By Sukant Deepak

New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS): This band's introduction reads: "TAPI echoes contemporary India and its new gods & demons: urban life, money, lost roots, alienation, etc..."

The contemporary folk band from Surat with a sound that is a mix of funk and folk on a hypnotic contemporary tribal groove, that started out in 2014 experiments with trip-hop, jazz, ambient textures and uses folk instruments as an essential part of the band.

Primarily a collaboration between Yogendra Saniyawala (Music, Lyrics, Instruments), and Swati Minaxi (Lead Vocalist) who stands out with her distinct vocal style and vast range, and Gaurav Kapadia (Sound Engineer and Instruments), the band that recently performed at the 'Mahindra Kabira Festival' and is all set for a Europe tour soon, they insist the band started with no 'goal' in mind, the only agenda was to travel, make music and challenge themselves at every occasion -- the things they will continue to do.

"After all, human desires never cease until you go to the root of where they emerge from," asserts Yogendra Saniyawala .

Talk to him about Kabir and Saniyawala says he dived deep into the nature of reality and presented it with words, which guide and invites us to do the same.

"The nature of reality is timeless, so are Kabir's words," he adds.

In this post-pandemic era when several independent bands are facing a lack of sponsorships and platforms, Saniyawala feels that support from corporates like Mahindra is valuable for the culture to sustain and flourish.

In a huge country like India, where there cannot be 'enough' festivals, the musician says many existing ones too need better curation.

"Curators need to research more and not play safe," he concludes.