Circuitree Records: Interview: Praveen Sharma

________________________________________________________

Praveen Sharma has been making music for most of his life, and has contributed releases to AI, Neo Ouija, and Expanding Records. He also runs Percussion Lab, a hub for underground electronic music and exclusive DJ sets, in addition to being an avid live performer and event organizer in New York City.

Praveen released his debut Backed by Spirits on the now-defunct Neo Ouija imprint in early 2005. Not long after, Praveen returned from a profound journey through his family’s native India with a minidisk full of field record- ings and voices, forming the basis of Song Spun Simla, his second album released with Benoit Pioulard.

Panther God: You've definitely spent a lot of time developing Percussion Lab. How important to you was it to build something other than just musical compositions?

Praveen Sharma: Percussion Lab was extremely important to me from day one. I would always think about how if I had found the site, I would freak the fuck out. I mean - I was writing and listening to so much music at the time - I was as much a fan and pusher of the music as I was a creator. The idea was that this music needs a home. People love it. Let's give them a place to go and hopefully be moved for a short while during their day. That ideal isn't so far from the reason I write my own music as well.

PG: Do you do all the web programming for your site or is there a team you work with?

PS: We've got what you might call a dream team going on right now. As far as the site's technology is concerned, its simply me and the extremely talented Sougwen Chung. I do all the coding, she does all the design and we both meet in the middle as far as functionality, story and flow are concerned. The only other team member is my close friend and long time Percussion Lab partner Brian Blessinger. He's our talker and our writer, as well as one of our top contributors.

PG: I really dig the way your site is open to building community and revolves around sharing mixes. What led you to this kind of open source format, in which anyone can submit and potentially be featured?

PS: It was a huge decision for us. I remember Sougwen constantly questioning my decision to give up our 100% grip on quality control, in order to open up the site to a community. Eventually, we both agreed that if Percussion Lab was going to take an evolutionary step - it wasn't going to be just us yelling into the void anymore. Although I still worry about the site outgrowing its niche, underground status and there suddenly being an influx of PsyTrance and Pop mixes submitted, I think what's happening with the site right now is amazing. When that day comes, the site's structure will just have to change accordingly.

There was one big reason we decided on the three tiers of Percussion Lab users (Administrators, Contributors and Users) - content. With a large hand-picked group of Contributors and a totally ungoverned group of Users - I know the site will always have a steady stream of content. Not surprisingly, Percussion Lab users have damn good taste and have been blowing my mind with their submissions. I've regularly upgraded User accounts to Contributor after they consistently upload solid, sonic gold. On occasion I've hit up standard users for their own exclusive mixes to be featured.
________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

PG: On your myspace page you mention having travelled to India, spending time gathering sounds that would end up as a foundation for Songs Spun Simla, your second album with Benoit Pioulard. Can you tell us more about your journey and what you found particularly inspiring?

PS: I think the musical performances I witnessed, the field recordings I gathered and most definitely the instruments I purchased there were the most inspiring aspects of that trip. I came back home with a harmonium, tablas, some assorted sound makers... and a hunger to start a new, more acoustic sound than my Neo Ouija album. I had gone there with some serious emotional baggage - by the time I returned, I had somehow managed to transform that into a truly motivational force. I think the first day I was back I laid down the basis for "The Tunnel Is Still There."

PG: How important is travel to your process, and inversely, do you have an intrinsic need to have a strong home base, which I'm assuming for you is New York City?

PS: Funny question since I'm answering these questions while on a plane to Portland. I'm heading out to meet up with Benoît Pioulard and work on the next album a bit, so I suppose you could say travel is rather important to my process. The majority of fresh musical starts I've gone through have often been the result of a trip or an escape from the norm of some sort.

About having a strong home base - yes - I'm not very nomadic. I love New York - more specifically I love Brooklyn. I couldn't wish for a better home base for Percussion Lab. I've been in New York nearly my whole life - only other place I've ever lived is London. The city has got this bubbling, overturning energy which seems to swallow and then regurgitate itself every few years. With Percussion Lab's New York State of Mind series, my goal is to try and bring together a group of the artists, organizers and DJs I admire, to hi-light the diverse sound of NY right now.

PG: Song Simla have a subdued, mystical quality to them, and remind me of walking late at night through a deserted space...an extreme contrast to the hustle and bustle of NYC. Was it necessary for you to make something to contrast your immediate surroundings, bringing in a foreign peace to your life?

PS: Well, at the time, I was locking myself up in my room and simply working, so I guess the sense of isolation in the music comes from that. I didn't consciously attempt to contrast with NYC's daily grind - it's just where I was going when I wrote music then. I was, however, trying to be more acoustic, subtle and developed with my production than on the Neo Ouija album.

PG: What is next for Praveen and Percussionlab?

PS: Well, I'm hard at work on the next Praveen & Benoît album. Hope to get that out my door by the end of the year. Its a bit more forward than Songs Spun Simla. A bit more drum heavy at points. Just finished meeting with Benoît in Portland and recording some final bits for the album. Its the first time we've ever been in the same room recording, believe it or not.

Percussion Lab is going to continue to evolve rapidly as we come across areas that need to be improved. I'm working on bringing back the 24/7 radio stream right now and we will definitely be expanding on the concept of location-based series. I'm hoping to bring the idea of our NY State of Mind series across the globe. Quite a bit lined up for the site, definitely stay tuned...

I've also been working on a new project, Sepalcure (www.sepalcure.com), with Travis Stewart (Machinedrum). Its fueled by a love for bass, dubstep, two step, neon synths and 90s diva house vocals. We've got our first gig lined up for this February with Untold, 2562, TRG, Pole and more. Future Lovestep.

______________________________________________________

Special thanks to Praveen for the interview. Check out his myspace here, and Percussion Lab too!

This is a really sweet video for "Feeling That I Know So Well" by the group Sepalcure, which is the aforementioned collaboration between Praveen and Machine Drum. Their deep "Lovestep" tune is accompanied by an animated live drawing courtesy of Sougwen.
________________________________________________________