The Score Magazine August 2018 issue | Page 36

RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL: An aftermath! This massive annual event in Sarawak attracted flocks of culture and music hounds from around the world, a big leap from when it started back in 1998. The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) has become to be known as a musical, cultural extravaganza. The festival this year that happened from 13th to 15th July saw a wide variety of music groups from across the world, various genres and a complete treat to the ears of the audience! There were about 23000 people from various parts of the world who attended this festival. The family-friendly event featured not only music acts but also mini sessions, exhibitions, talks, and other environmental activities such as tree planting campaigns and bringing attention to creating a greener future. This year, RWMF also focussed on mental, spiritual, and physical wellness with yoga workshops, meditation sessions, and Tai-Chi. We had the opportunity to chat with some of the performers from the festival. Raghu Dixit- India This is your first time at Rainforest World Music Festival. Tell us about your experience playing at the festival and your experience witnessing it. This has been a long time coming for us! I had heard about this festival and if I am not wrong, we had even sent in emails and demos requesting the festival to feature us in the past. I believe that everything happens when they are meant to be and here we are in 2018 playing the prime spot on a Saturday night to the largest crowd the festival has ever witnessed. Surreal! Having impromptu jams with Slobodan from Balkanopolis and Mike Ladd during our set was an added joy! Being on stage in front of such an amazing crowd brought the best out of us. We had a blast being on stage and will surely count RWMF as one of our top few concerts abroad. We also made so many new friends from the various bands from all around the world! 34 The Score Magazine highonscore.com It was also a joy watching other bands. I particularly liked Balkanopolis, Mike Ladd and the band from Chile which closed the festival. Your band got the prime spot on Saturday when compared to all the 3 days. Was it pre-planned? Did the festival team let you know about the prime spot or it just happened? It just happened, like everything else in my life! We had the best and the largest crowd the festival has seen and I cannot be grateful enough for this opportunity! I thank the Festival Director Ms. Jun- Lin Yeoh and our booking agent Chirag Jain for the amazing hospitality, opportunity and for creating such a beautiful happy festival in an incredibly gorgeous venue. Your band was most enjoyed and the festival saw the maximum turnout on Saturday and you made everyone dance and enjoy the show. Some bands and lot of visitors did mention that your act was the Best this year. How do you feel about it? Grateful. Time and time again we have done it on International platforms but it is blessing to be out there doing what we love and people love us for that! There is a lot of hard work behind each of our little victories. I have a great set of musicians in my band and our love for each other and friendship and camaraderie brings it all together on stage. There are so many people behind our success. Without their help, we would be nothing. Your favourite gear on stage right now It is undoubtedly my Gibson Studio Deluxe Acoustic Guitar and my Sennheiser e945 Vocal mic. These two are a must for me to be able to perform my best. Waratoo, name changed from Narasirato- Solomon Islands What’s the genre of music you play? We play pan pipes, traditional music that we got inherently from our ancestors from Solomon. We continue to