Emerging from the state of Kerala, a masked entity who has been setting the music scene on fire with his unique sound and overall aesthetic, Anohnymouss is one of the hottest acts in the country, hailing from the southern region. Having released his latest project, Ambo, just over a month ago, he is bringing authenticity and freshness to the music scene. In this latest edition of Voices, he sits down with us to talk about his music, his masked identity, and his recent decision to pursue music education.
Q1 How did your musical journey begin?
I'd like to think my journey began back in the day when I was in Saudi as a young kid going to school, we used to be in this bus with the seniors and they would ask us to do like something crazy you know for them every day as part of the sort of ragging process but at the same time it was more of like a friendly thing so we used to have days where your supposed to sing or do something interesting and I feel like rapping was something I picked up back in the day because one of my friends used to rap the song "Smack That" and I got inspired and I wanted to learn it too so I learned it and that's one of the first songs I performed in that bus so yeah, I guess ragging can be beneficial to career building.
Q2 Who are the major influences on your sound, and how do you incorporate them into your music?
My major inspiration when it comes to production are legends like J Dilla, Pharrel Williams, Timbaland and the newer Generations that I have looked up to are artists like Sophie, Quadeca and a bunch of other artists that I can tell I derive the sound from, but I would also say like it's the roots and the sort of environment that I grew up in, the sounds that I grew up listening to that I sort of incorporate into my music, which makes it more genuine to me
Q3 You’ve created a unique artistic identity with your masked persona and distinct clothing style, establishing a signature aesthetic. What’s your take on that, and how important do you think it is for an artist to establish their visual identity?
Personally I feel like it is vital for an artist to establish their visual presence and aesthetic as a signature because it is definitely something that people rely on these days. It's not just the music anymore that is supposed to sort of speak to you it's also what the artist brings to the table visually with their videos and their performances. I have a lot of people to be grateful for to be able to sort of have developed this over the years, shout out to Maahir for coming up with the idea of wearing a mask for a music video to give the sort of relevance to the pun in the name of Anohnymouss, and also a lot of also a lot of artists like Razeen, Anjana, Kiiran Valentine, Lita and brands like Anti Hype Beast, Drench'D, Patches of Twist that have worked with me in the fashion standpoint and shaped my aesthetic.
Q4. Your recent project, Ambo, introduces a lot of fresh sounds while being incredibly fun to listen to, giving listeners an adrenaline rush. What was the inspiration behind this project?
All right so Ambo! I started almost 3 years ago, I started this project because I had an obsession with James Brown for the longest time and I really I really loved the whole idea of incorporating Funk into hip-hop. So I decided to do so and started producing a lot of music that was very funky and I think I made around seven demos that I really really wanted to make like full songs. Then throughout the years I did develop these songs by changing sounds, adding features that I never thought I'd be able to have on my tracks, scrapping ideas, bringing back scrapped ideas etc. There were times when I was just like yeah I should just drop it, but I didn't because the more more time I spent on it the more artists I could get on board for it, the more creative juices I got flowing. Ambo is my biggest project with over 15 artists in the project. The very idea of the EP is the the sort of representation of sad realities and truths in the most happiest way possible so it in itself is a juxtaposition but I feel like that's all the beauty of it where like the ones who get it, will get it, and the ones who don't can just listen to the music and enjoy it.
Q5 You recently released a remarkable music video with Canfuse, one of the top music video directors in the scene. What was it like working with him?
All right so the story of the Canfuse MV is very interesting. I had been following Canfuse for a while, like I've been watching his work that he's done with a lot of artist a lot of my favorite artists, so I always wanted I've always looked up to the him and his insane proficiency in the CGI realm. So one day he posted a story saying "if you're looking for like someone to shoot like a video and you don't have the budget for it you can just like hit me up on my email, send me some demos and if I fuck with your shit I will definitely like make a video with you" and like it it was definitely like a long shot for me because I didn't think he would actually listen to all the submissions, but he did! cause he's a legend for sure. So I sent him three demos and he liked one of the songs called "One 2 Many" that we decided we can definitely make a video for. So fast forward like a week from then I'm in Mumbai and it's like a one-day shoot that Canfuse planned very much on the fly, we got a studio booked in Mira Road and we managed to get a lot of a lot of visuals that he could go crazy on when it comes to the CGI. He did ask me to bring a bunch of my masks and a bunch of my outfit options so that we can have like a lot of variations in when it comes to playing with the CGI. So in the end of the day I feel like we made a banger of a video and it only turned out as good as it did because of the nice person that he is and I'm glad I got to work with him as an artist. We'll definitely be doing a lot more of that in the future as well.
