Shanka Tribe creates ‘tribal trance’ deep inside Western Ghats

A band plays unusual instruments in the wild in a bid to break away from conventional sounds

What would a bunch of highly creative musicians do to break away from band stereotypes? No, they don’t sing Freddie Mercury’s anthem ‘I want to break free.’ Instead, they find instruments rarely used by bands, and head deep into the jungles of the Western Ghats!

Shanka Tribe, the new sensation in independent Indian music, picked up the didgeridoo, oud, pipa, yandpan and mukhchang and played music in the wilderness of Wayanad, creating, in the process, a fresh new sound. Their video, out recently, is garnering much appreciation.

So how did the band get its name? “We have a deep ethnic spirit, and every event we perform starts with a blowing of the shanka (conch),” says Aswin Lal, member of Shanka Tribe and a video editor.

Supremely athletic

For the video, the team got two supremely athletic actors who performed the running and jumping stunts.

Shanka Tribe began its journey from college cultural competitions in Kerala. But later, prodded by band member Atul P M aka ‘Munna’, it created a genre it calls ‘tribal trance’. This was received well not just in India but also in several parts of the world. Critics cite the German group Enigma as a parallel.

Nithin, Bonny, Sree Raj, Libin, Ashwin and Joel share common interests and came together, and now create music in this intense genre. What makes their music special is the use of instruments of tribal origin from China, Africa and Arabia, sounds from the past.

Their first single video ‘When Nature Calls’ incorporates love for nature, simple living, and a sense of adventure. They incorporated powerful traditional chants, mantras and expressions into their music.

The idea was to blend them with tribal instruments. “We begin by blowing a conch to purify the soul and surroundings, hence we are the Shanka Tribe”, says Aswathy. The group has performed at various places in India and the Middle East. Based in Cochin in Kerala, they are now promoting live, acoustic music.