24 Apr Dropoff location : “The New Normal”
Pilot: Introduction
Hello, my name is Anhad Khanna ~ I’m an artist from New Delhi, India and GMI alumnus. 33 days into the lockdown and I found myself quite uninspired, completely lacking any motivation and only pondering on questions that had been entering my mind for an uninvited coffee. What’s next? Where is the music industry headed? and what perhaps is the fate of us – artists, booking agents, venues and every person in this business chain??
I just got off a FaceTime call with my friends/mentors/collaborators, Kavya and Tarun and while we share recipes of how to make dosa, we indulge in a conversation about the current situation that leaves me inspired to build on and find more answers. Constantly trying to navigate through these uncertainties with the limited information out there, didn’t seem very helpful. As I share this idea of me trying to write to people and find some answers and put it in a blog format, Kavya shares her genius and super creative idea to name the series “The New Normal” and it instantly stuck with me, causing me to smile but also really open my mind, push me a step back mentally and made me think – “Woah, we’re all actually moving towards something completely new. Far away from our usual (read : normal) ideas about a gig, our desires to pack a venue and play our hearts out to a dancing audience, (mine particularly) playing that new Four Tet house banger in a club and even something as small as having my friends over for that quick weekly drink and vinyl listening hang”. We are perhaps headed towards something…don’t know what, but soon it will be “The New Normal”.
A healthy conversation and dialogue has always helped me understand situations better, dig deeper and if not teleported me – at least has guided me to find my B point. Think of it like Google Maps, the conversations are the blue lines helping you dig deeper and find more meaning of uncertain things until you reach your destination where you feel more aware, comfortable and safe. That’s what my underlying aim for this blog series is. Luckily with my time as an artist in India, I’ve gotten opportunities to work and build relationships with some very strong catalysts in the music industry and in times like these, it felt rather fitting for me to have such conversations with them and ask them some pertinent questions related to the business they’re involved in.
Amidst my multiple attempts at “open logic pro x, create new instrument track, zero ideas flowing, shut down laptop” – I decided to send out some questions to my close friend and colleague – Abhilash Sagar. Abhilash is a booking agent and curator who works with a Delhi based agency called Raw Live. He puts together tours for many bands across the country and also heads Raw Live’s venue IPs – such as _Live (read : Underscore Live) and Transitions (for all techno fans out there). Abhilash and I spend numerous hours talking about our fondness for Jamie XX, the next set of shows we want to do together and how to deal with what all of us as artist and booking agents are going through while COVID19 plays its headliner performance. Happy to have him on board and while I wait for him to answer the questions I’ve sent to him – I would like to invite you all to use this space and the comment section below to share your views, perspectives, stories or any questions you’re looking answers for.
Looking forward to sharing the upcoming feature with Abhilash!
Photo Credit: Arsh Grewal
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