Mumbai based funk duo, Madboy/Mink has released a new EP 'Union Farm', and has kicked off a 6-city tour this month to promote the new release. The four track EP, which features the tracks 'Fire in the Street', 'Powders’, ‘Sharaabi’ and ‘Mousegirl’, is a follow up to the funk duo’s 2014 release- ‘All Ball’. In an interview with Radioandmusic.com, Madboy/Mink’s Imaad Shah and Saba Azad talk about their latest release, film projects and plans for later this year.

Excerpts:

Tells us about ‘Union Farm’. What’s behind the name?

Imaad: We just felt the name best described the style and mood that we were going for with this EP. It is actually a lyric from one of our songs- ‘Powders’ on the EP. We felt that it encompassed what we felt for this release, which was slightly a 60s things. It was an abstract choice.

Considering ‘All Ball’ was well accepted, did you feel a certain pressure for ‘Union Farm’?

Imaad: We did feel a sense of expectation, which is only normal and natural, and positive. But we did not let that get in the way of our creative process. Those two things for us are separate; thinking about the audience’s reaction and working towards what you need to accomplish.

Saba: Positive because it makes you work harder and try and live up to those expectations in a way. You create first and hope that the audience will like it. You have to be true to yourself, and when that happens, people will appreciate it. And even if they do not, then it is alright. We did what made us happy and what is our sound, and that I think is what is most important, creatively, for any musician.

Do you have any expectations for the EP?

Saba: Not really, except the fact that people listen to it and hopefully, will like it. We have put it out for streaming on SoundCloud and can be downloaded on Bandcamp. We will also have physical copies, but those will not be for sale. We strongly believe in democratisation of the internet and making music free, and we want as many people as possible to listen to it.

Imaad: The expectation is that over a period of time these songs will get around. That is what we found with ‘All Ball’. When we first put it out was that there was a flurry of good feedback, interest and lots of plays and over the course of last year, the songs have reached out to people. Now when we play at gigs, we have people singing along to them, and that is definitely a good feeling. I am confident that the same will happen with these songs, and that by the time the festival season comes around, the audience will be singing along to the new songs and we will still have that close connection with them.

‘Sharaabi’ is your first Hindi track. What made you go in that direction?

Imaad: It is not exactly our first one. We have written other Hindi tracks before ‘Sharaabi’, but this was the first one we released. We believe in completely blurring language barriers. Both of us think and speak in Hindi and English. So, it was only natural that we would write songs in Hindi too. It is definitely something we will be doing more of. We want to kill the idea that Hindi is only associated with Bollywood or film music. And we really hope that more independent musicians make good use of the language, because it really is a very rich language. It came out organically; it was not a conscious decision. We sat down with a guitar and synthesiser in our studio and the song just came out. And we have got really great responses for ‘Sharaabi’ each time we have played it live.

Saba: It is a part of our sound and it is a very trademark Madboy Mink sound and it fits right into our set.

Was ‘Sharaabi’ a result of doing ‘Calcutta Kiss’ for ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’?

Imaad: ‘Sharaabi’ was actually written before ‘Calcutta Kiss’, at least parts of it. ‘Calcutta Kiss’ was done for Dibakar (Banerjee). We wrote a couple of drafts for the verse and he chose the ones that he liked. The lyrics were entirely us, but in a sense, the song was like a collaborative process with him.

Saba: The good thing was that Dibakar knew what he wanted, and he picked out the song he needed. He asked us if we could make it into a Hindi song. He never said we must have Hindi lyrics. He asked if we would like to try it, so we discussed it and thought it was a good idea.

Have you been approached for Bollywood projects since ‘Calcutta Kiss’?

Saba: We have, but it is still in its nascent stage. We are making music, but have not been approached as Madboy/Mink specifically, because we work as independent musicians as well. Outside of Madboy/Mink, I am a playback singer and Imaad is a composer. I think that the fact that we compose as Imaad or Saba, allows us to distance ourselves from the sound that is Madboy/Mink and deliver on a sound that is required for films. But if someone approaches us as Madboy/Mink, we are going to stick to our sound.

Imaad: Madboy/Mink allows us versatility, which is the need of the hour for film music. And we would not want to compromise, in any sense, on anything that is Madboy/Mink. At the end of the day, Madboy/Mink started with the spirit of being a young indie band and has a DIY aesthetic.

What solo projects are you working on?

Imaad: There is nothing we can really announce. I am getting into the zone of music director. I have finished an independent film, with a young director. It will release later this year. This is a major passion for me because it is a space where my versatility can come into play a little, and I can explore any sound under the sun, and I do that. In one film, I have done pretty much every genre from disco to jazz to funk to EDM, rock to blues.

Saba: I am part of a few projects. I have a few films about to release and there are some that have to start recording as well. I am really excited about the films that are coming up because they are really great films; they are not very mainstream. As an independent artist, there are few announcements I am about to make as well. I am really excited because honestly, singing happened accidently for me. I have been singing since I was a child, but I never trained professionally. I am very thankful that work has come to me organically.

What else have you got planned for the rest of this year?

Saba: We are working on a few collaborations with other musicians whose sound is similar to ours. We are looking at releasing these collaborations towards the end of this year.

Imaad: We are also looking at making our live shows a little different this year. Both of us have a theatre background, so we are hoping to bring elements of theatre and visual arts to our stage productions.

Madboy/Mink kicked of their ‘Union Farm’ tour in Delhi on 5 June, after which the duo will play in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.