The Industry Connect series is about finding the programs and people in our country who are cultivating artists, their craft and making them realize their maximum potential. We connect with industry experts and try to understand their aim and vision and what steps they are taking to enrichen the music industry further. Today’s conversation is with Tanish Thakker and his incubator program, Amplify Music.
“When you truly and honestly want to see your vision come true, you’ll see yourself striving to make things happen. It takes time and work but keep at it and you’ll see the growth.” Tanish Thakker has achieved a lot and continues to strive to help the music industry in India grow further. He is the Co-Founder of Jazz Weekender, Director at Gatecrash Music Management, and founder of Amplify Music Incubator which is India’s 1st artist development program that focuses on enabling artists to navigate the indie music industry. Our conversation takes us through the beginning and initial stage of the program to how it has grown and helped artists all over.
THE JOURNEY
“Ten years ago, I worked at a startup incubator program in Kerala but I wanted to explore more music. While working in England I found opportunities in festivals and events and in India I would volunteer at different music venues. I felt that i was really called towards the music space and had the visions of setting up a music incubator program in India. I wasn’t a part of the music scene but I wanted to do something in it and with time that dream flourished further as I jumped in the music industry with the aim to set up Amplify Music Incubator.” Tanish mentioned that at the time there wasn’t much he knew about the industry and what all will be required in order to see this dream of his come to reality, which is when he started to find the right people who would help him through this process. “I worked at the Quarter in Bombay which was a jazz club at the Royal Opera House. I learned a lot about the live music industry and ended up doing a lot of production shows at the Royal Opera House with grand winning artists like A.R Rehman and Tinarawen, John McLaughlin. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to work at a music venue where you can network with so many people and artists.”
Tanish wished to find and build a community for artists in India, his work gave him the opportunity to network with people from the industry. With all of this, came Gatecrash, a music organization that sets up tours for international artists in India and runs a community platform called Jazz in India. “All of this was an opportunity to learn about how things actually work in this industry and in the end, it was all about learning and adapting before I started the program. As I was researching, I got connected to Vel Omazic, the CEO and founder of Canada’s Music Incubator. I wanted to talk to him and understand his process and approach towards the incubator. It was great talking to someone who was running a program that I wanted to set up in india.” An opportunity that changed the course of Tanish’s plan about the incubator was when Vel invited him to Calgary for the new program being set up. “ I headed to Calgary and sat in the back of the room to observe the process and see what was going on. This gave me a chance to really talk to the mentors at Canada’s Music Incubator and be around artists everywhere. All of these possibilities have turned out to be quite a blessing for me.”
Launching an incubator in India was no walk in the park, to even implement this idea into action was quite the challenge for Tanish. “The most challenging thing was that this didn’t exist in India. Talking about the project itself was tedious because I had to keep calling mentors or people in the industry and try to tell them what I was doing. Nobody understood the importance and value of this project. Convincing the artists to be a part of this was difficult as well. They were confused as to why someone would even be doing this and how this could be beneficial for them. All of it just seemed unreal because of what all the programs offered and that it was free of cost too.” But with the launch of the program, Tanish saw his vision come to reality.
PROGRAM DETAILS AND ARTISTS
We talked about the details of the program and how it helps artists move forward. “It’s a 6 week program in which we find a balance between the business aspect and the artistic. Every artist is a business and also a creative. Each alternate week is a business related topic where we explore topics like business registration, accounting, entrepreneur first and artists later, touring and decision making skills and then others are creatives where we translate the importance of how they can think of their craft differently.” Amplify Music requires the artists to have a body of work which could consist of EPs, Albums, Music Videos or Live Performances. “The artists need to dedicate their time to the program and take in all the information. They get access to industry experts from India and abroad, access to a community, peer learning and collaboration while also getting clarity on their next steps to feel motivated. A part of the program is also a lot of 1-1 mentorship for specific subjects with their mentors. It is a really helpful and informative program for artists and we feel that artists need the support system and access to this information to take their career to the next level.”
As artists, many tend to have self-doubt and insecurity towards their craft. We fail to see the bigger picture which consists of so many others like us, we fail to understand that we are not alone in this journey. “Something that resonates with me is that it doesn’t matter the size and scale of an artist or how long you’ve been in the industry, each artist ends up feeling quite alone. Once they start seeing everything from the part of the program they realize that many like us are going through the same feelings and struggles. Being able to give them that clarity is an emotional feeling.”
We have had artists like Easy Wanderlings and Tribemama Marykali, Ranj x Cliffr, Bawri Basanti and many others be a part of the incubator. When they joined the program it was quite thrilling because I had been such a fan of their work and artistic journeys. We look forward to working with many more artists and helping them understand their potential in this industry.
COMMUNITY AND KINSHIP
Amplify Music continues to grow and provide a platform to artists to make them aware of their potential, but most importantly, to make them aware that they are not alone. “We have made a community and it’s growing towards the direction where we want to enable artists to share and work with each other. We don’t want anyone to feel alone in this industry so we want there to be a sense of building deeper relationships and connections, which is where the magic happens. Of course there is an aspect of teaching and building the artistry but we want to build a kinship. We want to make a community out of this. Independent music is still quite small and we need to be able to help each other rather than be competitive and judgemental because we get that enough in life. Music is a sacred space and we need to create a sacred environment for it.”
Applications are now open for the 6th cohort of the Music Incubator Program: 14th August – 23rd September 2023 – Apply here
Meta Description: The Student Speak Series aims to give a platform to their voices and stories, share what drew them to GMI, how they see their artistry maturing, and their path forward.
We at Global Music Institute also offer courses for performances and production to fuel the passion many have for music.
Written and Edited by Naman