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| Picture: Cory Goldberg |
You have danced to these tracks. Now it’s time to chill to the hits. Shaa’ir + Func, the brainchild of Monica Dogra and Randolph Correia, have reinvented themselves with their album of reinterpreted songs, re:cover. They enjoy a chill pill with t2.
Randolph Correia
What new perspective have you brought to your old songs?
Stripping down to an acoustic sound has allowed lyrics to stand out and the music to breathe, giving it a whole new perspective. Earlier they were songs to dance to, now they are songs to chill to.
Pentagram, of which you are a part, did an outstanding MTV Unplugged a few months back. While reinterpreting the tracks for re:cover did the stripped-down MTV sound play on your mind?
Well, this album didn’t have anything to do with the unplugged concept. In fact, it was a chillout and ambient sound we started experimenting with a while ago while writing for our upcoming album due for release later this year. Also, at our after-party jam sessions, friends and family kept requesting that we put out something acoustic for a change. So we did, with our little signature touch of electronica.
And, we finally get to hear you?!
I’m bloody shy like that. Always singing miles away from the mic.
Was there any song that didn’t turn out well and had to be left out?
Yes. Oops and Embrace were the obvious choices, but then they are just perfect in their original states.
This is an independent release. Why the shift away from labels?
Labels are a thing of the past unless you are a Miley Cyrus or someone like that!
Monica Dogra
Any particular track that kicked off the idea for re:cover?
No, it was a natural progression for us...we’ve been going more analogue and more organic in practice... jamming on our own songs, and then we decided to record these new versions.
Solo album versus a Shaa’ir + Func album. Musically, how do you spread yourself out over these two projects?
I just keep writing. It’s my job to keep exploring... to keep learning.... when something is your passion, you just do it with no agenda.
Does revisiting the past help find inspiration for new material?
100 per cent! It also gives you a lot of insight into and clarity on where you’ve been and where you want to go.
Do you give into fan demands vis-a-vis always trying to create something new?
We don’t. Our fans are extensions of us...like us, their sensibilities shift and change. Like us, they are excited to experience fresh things, honest music and experimental art.
Love (Randolph) brought you to India. What else is making you stay here?
Love. Everything about it. Its rights and wrongs and the many ways it teaches. And now a deep love for the scene I feel I’ve had a hand in creating.
Tell us about your fashion line and your connection with Stylista.com...
Anjana Sharma, who is one of the creators of Stylista, approached me to design a line, and I thought that it was destiny calling. Style is integrated in all of my work... hints of it, experimentation with it! I’m excited.
Finally, are music, fashion and films connected?
They are completely intertwined and all of them are art... plain and simple!
A classic album you would have liked to produce: The Dark Side Of The Moon
(Pink Floyd)
Who should write your biography: Salman Rushdie
Which rock star’s brain would you like to have had: Liam Howlett (The Prodigy)
Who would you like to see run for Prime Minister: Papal from Pentagram
What can make you go boo-hoo: Being away from music for too long
An object that reflects your personality: My book of writing
If you could be any person from history: Patti Smith, though she is not history, she is provocative and extremely current
One thing you will never have in your wardrobe: A sparkly bodycon
The worst purchase you have ever made: I recently bought hair curlers. That was pointless. I’m way too lazy... and I like my hair a mess
Which animal would you like to be reincarnated as: A jaguar
