Name: Anupam Barrick
From: New Delhi
Genre: Ambient loop guitarist
What’s the music scene like in New Delhi and is there a big following for the sort of ambient guitar music you make?
Not a lot. It’s kind of totally new and not a lot of people are aware about it. Just few musicians who experiment with different sounds.
Having never been to India and knowing nothing about the music scene there, other than what I see on tv and what you tell me…
Are their any limitations caused by more traditional Indian culture, that make it difficult for you to pursue a career in the type of music you enjoy making?
I think it’s all around the world that anything which is indie/experimental is always underground. India has a lot of regional music and the famous of it all is Bollywood music. Most people haven’t heard anything apart from that and don’t want to hear either. Yet there is a very very small market in the urban cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. So pursuing a career in what I enjoy playing is really diffuse at this time because we don’t have a lot of venues or clubs who encourage music of this form.
What is your current hardware setup and what couldn’t you live without?
For live I use a Boss DD7, CS3 , Blues driver, Ibanez tube screamer, HOF mini, Crybaby wah, Line6 M5
Fender MIM tele and Zamar acoustic from Korea.
Can’t live without my Acoustic guitar to be very precise.
What is your musical background and how did you end up here?
I loved music since I was a kid.
Church music and musicians are my greatest influence. I saw any instrument being played live for the first time was in a Church and could feel the energy and vibration which influenced me to pick up my first guitar at age 14. Before that I played harmonica since I was about 7. So it’s been almost 12 years that I have been playing music.
I know you play as a session guitarist. What made you decide to start playing in such a niche area of music, making ambient guitar loop sets?
I always felt there’s a lot of music inside me which I could only express thru my ambient acoustic loop set.
I could explore and experiment a lot of sounds just on an acoustic guitar which is amazing.
Also what’s very important is not the song but how you built it up. The whole journey of building it up on a loopstation is fun and thriving . That’s the idea of life too, that to enjoy the journey 😉
So my session playing gets me to pay my bills but this is something I love doing not for money but for myself and the calling I have.
Please can you tell me a bit more about the venue you help run and the events you put on there?
The space was taken by New City Delhi ( church community)who has heart to support Artists of all form.
We do concerts, art exhibitions and workshops.
It’s an amazing community which supports artists of all forms.
Together we started something knows as @bigskysessions .
We give platform to artists who write their own music and which is experimental/ indie/world music/jazzhop and something which is underground.
What are your main goals for 2020?
To make at least 4 EPs and focus promoting my originals in different venues and platforms.
What is your main platform for promotion and why?
To be honest I am not promoting it as much as it’s needed to be promoted but mostly it’s Instagram and sometimes YouTube. I still need to work on my branding and promotion.
How often do you post and how do you know when a piece of music is ready to share?
I keep on sharing Short videos in couple of weeks and kind of full length stuffs in couple of months. This is an area I really want to work on. To be honest haven’t officially finished any stuff to release it on any platforms.
What gear is on your wish list right now?
Freeze pedal, Korg monologue, Fender Jazzmaster
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Vincente Garcia, Aswekeepsearching