Polish Fusion Band Masala To Play New Delhi

Polish fusion band Masala have announced that they will be playing two shows in New Delhi this month. Masala are a fusion band that plays a range of different genres, both eastern and western, using traditional Indian instruments alongside drums and synthesizers. The band comprises Rafal ‘Praczas’ Kolacinski (composition, synths, drum machines, leadership), Marcin ‘Duze Pe’ Matuszewski (MC’ing, vocals, lyrics), Bartlomiej ‘Bart’ Palyga (throat singing, sarangi, kemanche, electric saz, jew harp), Daniel ‘Danielsen’ Monski (throat singing, darabuka, tabla, dhol) and Mikolaj ‘Miki’ Wielecki (cajon, timbal, pandeiro, caxixi, etc).

They will also be joined by dancers from the Warsaw formation ‘Menada Dance Collective’.

They will play two shows in New Delhi, kicking off with The Imported Go(o)ds Show Vol.14 at Olive Bar and Kitchen on Friday, November 11 with  Shulman (Israel) and Sattyananda (Audio Aashram) and the EU Sanskriti Festival at the Amphitheatre (Garden of Five Senses, Said Ul-Ajab), November 12. The Garden of Five Senses gig will see a guest appearance by tabla player Pranshu Chaturlal.

We asked manager of the band, Sylwia Kowalska to describe Masala’s sound to us

We usually describe Masala(‘s) music style as Electro-Etno-Ragga-Rap-Punk-N-Bass-Step (sic). It’s definitely a total mixture of styles, just as the name of the group suggests. On one hand we are using traditional instruments and singing techniques from the regions which are quite oriental for us. On another – it’s mixed with modern, bass-orientated electronic music that ranges from dub to drum’n'bass. And on top of that, we bring rap/ragga vocals and socially conscious punk rock attitude and lyrics. Sounds quite complicated, but it seems to work so far. We believe that the unique value we’ll bring from Poland to India is the fact, that as Masala we create and play Desi tradition(al) inspired music, but we do it in our very own way.

Our instrumentalists work hard to master the traditional instruments and singing techniques from various regions of the world. Our producer studies the ways traditional music of the regions inspiring us is composed. Still, when we prepare our tunes using the knowledge and skills we developed, it’s definitely our music. It’s inspired by oriental music tradition and it uses traditional instruments, but it’s not pretending to be traditional music. When you hear it, it’s clear that it was born somewhere far away from its places of origin – and that it both pays respect to its roots and feels free to move forward and experiment.

Dancers at a Masala performance