WWM – To begin with, you have a stellar musical history, but how does it feel to be closing and releasing your EP?

Chirag Todi – Thank you for your kind words. It’s been one awesome year working on my solo project. I started working on my debut EP ‘Panodrama’ during the lockdown of 2020. I have faced a lot of challenges to make this happen and took away a lot of learnings from these experiences. It feels surreal to complete this process and release the final product to an audience. I’m excited to hear what the listeners have to say about the EP.

WWM – What is the song, ‘Panodrama’, about?

Chirag Todi – The song is about a young person struggling to fit in a world where the conversations are superficial and where art is just another marketable product. He feels disappointed by the lack of genuineness in the system of content creation and consumption. He wants to go back to the days when people appreciated raw talent over the aesthetic appeal. He gradually starts to accept the new world and learn from their tastes in order to fit in. This story is based on my personal anecdote when I often felt out of place in school due to differences in tastes, for example, listening to mainstream music while hanging out with friends in the car. But over time, I have learned to adapt to these situations by opening up to accepting new genres and learning from every situation. When it comes to music, ‘Panodrama’ is a Rock/R&B song that has an interesting harmonic progression with modal variations. What stands out apart here is the pocket each instrument holds which locks in well together. Intriguingly, the vocal melody is an interpretation of the guitar solo melody.

WWM – What genres/artists is it influenced by?

Chirag Todi – The song is influenced by artists such as Steely Dan, Thermal and a Quarter, Oz Noy.Though it is a Rock/R&B song,it has elements from progressive rock and jazz. Other artists that have influenced my compositions and playing are John Mayer, Larry Carlton and Tom Misch.

WWM – How did the collaboration come about?

Chirag Todi – I came up with a backing track during the lockdown and cold emailed some of my favourite indie artists to play over it. Fortunately, Warren Mendonsa acknowledged the email and agreed to be a part of this song. He recorded a guitar solo and sent it to me almost immediately. I used that as a base to create a melody and structure throughout the song. Rudra Kabir shared his poem with me and I improvised it at my end. I asked Jai Row Kavi to record drums over the final structure and then Marc Damania added his bass parts over it. Finding the right singer for this track was quite challenging. I finally managed to get Shreya Bhattacharya on board and she shaped the melody her way and added the R&B vibe with her vocals. Nirmit Shah mixed and mastered the track after this process.

WWM – As collaborating artists, how do you work and write together tossing ideas around? In terms of the songwriting duties, was it more about you each bringing your own significantly developed tracks, or did you work together more democratically across all of them, if that makes sense?

Chirag Todi – I usually come up with an instrumental sketch and share it with the collaborators one at a time with respect to their instrument. I give them the liberty to interpret and compose the part their own way. After sharing feedback, they send in the final takes and that’s how it gets done keeping in mind the limitation to online collaborations.

WWM – What’s one anecdote that you’d love to share about Panodrama, the title track?

Chirag Todi – I was cold-emailing some of my favorite artists asking for a collaboration. One of them was Warren Mendonsa. I was expecting to at least talk in-depth about the track before discussing the collab part but to my surprise, he played a perfect guitar solo and sent it to me immediately saying “Here you go” in the first email. That was insane and that’s how ‘Panodrama’ started.

WWM – The album was created over a period of time. And I guess, you’d really want your new releases to represent who you are, today. You’d always want to evolve and be a better composer version of yourself, so how do you think you saw that evolution reflect through sequential releases in the EP?

Chirag Todi – Each song represents a version of me in a different time period. ‘Desire’ showcased the side of me when I was transitioning from harboring suppressed thoughts to freely expressing them. That positive transition is reflected in the song and the artwork as well. The next release was ‘Be Easy’ where I was going through a rough phase in my personal life which made me appreciate and value my friendships more. Hence, I wrote a tribute song to all my close friends. Similarly, every other release reflected a unique phase and I’m glad I have evolved and expressed my learnings through my songs.

WWM – Curious question. Like you mentioned, you always wanted to work on a guitar jam. You had with you, 4 exemplary guitarists accompanied by a flawless percussionist on the drums. Really, how challenging was it to keep it to a crisp 3-minute duration?

Chirag Todi – The process was very simple. I recorded the drums first which set the duration in advance. And then I gave each guitarist a limit to play within that time frame. I’m so glad I did that because we guitarists can go on and on with our solos.

WWM – Sorry, but this question is inevitable today. How was your process affected because of online collaboration? Logistically, how did you manage that?

Chirag Todi – It was extremely difficult to control the recording and production throughout as everyone recorded from home. Due to the inconsistency in the room and production, it was quite a challenge in the mix to smoothen things out. In order to get these awesome musicians on board, I had to compromise a little of the production which I think was worth it.

WWM – Do you have any up-coming performances you would like fans to know about? Is there anything else you would like to announce for your fans or anything you would like them to know?

Chirag Todi – I am doing an EP launch gig at Compass Box Studio in September. I will be performing all 4 songs from the EP with my band members from Heat Sink. I have also started to work on 4 new songs which I will be releasing over this year. So stay tuned.

WWM – Are there more songs in the pipeline from you as a solo artist?

Chirag Todi – Yes, I am working on 3 new sketches which I plan to include in my next EP. I am focused on putting more music out there with a bunch of other amazing independent artists out there. I’m planning to explore hindi and electronic music too.

WWM – That kind of leads to this last question. Since you’re known for playing with so many other talented people, I wonder if there is anyone you’ve yet to work with but would like to. Sort of like a bucket list collaboration.

Chirag Todi – From the indie scene, there’s only one artist left that I really want to collaborate with and he’s probably the finest songwriter and singer in India. That would be Tejas Menon.