Q6 What’s the story behind your stage name?
So my stage name was something I just came up with when I was in sixth grade and I did not have a cool enough instagram username. It was just something that came to me because my parents graciously gifted me with such a unique name. Anoh is actually an anagram of Noah so at which I thought was pretty cool and I just wanted to make a fitting username that was pun-ny enough to sort of sort of like embrace that coolness and I think I did with Anohnymouss. The two s's i had to end add cause someone had already taken the one with one s, which I will never not be mad about .Over the years tho, that's what a lot of people started calling me in school. So it was honestly a no-brainer to me to sort of adopt that as a stage name when I started making music
Q7 We’ve noticed that a lot of your music represents your culture and origins. How important is it to you to be a flagbearer of Kerala hip hop?
I've always figured that you got to respect the roots because the origins always make up for a better story because in the end of the day as an artist you are telling a story whether or not is through one song or one album or multiple albums, It's always a continuous storyline that you're sort of rewriting every time you make a new song and develop over time, so I feel like it's worth having defined roots to makes your story more interesting.
Q8 In your Instagram bio, you’ve mentioned Kadamizhiyil Kamaladhalam as your favorite song. It’s a classic from the Malayalam movie Thenkasipattanam. Are you a big fan of Malayalam films, and do they influence your music?
Yes 100%. I used to watch a lot of Malayalam movies as a kid and I still do. I've name dropped Renji Panicker and Yesudas in my song 3 Varam and called them major Inspirations to my art. To me the melodies in the music from back in the day have always been something that tends to keep me surprised with emotional value. In the recent present, I have also gotten into DJing and I've been obsessed with just using a lot of malayalam classics to mix between records and it's been a fun process.
Q9 Tell us about the formation of the collective you're part of, “K Town.” What is the collective’s vision, and why did you decide to join it?
The K Town Collective is a collective of artists, dancers, videographers and designers who sort of get together into a community that was solely formed for the upbringing of the culture of hip hop in the town of Kottayam in Kerala. It was a way that artists could help each other by offering support and collaboration among the members to combat the obstacles that may come during the process of their artistry. It is definitely not something that is claimed to be a secluded community, the collective hosts cyphers that happen every week in Kottayam where artists from all around Kerala, sometimes even from different states of India, come to just cypher it out like the old days and engage with the community. It's not necessarily something that you join, If you're from Kottayam and are an artist, you automatically a part of the community, the K town factions is open and welcome to all sorts of art.
Q10 Can you give us an inside scoop on the projects you’re currently working on?
My next immediate release would be Ariyallo! with Shiv Paul and A-gan that's coming out real soon. We also have One 2 Many with Rxzor that was the one that Canfuse shot and just also a bunch of other singles that are sort of lined up that I have with some of the students here at Berklee. I'm also working on an album as part of my as part of my thesis project at the end of my year at Berklee which is also tentatively set to release later next year. But yeah a lot more singles on the way, the music will continue.
Q11 You’re currently studying music at Berklee’s Valencia campus in Spain. How has the experience been so far, and would you recommend formal music education to aspiring musicians?
My experience at Berklee so far has been truIy surreal. I feel like I'm giving a feel like I'm giving an ad for Berklee right now but I'm exposed to so much more Tech, so much more culture from all the different nationalities of people that come here; It's a safe space for any ridiculous idea I have, where I can experiment whatever I want, however I want, and I will have guidance for it no matter what. Would I recommend formal education? I mean it's totally dependent upon you, because like I made music for 5 years, that is, two albums and like almost 20 singles without having any like actual classical form of education. It was all what my friends taught me or what I learnt online so you can definitely do it without it. I just wanted to take it a step further and sort of evolve my music and expose myself to approaches and just get more educated in the industry standards of music around the world.
Comentarios