Perfectiming: Sandunes and Jiver Turn Studio Jam Into New Electronica Act
Mumbai producer Sanaya Ardeshir and Kolkata drummer Jivraj Singh’s new collaborative EP is a result of six months of feeding off each other’s ideas in the studio
If you were to look for individual musical traits of either Sanaya Ardeshir aka Sandunes or Jivraj Singh aka Jiver in their collaborative debut EP, Perfectiming, it will be hard for you to find many. “The music is not from the space that I have come from, or for that matter, even the kind of Jivraj does,” says Ardeshir of the duo’s self-titled debut release. On this record, the duo have created a whole new style of music together, they say.
Perfectiming  comprises  Kolkata drummer Jivraj Singh aka Jiver and Mumbai-based producer Sanaya Ardeshir aka Sandunes. Photo: Neville Sukhia
Perfectiming the EP comprises four tracks that traverse a more unhurried spectrum of electronic music ”“ there’s ample emotive sythns and exciting rhythms ”“ that doesn’t tire the ear even upon multiple plays.
Mumbai-based Ardeshir and Kolkata drummer Singh first started jamming together in June last year, playing and recording material, with no intention of compiling tracks or releasing anything. After a few weeks of spending time together, the two realized that the stuff they created together was release-worthy after all. “It was fertile collaboration,” says Ardeshir. Singh adds, “It was stress-free and very productive. We have an easy-going relationship where there is no bias or ego. We are quick to discard ideas if needed as much as we are happy to apply them.”
It was only in October that Ardeshir and Singh started picking from the pool of ideas they had generated and working on them to put together a record. Perfectiming performed their new material at a gig in  Mumbai’s Bonobo last weekend and next week, they will be travelling to Delhi [February 26th] to play at Anti Social. Even as duo goes about playing other gigs in the coming weeks, musically, both Ardeshir and Singh seem to thrive in their own separate set of collaborations. Last year, Singh joined hands with Kolkata singer-songwriter Nischay Parekh to form Parekh & Singh and the duo released their debut album, titled //. Currently they are working on another project, the details of which Singh doesn’t want to spill right now. “We have some music coming very soon,” he says. Apart from this duo, Singh’s longest-running band Pinknois is also preparing to put together a more “visual show”. Ardeshir, on the other hand, has been teaming up with her peers [“Slybounce” feat. Sohrab Nicholson and veterans [“Perfect Fit” feat. Uday Benegal] since she started out in 2013 and since then, collaborated with everyone from Siddarth Basrur, Dualist Inquiry to even Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
