The Worldly Tribe Of Cosmic Shamans: A Chat With Mantravine
Audial magicians, experimental storytellers (Credit: Nir Cang)
What is the purpose of music if not to connect others? A universal language, a poignant energy, a beloved sonic gunk of organic cement that bonds people together. Hear, hear, and be dear.
For evidence, just look no further than the hodge-podged ensemble that is Mantravine. An ever-evolving collective of extraordinary talents, the idiosyncratic outfit – with a combined strength of 10 as I am penning this down – started its story back in 2012, and it’s been a tale unbound by traditional music formulae.
Mantravine has played at prestigious stages like The Esplanade (Credit: Shiori Ori Photography)
Weaving through their spiritual soundscapes is a melange of elements: violins, brass sections, didgeridoos, spoken word, dancefloor beats, guitar solos, electronic experimentation, and charisma you can catch through the speakers. Pinning a genre onto Mantravine would be unjustified, given their amorphous and eccentric nature, although the umbrella term, world music, generally does the trick.
On local soil, Mantravine are no strangers to the gig circuit, having played at noteworthy stages like The Esplanade, Neon Lights festival, Singapore Night Festival and Pink Dot. And as a mouthpiece for global sounds, they’ve been invited to play at festivals in Germany, France, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and more. Satisfyingly unpredictable and with a penchant for improvisation and crowd interactivity, Mantravine’s shows are journeys you need to be a part of.
Which is why on 7 September, you’re urged to attend their next show – an album launch party for Cosmic Shaman, their follow-up record to the mesmerising Arambha of 2018. What adventure will Mantravine take us on next? I chat with the collective to find out in this enlightening interview.
From left to right: Rupak George, Karen Denise de Silva, Deborah Emmanuel, Eriko Murakami, and Isuru Wijesoma (Credit: Ashley Christudason)
Hello Mantravine. What goes into the cauldron that cooks up the identity of Mantravine?
Rupak George: At its core, it’s the people and instruments that make the cauldron so spicy.
Myself on Ableton, an electronic flute called the EWI 5000, and classical guitar.
Isuru Wijesoma on his double body electric and slide guitar.
Eriko Murakami on trombone.
Deborah Emmanuel on vocals.
Muhammad Farhan on trumpet.
Karen Denise de Silva on violin.
Eddy Fleitas del Sol on saxophone and guitar.
Stew Bamrah on didgeridoo.
Seth Rouse on electric guitar and synthesiser.
And we’re excited to welcome a new ingredient to the cauldron in the form of handpan artist, Jens Ringefelt.
That’s a really big band. Let’s turn back the clock a bit. How did the story of Mantravine begin?
Rupak: In 2012, I went for a fantastic festival in Australia called Rainbow Serpent and spent most of my time falling in love with the music at the chillout and live band stage. When I returned, I was feeling musically inspired to create and decided I wanted to make ethnic world electronic music with a live element. The universe conspired in my favour as I was invited to be the music composer for a show by performing arts group, Starlight Alchemy, at Esplanade’s Flipside Festival. So I started my first show making music with crystal ball jugglers, dancers, hula hoop artists and a visual collective [you can watch excerpts of the show here]. It was a dream start that I could never have imagined on my own.
Beyond its ensemble, Mantravine has a fervent following that’s growing steadily (Credit: Nir Cang)
So how did the family grow from there?
Rupak: I invited friends to play shows with me because I had already worked with them, they were recommended from good sources or I thought they were very talented. Musicians who have played with Mantravine usually have a certain DNA that has been consistent – they are open-minded, humble, have an excellent attitude towards music and are sweet people.
We've also been massively supported by Ashley Christudasson and Damien Gallau (art direction), Nir Cang & Shiori Ori Photography (photography), Rebel Decibel & Craig Dread (sound), Mischief Makers (visuals and lighting), Tolga Sezer & Chill Sessions Records (record label), AWsome Media & Monkeybrush Designs (video), National Arts Council & Singapore International Foundation (they supported us to perform internationally), and our fantastic friends and fans for whom we would be nowhere without.
In your sounds, organic instruments blend with electronic experimentation. What can you tell us about this musical synergy?
Eriko: Organic instruments bring a human feeling and exciting dynamics to the sound. Even if the computer has horn sounds on it, it will sound like a real horn when the latter is added, which is a classic technique in today’s music industry.
Rupak: It's extremely exciting to bridge these two worlds of instruments. The possibilities seem to be infinite and the musical palette is always evolving. We never really get bored. We only struggle to find enough time to do it.
Without pigeonholing your craft, one could easily classify your genre as world music. Do you think your music has such worldly appeal?
Rupak: Definitely, and what better place than a country like Singapore to have such a project? I’ve recorded and played music with over 27 different nationalities in Mantravine. Since we started embracing the world of live looping, our sound changes so much that I struggle to understand whether there is a suitable word to describe our genre. We have songs that can be pigeonholed into certain genres, but our improv shows are pretty much in a league of their own.
And speaking of shows, Mantravine gets invited to play at festivals all over the world. Can you share with us any memorable tales, or favourite festival so far?
Rupak: We’ve had our share of visa and travel dramas we conquered, but I’ll share a story where I had my mind blown.
