Sometimes we hear a song and we're beamed to a different world. Anirudh Ravi, Bharath Kashyap and Abheet Anand make up the acoustic trio that is Cinema of Excess, and the band does just that with every song they release and every show they play. Inspired and influenced by artists such as The Milk Carton Kids, John Mayer, Iron and Wine and Damien Rice, Cinema of Excess will make you go from nostalgic to heartfelt, and everything in between.
In 2019, they made their debut international tour with ‘The Boarding Pass Tour’ and they recently released a single ‘Beyond What’s Here’ with an accompanying video/BTS footage of their journey as musicians making music together. Cinema of Excess is currently in the studio, working on many new releases this year including a single, a music video (or two?), and their long awaited second EP.
Meet The Band
On guitar, we have Bharat Kashyap, on bass we have Abheet Anand, and my name is Anirudh Ravi, I play guitar and sing. Way back in late 2017 I met Bharat. He was a colleague of mine at the music school. We got talking and soon found we shared an interest in finger style guitar, and so we began sharing and writing ideas for songs. I later got in touch with Abheet and asked him if he was interested in what we were working on, and he did. So I invited him over for tea and music, and put together the band.
What gear do you have in your studio to facilitate production?
We don't really have a studio of out own, but as far as the equipment we use live or even in general, it's a very basic set up, considering we are an all acoustic band. All we require is a few good condenser microphones and 3 DI boxes. We do, however have studio set ups at home so we can ease our writing process.
What's the inspiration behind the name of the band?
Abheet once shared an article titled, "The wolf of wall street and the new cinema of excess".It was an article based on the movie the wolf of wall Street, and about how it normalizes excessive behavior. It had a ring to it, and that's how we decided.
How has the struggle been so far to your current standings?
The current situation has made a few things a little inconvenient, especially things that require you to physically be at a certain place with a certain person, but it's nothing we can't handle.
Is the path ahead more struggling or does it get better from here?
Frankly, we really don't know what the future holds and if or when things will return to normal, so we really can't say. Who knows, maybe the live music industry like we know it might never be the same. But we'll be ready, and we'll be writing more music.
How are the psychological rewards in this career you have chosen?
All of us know what exactly we want to do, what we work towards is how to get there. In this pursuit, a strong will is a must. We knew from day one what we were getting into, so we were always prepared for any outcome, and if things do end up not working out, then we hustle.
You have been performing at a lot of festivals and at some amazing ones too, how is the process of getting booked?
Like I said earlier, if the music has been thought through and the management is right, these things have a way of presenting themselves to you. We are managed by Bangalore based record label oaf records. They've been with us from the start and have always made sure were active in the independent live music scene.
Last year you embarked on a tour across three countries, how was the experience?
Yes, we left for The Boarding Pass Tour in mid October with our crew, and it was one of the most amazing things that happened to us. Touring outside of your home country is something that every single musician in the world hopes to do someday. We were extremely grateful to everyone who helped us get there, and our label 'Oaf' made sure everything was smooth sailing. The impact was HUGE for us, up until the lock-down began. As we mentioned earlier, we had a great start to this year, and played three festivals in February alone!
What is the one attribute of this industry that is a bane?
That professional courtesy is just a term that's thrown around. There are still way too many instances where artists have been duped out of payments, too many promoters that aren't in this game for the right reasons.
5 Drummers/Bands who inspired you and continue to do so?
- The Milk Carton Kids
- Iron and wine
- Glen hansard
- John Mayer
- Eddie Vedder
How does India perform in this genre compared to European or American competition?
The singer-songwriter genre is blowing up in India. We need a huge shift in every aspect of this industry for us to be able to even think of really breaking the mould. Our sights as Indian artists much be held much higher. It'll come with time.
Between "Bring Back The Sound" and "Beyond What’s Here" how has the musical direction of the band evolved?
Beyond What's Here was written much before Bring Back the Sound, it was only worked on and released after. To me, you can hear a certain maturity in the arrangement of the song and playing technique.
What’s coming up for You down the road?
Moving forward we hope to write as much as we can. We plan on releasing a single, "Mighty Angel" in the near future and our second EP "Rooftops" by the end of the year. Of course, considering things get back to normal.
Thank you very much guys for sharing so much about your work, thank you for your time. We wish you all the very best of luck in our future endeavours. Hope to see you soon at a festival somewhere.
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