Fourteen years ago, a band was born in Shillong; one that was inspired by the roots and groove sounds of the blues, blues-rock, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, funk and R&B. That band is Soulmate, the coming together of Rudy Wallang and Tipriti Kharbangar, who formed a band dedicated to playing the blues and spreading awareness about this important genre of music. Since then, Soulmate has gone through many personnel changes and at present, when playing live, they are joined by Leon Wallang on bass guitar and Vincent Tariang on drums.
The award-winning band has since been in the headlines for all the right reasons and has recorded three albums, ‘Shillong’, ‘Moving On’ and ‘Ten Stories Up’, thus far. Amidst all of that, they’ve had many a gig in Goa, which has garnered a fair following in terms of local support, causing them to return time and again, with Wednesday being the latest in such ventures. This love for Goa comes from the band’s ability to draw comparisons between Goa and their native land, Shillong. “Both Goa and Shillong are blessed with Mother Nature’s Beauty. The people from both places are musically bent. The people in both places are really laid back as well, and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer,” shares Rudy.
The Goa gig comes under the banner of the band’s ‘Spirit of Shillong’ tour. Speaking on what inspired it, Rudy adds, “Well, we have been on a ‘monsoon break’ for almost two months now. Also, Keith, our manager was busy working out a tour schedule for the band in collaboration with Arpan Peter of Overture India. There are a lot of our friends and fans who want to come to Shillong but have never had the opportunity to – not only to meet us, but also to spend time there and chill; and take in the scenery and experience the beautiful place we call home. So, in order to make it easier on them, we decided to ‘bring’ Shillong to them. We’re going to tease them with this ‘spirit’ and make them want to come to those parts of the world, all the more. I think what defines the term ‘Spirit of Shillong’ for us is simply fresh air, beauty, melody, simplicity, Mother Nature, love and peace; and we love to share that.”
Soulmate though, is no stranger to playing in Goa, and inversely, Goa is no stranger to the band’s music, which has many a music buff asking what they can expect from this gig, and whether any of it will be fresh and previously unheard. “Soulmate music, for sure,” quips Tipriti, adding, “That’s what you always hear when we come to town. There is going to be a nice mix of old and new songs. We’ve been working hard too you know!”
One great way to put that aforementioned ‘newer sound’ out there is collaboration. And in terms of collaboration, Soulmate is very much slotting something in the pipeline. “We are collaborating with Khasi Folk musicians, for a project that will happen in Mumbai in the month of October. However, one dream collaboration would be to work with Herbie Hancock,” Rudy shares.
Soulmate, beyond Goa, is looking to expand in terms of venues that come under the ‘uncharted territory’ banner. And there aren’t too many places in India that they haven’t played at/in yet. Tipriti discusses the matter, saying “We’ve played a lot of places in the country, though we’ve yet to play at Blue Frog and Windmills Craftworks in Bangalore, and Anti Social in Mumbai to name a few venues, and there’s also Trivandrum.”
A gig in south Goa usually involves playing to a ‘tougher crowd to please’, but it is something the band is “looking forward to”, Rudy says, adding “The gig being set up in South Goa came as a welcome surprise to us. We haven’t played in the South for almost seven to eight years! We are grateful to Vinesh and Darryl of The Live Music Project for this. We know the audience will have a great time experiencing the ‘Spirit of Shillong’ through our music. We are really looking forward to this one!”
Soulmate’s ‘Spirit of Shillong’ performance will take place today at ‘The Farm House Bar and Bistro’ in Benaulim, from 7.30 pm onwards.
