MUMBAI: Harsh Vishnoi aka Shrink, an electronic producer has released his debut album “E.T.” with three tracks, “Wilma”, “Blipcode” and “E.T.”, each with a different vibe. Born and based in New Delhi, he has been an active member in the capital’s music circuit and has performed many sold-out gigs, as a lead guitarist, with his jazz/funk and blues bands.
As a producer, Harsh believed and experienced that making music is a thrill and you tend to go deeper as you start getting the gist of your gear, the techniques and the overall process of making music. Certainly, it does demand a lot of your time and practice but it eventually turns into something sensible, often great pieces of art.
Track one and three, “Blipcode” and “Wilma”, were initiated last year while the title track “E.T.” was purely composed and produced from scratch during the lockdown period. “The vibe of these tracks came naturally to me and reflects what my mind was going through during those times”.
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The tracks under the E.T album have simple and groovy lines, with a blend of hypnotic downtempo sounds and a lot of synth work. “The idea was to come up with simple dance music, to which anybody could groove along. Something that isn’t very complex, a result of long-time experimentations with synthesisers and beat machines. A lot of eclectic instrumentations and new fresh sounds can be heard in the compositions. The tracks are deeply textured and I spent ample time on the detailing of every sound you may hear”.
“Blipcode” is an elevating song with trance and house elements blended and produced with some great vocal samples from the 70s, talking about liberty and freedom.
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The title track “E.T.” reaches out to the underground techno audience, believers of ‘in the zone’ music, and those who like the sound of 90s techno from Berlin or Detroit. E.T. is best categorised as upbeat techno/house music.
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“Wilma”, the final track of the short album derives its title from the infamous Hurricane “Wilma”. This track sounds of commotion, of rush, of devastation which drift so enormously hard. A bang on track for that hyper adrenaline state.
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The artist finds his inspiration from listening to different genres and everything that he can explore, “I don’t mean just checking out the popular numbers by an artist but going through almost every track and complete albums. Often, we miss out on listening to a lot of great music because the popularity of one song doesn’t speak up enough and there goes some amazing piece of music to trash”.
“Sharing thoughts and experiences with fellow musicians, always believing in myself and putting my thoughts to music instead of words has been the true drive. Besides, I’ve been running my studio in the capital called Freebird Studios for two years now, where sticking to my work ethics and finding the right zone actually motivates me to make music. A few artists who have inspired my latest release are Acid Pauli, Ellen Allien and Oliver Koletzki”, Harsh adds.
The life of a musician is always challenging. The point where you finalise a track is very far off from the point you start writing a song. It includes complex experiments and a lot of practice in your field. Some very hard decisions as well. Talking about the lockdown, “It has pretty severely harmed the independent music fraternity in India where art has no place in govt policies and is the least essential job out there. Making music too is not a piece of cake for musicians who do not have access to studios and gear. We have to work with very limited resources, no studio hours what so ever and almost negligible budgets”
“A lot of things go really hard and finding the right zone to create something, doesn’t happen every day. Mental health has been one major lockdown issue and making music, solely depends on the artist’s state of mind and vision”. Lockdown has not only affected musicians monetarily but also mentally in a lot of ways. Good art is timeless and music sure is one escape to all problems. It eventually heals.
The music industry is rapidly growing. The main aspect which he has learnt over the years is to not rush with his music but keep at it, be steady and calm, give the time your music demands to grow and at last, develop into something beautiful and probably crazy enough to move you. It might not connect to all people and also not be recognised in the industry. For instance, his own music is very underground, in the sense that it is not mainstream commercial but it definitely has the right audience and the connection to this particular mass matters to him.
The artist plans to come up with new infusions of genres in his creations and putting out music one after the other. Music takes time to grow and reach the right people but staying motivated, working and collaborating with different artists and releasing new music is his only game plan.
