The Digital Snakecharmer

Indie electronic act Sapta who is releasing their seventh album and continue to conquer the indie electronic space talk about their journey, music and more...

Every once in a while an artist or an act comes along which destroys the monotony that surrounds us. Chennai-based indie electronica act, Sapta, is one such. Formed in 2007 it has managed to create enough noise in the scene with their ‘eclectic’ and ‘eccentric’ soundscape. Eclectic because they paint their compositions with rhythms that take inspiration from the east and the west, coupled by a fabulous use of acoustic and electronic instruments and occasional vocals; and eccentric because of the madness which ensues on the dance floors they entertain. A duo, Sapta is made up of Marti Bharath, its founding member, vocalist and producer, and Tapass Naresh, a drummer. The act’s birthplace was Paris, though. The act was formed in Paris because that is where Bharath went to pursue higher education, it started off as minimal but as he (Bharath) played and learnt more his style kept evolving. They played at small clubs and did showcase sets across Paris and their music was well received considering that the audiences there were pretty open minded.

“But it was also important for me to stay true to my roots and that brought that Indian sound as well. Various different sounds were sampled. Indian percussions and other sounds. It was never fusion as such. But just had strong Indian influences, which you can hear through all of our albums, even the latest one. ” he says.

Sapta uses many live elements - guitars, drums and vocal collaborations -- while Bharath weaves his magic with piped electronic elements, “it’s pretty hard actually. It took a long time to really figure out how live electronics sounds are best captured on record. And recording Tapass live (for the first time on this album) was the first step to being able to get that much closer to the live energy.” Sapta is launching their seventh album this month online, and they promise that this titular album is going to be heavier, harder and faster than their previous ones. For example on the album Intimate Comfort the act explored a lot in terms of collaborations and a variety of musical influences. And for those who didn’t know number 7 is the code that the act has based everything it has done so far, their previous albums have all released on 7th of any month, each album has seven songs and a couple of them even had seven in the title such as The 7th Chapter and Seven questions.  With this album the code is in full effect and the act hopes that they get to play as much as possible and play the tightest set possible every single night.

In fact the band tested the waters for over a year as they toured various places, analysing audiences’ reactions, improvising on-the-go to create something that was new in the true sense and the audience could relate to.

“The biggest challenge we faced last season was that the stuff that we had online was so different from the stuff that we played live, and people loved what we played live, but didn't connect the same way to the stuff on SoundCloud. We've taken inspiration from our live set and tweaked the record to match that energy so that people can actually go back home and listen to us and can relate to that vibe that they felt live,” says Bharath.

The act agrees that albums aren’t a primary source of income for a band as its consumption over the years has declined but fresh content is what people always look for and they promise to deliver that, be it digitally or live. To get closer to the audience the band also tried the crowdfunding way on Indiegogo, though they did not reach their fundraising goals, they were able to get most of the stuff done involving this album and marketing, the rest came from their pockets.

Sapta’s music is for sure unique but their story of experimenting, explorations and financial flux is something that many bands and acts share in the indie music scene. But not all hope is lost, in the last couple of years the love for indie music has just been growing exponentially giving acts such as these a platform and music lovers  live venues, digital avenues and of course great music. Based on what we see, the indie scene is only bound to get bigger and better.