hosted collaborative song writing workshops , theatre and play workshops , business related workshops , yoga and meditation , jams etc . This all ended with a performance showcase where each artists played 3 songs from their repertoire . For me this where it all ties in together , and hence the experience of online and offline are as a matter of fact complimentary to each other .
What kind of genres and backgrounds do the artists come from ?
The program looks at artists from more the indie music landscape , that are working in the larger genre base of contemporary music . We are quite genre agnostic , but try to stay clear of Bollywood and commercial music because those industries already have a lot going for them . The indie music ecosystem is where we aim to be in . Also , since the program is mostly online , we can work with artists from all across the country . As a matter of fact , last year ( we didn ’ t have the offline part of the program ) we had a band from Sri Lanka called The Soul who were a part of the program . So I hope that going ahead we can also get artists not only from India but from our neighbouring countries as well .
Do you structure the courses to fit different genres and artists from different cities ?
At the moment the program is pretty similar as we are in our early stages . However , the program remains 70 per cent same and changes according to the genre space that we can work within . There could be programs specifically targeted towards producers / beatmakers , jazz artists , singer-songwriters , hip-hop artists , electronic artists , artist managers , etc … The program evolves and changes with each space that we would function in . With ref to cities , it really doesn ’ t change anything since a lot of the program is Online .
Can you talk about the different areas the mentors came from ?
The mentors and facilitators that we have on boarded come from within the music industry as well as from outside it . It is important to provide all perspectives to the artists . Also , we have mentors from India , France , Canada and the UK who form a part of what we do . We want the artists to get an Indian and global approach to building their projects and hence it is important to works with facilitators from outside the country as well . When we work with mentors we identify a skill / function that they are really good at and ask them to come and speak about that specific area of work that they do . The idea is for us to go deeper on the subjects that we delve into and each mentor is amazing at that .
How can this be expanded to help people in allied fields of music ( like sound engineering / acoustics , etc .)?
In the future there is definitely scope to take this program into different spaces like I mentioned above .
• We can host genre specific programs . These would include certain nuances of each genre that make up the program as well .
• We can host smaller programs ( Bootcamps ) where artists who cannot commit to the longer program can still learn something thru them .
• An artist manager program
Where do you think this program will go in the future ?
With Amplify we want to host multiple program in a year , mixed in with some boot camps across the country and we want to start developing a program for artist managers sometime next year . However , moving beyond programs , I really want to see how we can develop an artist fund ( similar to those that exist in the west ) so that we can fund and support artistic projects in India ( like touring internationally , developing an album / videos etc ,..), developing case studies and industry reports , as well as finding ways in which we can really build a stronger infrastructure support for indie artists as well as the indie industry to work within . Alas , all of this needs money , and we are constantly out there looking for sponsors and raising funds so that we can keep the ball moving in the right direction , with an aim that we can find a way to build a stronger and more inclusive indie music ecosystem for the country .
The Score Magazine highonscore . com
43