In general, I’m a control freak with shows. This year, Isuru and I went to play Atman Festival in Sri Lanka as a duo and decided to do a sort of structured improv show. On show day, I met a violinist friend, Rick – whom I had met before at another festival in new Zealand – at the festival and invited him to join us. 30 minutes before we got up on stage, Rick introduced me to his clarinet friend, Ben, and asked if he could come up and jam. Sure, why not. We got on stage to sound-check before we start, then a third guy, Fabian, came and asked me while I was setting up if he could share some of his trumpet sound. At this point I was getting nervous because it was starting to feel like I was losing control. Reluctantly I said, “Uhhh… ok...”
We started the show as a duo and then I invited the three boys up 20 minutes into the show, and they start smashing the dancefloor with some phat, chunky good melodies – turns out these three superstars were from a supergroup band called Grouch in Dub. Their fourth bandmate, Mo’ed, eventually jumped up on stage to take over the mic, and finally, a girl named Jenil whom I’d met on the ride to the festival joined us to sing mantras. We finished the show as a six-piece ensemble of pure musical awesomeness.
Wow, that sounds amazingly spontaneous.
Rupak: There was no plan, maximum fun and everyone had a blast. It totally blew me away to let go of all control and let the show take over.
Mantravine’s gigs tend to be interactive, getting the crowd involved and being as one. How important is this element?
Eriko: Audience interaction adds new colours to the band’s sound which is always a fun moment for everyone, I believe. Sometimes, the music tends to be a one-way relationship from musician to the audience which is not what I look for in music. Any interaction with the audience is a really important factor in our performance.
Rupak: It’s become a mandatory occurrence for shows. We’re always looking for new creative ways to get the audience involved with our shows, whether it’s participating by contributing sounds, taking part in a shavasana, sharing intimacy by looking into each others eyes or helping to create music with us. Input from the audience is actually one of our most potent secret weapons.
The group also incorporates the power of spoken word. As a device, how does this complement your songs?
Deborah: Words spoken with full conviction can resonate with a lot more power than sung phrases, especially when paired with groovy music. A song makes many messages more approachable and easy to hear. This is great when we want to express controversial ideas or activist stances to people on a dancefloor. They can choose to listen to the words or just focus on dancing. That being said, I believe that when poets speak their grounded truth, the message can wedge itself deep. We hope to achieve this in our music.
What fuels the concoction of your songs to begin with?
Rupak: Festivals, people, an interest to explore unchartered genres, mantras and journey music. For example, we did a show called Rooftop Raga earlier this year, and because of the name of the event, we decided to write three new songs inspired by classical Indian scales; raga is a word to describe an Indian musical scale. They aren't Indian songs, but they have this certain melodic theme as the root of the song. One of them even has this animalistic Marilyn Manson sort of vibe to it.
Another example is when I was invited to compose music for Cosmic Dance, where I had to create journey music which flowed around the elements of earth, water, fire and air. It was a priceless two-hour, organic live show where audience and musicians were feeding energy off each other, facilitated by dance artist, Nashwa Bliss.
Trippy artwork, isn’t it? (Credit: Ashley Christudason)
Can you tell us about Cosmic Shaman, your new album that’s on the way?
Rupak: Cosmic Shaman is an art piece made by a visionary artist friend, Ashley Christudasson, from Jungle Eye. When I saw the artwork a few years ago, I felt that it had the power to create music.
Cosmic Shaman is a four-track album of cosmic wisdom associated with being kind to others, going for your dreams, freedom and listening. We're working with Whabby Music to create a music video for the track “Faffy”. I'm excited to see how it’s going to turn out, because we got to work with the legendary Leonard Soosay from Snakeweed Studios and Mike Spinks of City65. It is the first time an international label from the USA called Elliptic Audio Research is releasing our music. So we’re organising a massive rooftop party in Kallang with a badass soundsystem courtesy of Craig Dread and beautiful lighting by Mischief Makers. The show is also going to be opened by Cuban musical sensation, Eddy Fleitas del Sol, who has helped us write significant portions of the album with guitar and saxophone.
There’s an infectious energy unlike any other at Mantravine’s shows (Credit: Nir Cang)
Mantravine gigs aren’t just about the music. There’s a certain energy in it that’s unlike what you find in most shows. What is this energy that Mantravine spreads?
Rupak: I think we're constantly pushing the artistic boundaries of mixing electronic music with live instruments and other art forms, in a way that is not common to find in Singapore. So I assume our sound is fresh compared to hearing a Top 40s cover band or electronic dance music in a nightclub. We frequently change line-ups, song selections, use audience interaction ideas that we've never used before, and work with other art forms to give us an edge. You never know what you're going to get at one of our shows. Sometimes, we don't even know what's going to happen at our own shows and those moments usually turn out to be unforgettably epic.
Finally, the ever-shapeshifting formula of Mantravine reflects a spirit of being free, as an artiste and as a human being. How do you stay free in this modern world, and how does music help the process?
Deborah: I think one of the first ways to be free is with honesty. When we share our self-essence without inhibition, there is freedom. We live in a society that encourages separation and detachment. Being free is about fighting that, saying, “I am here, I see you, I do not hide me.” That is a big liberation which we can engage in when we participate in any art form. Losing ourselves in the act of dance and song or making music – that is a fast ticket to freedom. A way to say I am here and I am free. And unafraid.
Mantravine presents Cosmic Shaman Rooftop Album Launch Party, 7 September 2019, secret rooftop location. For more information on Mantravine, visit their official website.
