We sat down with Delhi 2 Dublin in the green room (shed) before their show at Nectar.
Nicole Kristek for melophobe: So you guys played SXSW again. What showcase did you get put with?
Tarun: Well, we aren't on a indie label or a major label, so we don't really have a lot of buying power that those labels have, to get the premium slots. So we were actually at the same place we played last year called The Copa. And it's not really a world music night, but it's music from around the world. There was this really trippy Brazilian electronica, kinda industrial act, and there was some band from France playing. None of it was “world music” besides us, but it was a bunch of weird stuff from all over the world. It was good this year, because more people knew about us from last year. So they had a full club, which was awesome. And it wasn't even on the main drag.
melophobe: Yeah, I didn't make it to SXSW this year, but I think when I go back, I might just stick to the more side areas anyways.
Tarun: Yeah, the side stuff is where a lot of the good stuff happens.
melophobe: And then you were in Portland last night?
Tarun: Yeah, these guys' home town [gesturing at Off the Grid]. We've been trying to play there for two years, but just the right combination of dates didn't work out.
Off the Grid: How'd the show do?
Tarun: It was really good. It was packed.
Off the Grid: They do a really good job there [Fez Ballroom].
Tarun: Yeah they do; they promote well. I think we've discovered that's key to playing new cities. You have to hook up with a promoter who is going to do the work. Get a crowd there, otherwise.... We've played LA four times now, and it's always... not too many people. We never get the crowd we would in other places, because we haven't hooked up with a good promoter yet. It's a tough city.
melophobe: It looks like there are already quite a few folks coming in tonight.
Tarun: Yeah, tonight should be alright, because of Bumbershoot, it's good. You always need one good play. So that people hear about you. We haven't done that in LA yet, unfortunately.
melophobe: And so before all that... you guys are from Vancouver, and someone mentioned you played a gig for the athletes, an after-party or something. How was that?
Tarun: It was killer. There was two guys in the band who were super into the Olympics. I was kinda ambivalent about it, and Kyla was fully against the Olympics. But by the time they actually came and went it was so fun. There was so many awesome parties that everyone was fully on board. Canada had just won the gold metal game in hockey that day and curling the previous day and all these athletes showed up at the party. So all these instantly overnight famous people just walked in. Probably 500 medal winners from around the globe in the same room, it was insane. We got all these pictures of us with all the gold metal winners.
melophobe: Wow, you got to meet them all?
Tarun: Yeah, it was no press, so everyone was just getting trashed. It was kind of a private party. It was so much fun. All the Korean speed skaters - those kids were really tiny. And the girl that won the gold in figure skating, and you see them in real life - they are this tall [gestures to about four-foot-something], and they're so good. Almost tiny people. We thought they were twelve, and they mobbed the stage and started dancing. “Who are these kids?” And it turns out, they are the Korean skaters. It was really trippy.
melophobe: I was excited for the Olympics to finally be so close and in my timezone, but they blocked our Canadian access so that we had to watch it on only American NBC.
Tarun: No way!
[Sanjay came in at this point disappointed he couldn't find the beer he'd had previously]
Sanjay: I can't find the Clamata one.
Tarun: Was it good?
Sanjay: So good. It's really tasty.
melophobe: I noticed alcohol's more expensive in Vancouver.
Tarun: Way more. We have the highest liquor taxes in Canada.
melophobe: But I'm pretty jealous of you getting to play an Olympic Party.
Tarun: It was a really nice side effect. We weren't taking an gigs downtown. Like the Commodore offered us, which is a pretty big venue, but we didn't want to have any that would conflict with the event. But then they told us, “This is a private gig. Just for the athletes.”
Sanjay: Wish you guys were there to take some proper pictures. Like Sidney Crosby.
Tarun: Do you guys know who that is? He was the one that scored the winning goal for Canada.
melophobe: Yeah, I wasn't actually rooting for him at that point. I was a little disappointed about that.
Tarun: He plays for Pittsburgh, right?
Sanjay: Yeah, he won the Stanley cup last year, too. He won the World Juniors, the Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal. And he's 21.
melophobe: So he's completed all his life goals.
Tarun: Wow.
melophobe: You've kind of touched on this, but is a show better if people are familiar with your music?
Sanjay: Yeah, I think so. We've played some shows where fans really know who we are. They're just amped and ready to go. And then we've played shows were people don't know your music but they've heard some buzz. And it can take anywhere from two songs to half the set to really win them over, and you know it's really fulfilling, but when they're there and singing along? Some of them don't even really know what you are singing, but they are singing the words.
Tarun: Phonetically almost.
Sanjay: The party's just amazing. Because you have them right from the beginning.
Tarun: Yesterday in Portland, it was kind of like that. People were with us from the very beginning, and we've never played there before.
melophobe: At Bumbershoot, I talked to folks after the show, and everyone was just so impressed, but I don't think many were familiar with you before that show.
