SulaFest back with their 13th edition

Indian and international artists to perform at the festival in Nashik

The 13th edition of SulaFest will take place on February 1 and 2 at Sula Vineyards, Nashik. Participating artistes include Indian artistes such as Salim Sulaiman, Spin Doctor, When Chai Met Toast and The Local Train as well as international acts such as My Baby, Electrophazz and Rumba de bodas.

Tickets for the event are available on Paytm Insider. Also, for every ticket purchased, Sula Vineyards will plant a tree on your behalf.

The country's first and biggest Vineyard Music Festival will also have immersive wine-centric experiences, early morning yoga sessions, cycling in the vines and camping under the stars.

Metrolife spoke to two of the bands performing at the festival

My Baby

Dutch-New Zealand band from Amsterdam ‘My Baby’ was founded in 2012. Over the years, they have built up a formidable reputation as a live act, with their peppy music that is a mix of blues, country and funk. The members of the band are Joost van Dijck (drums), his sister Cato van Dijck (vocals) and Daniel ‘Dafreez’ Johnston (guitars).

They are coming to India to perform for the 13th edition of SulaFest, to be held on February 1 and 2. Metrolife spoke to Daniel, the guitar player of the band, to learn more about their journey.

How would you describe your music?

We describe the music as roots driven hypnotic dance. So its blues, folk and gospel informed but played with a dance floor-orientated beat. A lot of it is a collage of different styles that we try to keep as imperceptible as possible so it remains a coherent whole. But sonically and otherwise, we are constantly evolving so it’s hard to pinpoint an actual style or sound looking at our past efforts.

What is the main challenge you face, as a band, today?

Trying to get your music heard by people around the world; particularly your core audience, the people that find what you do appealing. It has become easier in recent years because of the Internet and streaming sites but you can still got lost in the vast output that it produces.

Do you follow the work of any Indian band/artiste?

Yes, there are a number of Indian artistes we’ve been influenced by and have followed over the years.

Debashish Bhattacharya is a renowned slide guitarist from Calcutta and has been a prime source of inspiration for me especially. He plays Indian classical music in his own unique style with great technical prowess. We recently saw him perform in Amsterdam with his daughter, Anandi, who is a very gifted performer in her own right We’ve come across singer-songwriter Raghu Dixit many times on the English festival circuit. We enjoyed each others performances there and have followed him and his band ever since.

The list of other examples is just too long; there is a wide array of music that has inspired us — from Indian classical and folk to a number of old Bollywood tunes — and we’ve also become curious about some emerging folk and contemporary dance fusion groups.

Thoughts about the Indian audience?

Well, as this is our first visit, we don’t really know what to expect. We don’t know how the audience will react to our music, which also makes it exciting.

Our live shows are pretty fast paced and energetic and I’ve heard that Indian audiences appreciate such kind of music so hoping for the best.

Where do you draw inspiration from when it comes to music?

Performing music is really about creating a mood and atmosphere and putting emotion into that, which hopefully people can relate to. In turn the audience can respond to what they hear. It’s that energy exchange that inspires us most; that urge to keep creating and performing. So it’s really about connecting with people and allowing that connection to influence the music.

Electrophazz

The French jazz ensemble ‘Electrophazz’ have been making audiences across the world dance to their unique mix of of jazz, soul and hip hop since 2007. With a fan base across 40 countries, their sound includes powerful rap and deep soul vocals with nu-soul rhythms and saxophones on stage.

In India to perform for Sulafest 2020, they spoke to Metrolife about their journey so far.

What’s the story behind the band’s name?

We met 12 years ago, when we were students. At that time, we were playing stuff in between electro and jazz, which lead us to this name Electrophazz. Then we slowly moved to hip hop and neo soul but we kept that name. I would say that today, the meaning of our name is the summary of those 12 years of friendship and music.

Does blending opposite genres like jazz and hip hop mean diluting the authenticity of either one of them?

Not at all. If you think of it, new genres in music have always been a result of evolution of previous genres. The blues turned into bebop, bebop turned into hard bop... this continues till today. The only difference now is that musicians have access to much more music than earlier with the Internet. For example, take Tinariwen (a group of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali) who were in India some years ago for a tour. They are blending blues and gnawa music, such a beautiful and crazy fusion of genres. I guess the point of it is not to keep the authenticity of the music that inspired your songs, but to get your own authenticity in your music.

How are your two albums ‘Electric city’ and ‘Shades of your soul’ different from each other?

They are different because they refer to two distinct phases of our band’s history. ‘Shades of your soul’, which is the oldest one, is more organic and raw. The process of composing for ‘Electric city’ was totally different; it was almost entirely composed in the recording studio, which let us include a lot of different layers.

Is this your first visit to India?

It’s actually our second tour in India. We have come before in May 2018. At the time, we met many good people who we are still in touch with. We are looking forward to meet them again and also to meet new people.

Do you follow any Indian artiste?

We are following Ta Dhom project ( Viveick Rajagopalan ), which is a really nice music band fusing hip hop and classical music.