Meet the Band - SmallTalks. Samarth Bahl on guitar and Vocals, Yohann Coutinho on Bass/Synth and Linford Dsouza on Drums. Now the trio ain't good having small talks, thye're good and better and best at making music and playing them along. Hence we too arent gonna beat around and cut to the chase straight.
What is the genre of your music?
It’s always hard for us to describe our music in terms of genre, because we don't keep this in mind while we create. Plus each of us have such different influences that the music organically just takes a shape of its own. We usually just ask them to have a listen and let us know what they think haha!
What was the inspiration behind the track ‘Tired’?
Very often it takes us time to understand that we are going around in circles, only once we get a change in perspective can we catch the patterns that cause us to do so. It’s about acknowledging this and just expressing how tiring the process can be. To some this could be the mundane-ness of day to day living or being caught up in the rat race.
How has the struggle been so far to your current standings?
Well, we don’t really see it as a struggle or view our current standing as the end of a hard road. It's been a beautiful journey figuring out our voice, which still continues. I feel the only state we feel comfortable in is one of constant growth, and that means being aware of and open to the new. So honestly all we can say is that it's been a trip to see where we’ve come and can't wait to see where we will go from here.
I have successfully become your audience, What am I expecting? 🙂
Haha thank you so much. Honestly the plan was to put out all the music we have been playing live for the last year or so, it still is the plan, though we’ve had to take some time to get it ready. We usually are very used to working together, so once we master this remote working switch, you can expect some new stuff to listen to.
What are the various equipment and gear you have in your studio to facilitate production?
Our studio is basically Yohanns bedroom. We use the Presonus 4.5’s for monitors, a focusrite 18i20 and a laptop. Apart from this very basic home studio gear we just have our instruments which we create and play live with. These are - a Drum Kit, SPD 404/SPD SX, Fender Squire Jazz Bass Guitar, Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar, The Korg Minilogue. We are slowly expanding since we plan to record as much as we can at home, we have been doing this currently with Theatre 74, which is Rishi Bradoo’s home studio and he has some really beautiful gear.
Is the path ahead more struggling or does it get better from here?
Please let us know if there is an answer to that question, because honestly the world is so unpredictable right now as it always is haha. I guess we’re just going to keep making music while also constantly learning things..
How are the psychological rewards in this career you have chosen? Have you ever second guessed your choices?
I think the most beautiful part of this journey is to surrender to the process and to see how it all unravels eventually. We honestly only focus on the little things like the current task at hand. Yes, I guess second guessing is a part of finally understanding your true intent, we try not to get too muddled up in our thoughts anymore since the why, what and how of what we do becomes clearer each day.
From playing at festivals to city venues, which ones your fav and why?
They both have their own charm. City venues are more intimate cause your audience is up close and you can really feed off that energy that they bring. Festivals require a different approach in terms of prepping our set - we view it as providing a journey for our audience, so there is more deliberation. Pub gigs are ideal for testing out new material and I guess festival sets are more about putting up a show, both are super exciting.
5 Drummers/Bands who inspired you and continue to do so?
The Number is countless, I'm sure that the three of us keep finding new artists that keep inspiring us in some way or the other.
Drummers: Nate Smith, Chris Dave, Jojo Mayer, Sput Larnel Lewis, Karriem Riggins
Bands/Artists: Hiatus Kaiyote, Chris Dave and the drumhedz, Bon Iver, Still Woozy, Daniel Caesar, The Marias
What’s coming up for you down the road?
Honestly for us right now the priority is to get out of this weird phase and time while keeping our sanity in place. The lock-down has been hard cause we had multiple releases planned for the year but everything has been disrupted because of COVID-19, so now it's going to be back to the drawing board for us and figure out how to function efficiently in this new normal.
Well, thank you once again for spending time with us, giving us valuable insight into your career. We wish you all the very best of luck in your endeavors. See you soon at a Concert.
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