MUMBAI: Anurag Shanker released two albums last year, one with Siddharth Basrur and Adil Kurwa called ‘Last Remaining Light’, and the other with Namit Das called 'Peepal Tree'. He also co-composed the music for the independent film 'Sulemani Keeda', with Fuzzy Logic frontman- Arfaaz Kagalwala. Shanker is back, releasing a new album called ‘A Reclaimed Interval’ with Sankarshan Kini in a guitar project titled Bombay Acoustic People.
"It started off as a guitar project with Shank (Sankarshan Kini) and I in 2011. We wanted to compose music that would take the audience on an imaginary trip," said Shanker on the original instrumental music being created by two guitars. "The experience and the colours created from a source as minimalist as this is vast, and conjures provoking soundscapes while inviting listeners to paint pictures or draw up a story," he added.
The duo started performing at their friends’ houses and soon everyone wanted them to perform at theirs’. “We would perform for small gatherings, of 15-20 people at a friend’s place, and then slowly everyone wanted us to perform at their houses. So, by now, we have performed about 12-14 living room shows. Performing these living room shows just gives us more encouragement,” opined Shanker.
'A Reclaimed Interval’ is a compilation of ten tracks that the duo composed since the inception of Bombay Acoustic People. “We recently went trekking to the North East, and the experience was so good, that is difficult to describe it in words. So, we have described the experience through our music. This is a kind of new experiential music,” said Shanker.
Bombay Acoustic People has released ‘A Reclaimed Interval’ independently, and not through a record label. The duo is looking at releasing the album soon in the United States. Bombay Acoustic People will start its tour by playing on 1 March in Bangalore at the Shoonya Centre for Art and Somatic Practices. Similar performances at Delhi and Kolkata will follow. Bombay Acoustic People also plans to release video journals of their ‘on the road’ touring experience, said Shanker.