The brain child of Matthias Schriefl and Amith Nadig, the Amithias Project is an independent band which makes music with influences from different parts of the world.
Formed in 2010, the band makes music on “incidents from everyday life” that inspires them.
“We try bringing out intricacies of Indian classical music like Carnatic music. Schriefl is from Germany and he comes with his own interpretations and arrangements for the music with his trumpet,” Nadig, who plays the flute, tells Metrolife.
Along with Nadig and Schriefl, the band also includes Ludwig Himpsl, who is a Turkish percussionist and Sarthak Pahwa, who plays the tabla.
“We all speak different languages and try stepping out of our comfort zones to create world music with influences from jazz, Carnatic, Hindustani and folk music,” adds Nadig.
From Bavarian and Swiss Alps to how a morning in Bangalore sounds and feels like, the music of Amithias Project is varied and culturally diverse. However, unlike most other musicians, they don’t make music to gain popularity.
“For us, music is not all about being popular. Our music is for a very niche audience. We sometimes even try operas with elements of jazz. So it is something very different and not many people can understand it,” explains
Nadig adding that they are very experimental group, trying to bridge the gap between Bavarian, German and Indian classical music.
He says that the struggle is more in creating and arranging the music rather than playing music. “The main challenge is trying to get a meeting point amongst all members. We try matching our wavelengths and interests. This goes a long way in terms of making good
music.”
They have performed gigs and in concerts across the world, including Europe, Morocco and France and will be performing in the capital on September 10 at Depot 48.
According to Nadig, performing gigs in restaurant is challenging because it is difficult to get the audience involved in music.
“When we perform gigs in Europe in jazz clubs, there it doesn’t take much effort to engage the audience in music. There is a culture for music there, which lacks in India,” he says.
About the current music scene, Nadig feels that there is a need for people to be more open to all kinds of music and be less “conservative”.
“We sometimes find it difficult to make the older generations accept our music. I think that Indian musicians will make more music if people are open to all kinds of music,” he says.