Sanjay: I think they just were there because the sun came out. And it was at Fisher stage. When we were setting up for Bumbershoot, we could see people coming. And I don't know if it was that stage? I go to Bumbershoot quite often, and I know that stage has its own audience, as well, but seeing people there waiting for us to go on? That was cool.
melophobe: Have you guys every scored a film? Or is that something you are interested in doing?
Tarun: Yes.
Sanjay: T does that stuff all the time.
Tarun: I just scored a film Bas! Beyond the Red Light, and it's out on the festival circuit now, I think it's in the Montreal Film Festival coming up. But not as a full band. I think it would have to be a specific film for us to do. But it's a great way to supplement your income. To score.
melophobe: I read you take time to go to India to train every year? Is that something you are still doing?
Tarun: Yeah, all of us have spent time training. Andy's gone to India at least three times I think to go study sitar. I usually go ever winter for a few months. Everyone on the classical side, at least Kyla, Andy and myself have been studying since we were kids, to various degrees over the years.
melophobe: So quite a bit, but it sounds like you go independently. Or have you been with the band, as well?
Tarun: No we haven't. We were just at a showcase in Toronto, and the focus was on India. And we met a bunch of people that want to bring us over. But Indians like to talk a lot of shit. So we'll see how much of it is actually true. We got invited to go showcase at this event in Hong Kong for East Asian markets, so we are still trying to decide if we want to fly ourselves over there for that. It's always a gamble.
melophobe: And not cheap.
Tarun: Yeah, it's like 1,000 bucks each to get there, and hotel rooms are like 300 bucks a night.
Sanjay: You get nice hotels, though.
Off the Grid: You can get by for cheaper. I was just there - it was good times. But with the band, and in advance yeah....
Sanjay: it's not a cheap place. There's a Popeye's in the airport.
Tarun: So what does your website cover? Is it a hobby?
melophobe: Well, it's a hobby. It covers what we feel like going to, pretty much. Most of the people are into indie rock. Sometimes we cover hip-hop shows. I would like to see more diversity covered, but most of my contacts are indie rock. It is a hobby; someone I knew from college was in law school in Boston and started it as a project with some folks he knew from school. Basically because they really enjoyed going to concerts and doing photography. What kinds of music are you guys into?
Sanjay: It's so vast. Everyone has grown up listening to all kinds of different stuff and even together we still listen to all kinds of different stuff. Collectively as a band there are a few bands we all like together. For myself, most of my really new music comes from him [directs his thumb towards Tarun]. He's a DJ, so he's on it before anyone else is really on it. So he'll introduce me to new stuff and it takes me some time to get into whether I like it or don't like it. He's introduced me to breaks, and I love breaks. He's introduced me to dubstep, and I don't really like dubstep. There are groups we do like collectively, like Asian Dub Foundation. Guns N' Roses, the classic rock. And Kyla and Andrew are really more into the metal. But it's a lot of soft electronica too, people like ..
Tarun: Nightmares on Wax. More tripped up, ambient, drum 'n bass. Booka Shade. That kinda thing.
Sanjay: And then Ravi and myself listen to, especially Ravi, listens to some hardcore Bhangra music. Speaking of … [Ravi walks in]. I couldn't find the Clamata one... We're going to have to find some. it's our last day of the tour so we're all going to drink. This tour I tried to drink and smoke but I don't know, I think I'm going to go back to my old ways. It doesn't really do much for me, so what's the point? I tried it though. I tried it. [Laughs]
melophobe: Maybe in the right circumstances.
Sanjay: Yeah. At SXSW me and him partied. We were just there to watch shows. But I try to have a drink or two before. I forced myself to do it. I can't play drunk anyways. I prefer to play sober. If I'm having the most fun sober, then why try and switch it up? Anyway, Ravi listens to the more hardcore, and I listen to more of the cross-over Bhangra stuff. If you put it to the spectrum, Ravi, Me, T, Kyla, Andrew....
melophobe: Is it hard to pick what you listen to while driving around?
Sanjay: Nope. The general rule is the driver kind of feels what they want to feel. And if not, they can pass the chord over. Sometimes Kyla will put on some metal and I don't like it. But, you're stuck in a van. We're pretty open. I'll just fade to the back. Drown it out, do whatever. If I wanna be a little bitch about it the whole time, that's gonna suck. When Kyla's driving, most of the time we keep it faded forwards anyways; it gets loud in the back. Or sometimes people are watching movies on the laptop. Or we plug it in to auxiliary and the driver just listens.
Tarun: Yesterday, it was funny, because Kyla was playing really crappy metal. I don't know if you guys listen to the band Three Inches of Blood? Really whiny nasally metal. I don't like it. And Ravi was sitting in the front with Kyla, so we had it faded front all the way to the left. And everyone else was doing something else.
