The Solo Project

A musician may have more ways to express himself than one particular genre of music allows. For instance, the band that a guitarist is in may be making electro-rock, but he may find that the music he's written on his own is somewhat different but works just as well — if not better — in expressing his ideas.

Take Rahul Nadkarni, guitarist of the Mumbai-based electro-rock outfit — Sky Rabbit. His solo act, SnowShoe, began much like that. For many years, he's been with Sky Rabbit (formerly called Medusa, when they were a progressive metal outfit), but last month, he debuted his solo project, SnowShoe, at Mumbai's Live from the Console. "The whole process (of a solo project as opposed to a band) is different," he explains, adding, "Writing music in a band is, for lack of a better word, more traditional."

Unlike the music of Sky Rabbit, Nadkarni's solo act is mostly instrumental with little, and sometimes, no vocals. Melodious and undeniably calming, it's the kind of soft music that's best listened to with earphones while lying on the bed on a rainy afternoon. Currently a 45-minute long set, the guitarist hasn't put this music on an EP yet, but plans to do so soon. Although the set featured Harsh Karangale, the drummer of Sky Rabbit, the recorded songs are solely Nadkarni's work — music that he's written in the last one year or so.

Fellow Sky Rabbit member, vocalist Raxit Tewari, also introduced his solo act — Your Chin — last month. He, however, chooses to put down the introduction of a solo act to something more basic. "On the most basic level, it's because you're sitting at home with your laptop and gear, and you just end up writing music," he says. He released an EP comprising four songs, a couple of which have definite similarities to the music he makes with Sky Rabbit.

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