June 2009

10 Minutes with... AkashA.

These Malaysian musical movers make world fusion look like fun

WORDS LUKE CLARK
PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN FANG

Your first album, Into AkashA, was just released. Was it difficult to put your creativity into a set format?
Siva Sundram: Yes, summing up the energy level of our live performance on a CD is difficult, but we’re very proud of the outcome. There are 10 songs, summing up different musical sides to the band. As tough as it has been, the feedback from fans has been fantastic.

With songs like “Bourbon Lassi” and “Ants in my Turban”, you’re not a typically angst-ridden band.
Siva: Most of us are classically trained and deeply rooted in the music forms that we play. But we like to explore things out of our comfort zone, and that comes from not taking ourselves too seriously. You should watch us play, we have a lot of fun.

AkashA has been described as a rojak or a mixture of elements. What’s holding the band together?
Kumar Karthigesu: We’re rojak in more than one way. The group comprises Chinese, Malays, Indians and Caucasians. And the kind of music we play has no distinct genre. We blend the blues with varieties of Indian and Chinese music. The common thread is our love for exploratory music. We share a passion for taking what we play out of the genre we were trained in.

What will be different about returning to Sarawak’s Rainforest Festival?
Kumar: We’ve had three members arrive and one leave. Plus there’s more camaraderie now. We feed off each other’s improvisation better, so it’s a much tighter blend.

With seven band members, how do you prevent fusion from becoming confusion?
Vick Ramakrishnan: Actually, fusion is confusion! But it’s about having the mindset of exploring, yet not getting lost in the music.

Catch the 8th Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival from July 10-12 (www.rainforestmusicborneo.com). www.akashamalaysia.com