MUKESH AMARAN
ALBUM ART icle:
Abhishek
Shindolkar
An artist that shares our vision of shining light on all
aspects of the scene like visual artists, photographers,
album artists and so on is the producer / artist Abhishek
Shindolkar. A music producer for the Mumbai based Hip
Hop crew Swadesi, Abhishek is one amongst a diverse
set of Emcees, DJs, Beatboxers, Graffiti artist and poets.
Being a musician and artist, it was only a matter of time
until he was approached to create an album art. His
opportunity came through Mr. Viveick Rajagopalan when
Abhishek approached him to be mentored in Konnakol,
an art form that is considered to be the language of
rhythm to understand music better. This meeting
proved beneficial for Abhishek as Viveick recognized
his talent for the arts and offered him an opportunity
to create the album art for his Ta Dhom single.
“When Viveick sir was making the EP this year, He
wanted a similar kind of Vibe for the EP artwork too.
Both of us worked on the concept and he asked me to
involve the Visshudhi Chakra. The Chakra present
in the throat. It is one of the 7 chakras present in the
human body. And the concept of the artwork was how
everything originated from sound and the vibrations that
it created, has created everything and everything is just
vibrations moving in a rhythmic pulse which, though
moving at different paces eventually come together on
the one. That is what the artwork tries to say.”, he says.
Having spent a large amount of time in the studio with
the artists themselves, Abhishek says the album is a
special one for him. “The EP sounds beautiful! I've been
around since almost day 1 from the time of production
of the tracks till the recording, mixing and mastering.
I have seen the massive amount of hard work put in
by Viveick Sir and the Swadesi boys for a whole year!
It is an extremely unique combination of Konnakol
and Hip Hop. Which required the rappers to rap on
different and complex time signatures and quite a task
to produce the music and make it sound like a perfectly
balanced fusion of both genres and the end result is
crazy!! I love it.”, Abhishek comments on the album.
Abhishek believes in listening to what the artist is trying
to convey through the music. The ability to connect to
the music allows artists like himself to create elements
that reflect the very thought process the artist is trying
to get across. “I will see what the vibe of the song is. Is
it a very Upbeat or a fast-paced track? Or is it a slow,
melancholic, downtempo vibe for example. Depending on
that I'll choose the colours and the layout of the artwork.
Minimal or Chaotic? All depends on how the song is.
The most important thing is that the song and the album
art should both go hand in hand. The art itself should
give you an idea of the vibe of the song and vice versa.”
Abhishek says on the process of creating the artwork.
“Music has played the most important role in my life. It
took me a while to realize that I couldn't do without music
and there was nothing I loved more than that. And for me,
Drawing and Music are the best and very bold mediums
of expressing yourself. Music and drawing help me to
express what I want to say in a very detailed form as there
are no restrictions/ limitations.” A mark of a true artist.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
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