Sanjay: Me and him were watching a surf movie, on the laptop. Andrew was watching "Harold and Kumar" in the backseat. And Ravi had his headphones on with the ipod trying to drown it out. I'm actually finding more and more, with so many shows, I like to drive with nothing on anymore. It's the only time I get silence. With a whole band, you never get the quiet, or any alone time. So at home I just drive. I'll say affirmations in my head. I live in the suburbs.
Tarun: You are not going to crash.
melophobe: Aren't they supposed to be positive?
Sanjay: Positive, “be safe today.”
melophobe: So you've toured the West Coast and throughout Canada - do you guys usually drive?
Tarun: If we go out East, we usually fly and then rent a van.
Sanjay: We don't own a band van. Van Band. Band Van.
Tarun: We rent all the time, so it's not like we are one of those bands driving around all the time.
melophobe: No special bumberstickers. You guys have self-produced your material so far. Is that the long term plan, or do you guys want to be on a bigger label?
Tarun: You mean in terms of actual production or in the label?
melophobe: Either I guess.
Tarun: I would never give up artistic control. I think I do have a pretty specific idea for what it should sound like. But in terms of getting additional help, we have worked with some additional people. Adham Shaikh, he's a Juno nominated producer up north. And Diamond, DJ Swami from UK mixed this album. What we could use for the next album is a real, Bob Rock-type personality that can come in and harness all the creative energy and stuff that comes out and really funnel it into better songs and better arrangements. I feel we are still really young with our songwriting skills. We could definitely gain a lot; it's just always with us, it's a matter of timing.
Sanjay: I thought about how it would be nice to have an outside person to work with us. Come in, not unbiased exactly but, someone to say, "this is where you really shine." When it's someone outside the band saying, “This is what you are good at. Let's do this.” Instead, everyone--and I do this too--is like, "I want to be like this, and I'm going to play like this." But to have someone who could really focus on our strengths - that would be great. We can't put that kind of pressure on T, and we've got time limits. But on the other hand, we're young, we're growing and, we think, we keep on getting better, more mature. We are in our sound, and if we got outside of that then people might think, “that's not really Delhi 2 Dublin.” Have we ever really sat down and said, “What do we want to be?” Because I actually really like our sound. I trust the decisions T makes; otherwise, I wouldn't be down to have him as our producer. I have to be like, "I trust you. You wanna cut my vocals here? OK." Because he's got the DJ sense. I think the way our sets work? I would trust him. Maybe it would be good to have an outside producer; I won't really know until we try it. It's not like we're one of these bands that have million dollar budgets, and say, "Oh we did have the album with this producer and then we fired him. We got Brian Eno to come in and finish off the album because we worked with him back in the 70's.” No. Those days are kind of gone. Try and do the best album you can. it's working so far. I wouldn't want to put out an album that is so far off. Not for fear, but because I like the sound.
Tarun: If it was just me, then I would have made a lot of different decisions. But I feel like I can't make those decisions when people in the band don't trust those decisions, because people get attached to their parts. But if it's a different producer that everyone respects, they take the heat. That way it doesn't have to be someone in the band saying, “actually that part really sucks and it shouldn't be in the song.” But I can't say that. Because you don't know how attached someone gets to a part. But I know for the song's benefit it shouldn't be in there. It's hard for me; that's why I really would like someone else to be involved. I feel it's not as good as it can be. It's hard for people to hear the unbiased.
melophobe: So that is something that is still in the future then.
Tarun: Yeah, we wanted to do that for this cd, but it came down to the time limit. We knew we had to have a cd out by this summer. Early December we realized we had to have something out by May. I had to produce this album, because we didn't have time to get someone else. So I canceled my trip to India to get it done.
melophobe: So are you playing the new stuff now?
Tarun: We have old versions of the new tracks. We have final versions that we'll start performing next month. All of the new tracks we're playing, but all of the production hasn't taken effect yet.
Sanjay: We'll probably be playing it within the next two weeks. We've got songs that aren't on albums yet. That' I'm excited to start working on. We have this one song in my mind that's almost awesome; we just havent had the time to sort it out yet. We just watched "The Story of Anvil" - have you guys seen that documentary? It's about this Candian metal band. And they had this song they wrote when they were 18 or 19 and it never made it on an album until now. It just was released on their last album. I get angry at first when we cut something, or someone's part. I got really attached to that song. It meant a lot for me because it was a Punjabi piece that I wrote; usually I have to get help to write Punjabi stuff, so it was something I wrote and really like. Fuck it's not coming out on the album. I got pissed off because the song was gonna be awesome. And I have to remind myself, it's still going to be awesome. Just wait a minute, buddy.
melophobe: You could keep it as a special song for live performances, something special for your shows.
[As we were running out of time, we had to stop there, but we thanked D2D for chatting and the shout-out later at the show.]
