Bengaluru Electronica Act The Burning Deck Release Second Album

(Left) The Burning Deck frontman Sandeep Madhavan and trumpet-player Katie Mackay with guitarist Jeet Thayil (center). Photo: Vamsi Krishna

In late September 2012, bassist Sandeep Madhavan, from Bengaluru rock band Old Jungle Saying, began writing for his solo project, The Burning Deck. He tried to recruit other members in the Bengaluru scene, but found no takers and turned to producing the music on his own. Says Madhavan, “The only way [to make music] was on a computer, so it was electro-influenced and then it became something else all together and I didn’t need anyone.”

Nearly two years on, for his second full-length album Deluge, Madhavan did attempt looking for collaborators again. With his debut album Kalinihta to show, The Burning Deck’s mix of Seventies prog rock, jazz and electronica found approval from different corners, including guitarist/poet Jeet Thayil [who is collaborating with Madhavan on a separate EP], psychedelic/alternative rock band The Bicycle Days’s vocalist Karthik Basker [on the stomping psych-rock “Out of Sight”] and electronica artist Fuzzy Logic aka Arfaaz Kagalwala [on “Two oh Two”], among others.

Thematically, the 12-track Deluge is similar to Kalinihta, inspired by the sea and traveling blues. Says Madhavan, “The sound continues to be moody and melancholic, but it’s also gotten a lot grander and orchestral.” The bassist adds that there’s also much more live instrumentation than Kalinihta. Says Madhavan, “There’s live drums, violin, trumpet, flute, guitar, bass and percussion giving it a lot more personality.” Madhavan recorded samples and was inspired by the different cities he traveled to across the world ”“ from an island in Lake Titicaca, Japan and Vietnam to Mumbai at night and the south Indian state of Kerala. Says Madhavan, “You get out of your comfort zone, meet strange people who don’t like you and listen to strange languages.”

The Burning Deck launched Deluge at Bengaluru venue The Humming Tree last month. Artists such as Yadhunandan Nagaraj [from Bengaluru metallers Verses] and saxophone player David Moszko and guests including Basker, singer Alexis D’Souza and synth player Mayur Nanda from post-rock band Stuck in November, joined Madhavan on stage. They later played at Alliance Francaise in Bengaluru, as part of the World Music Day celebrations on June 22nd, but are currently on a short break before they play shows in Pune and Delhi. The break comes after Madhavan broke one of his fingers. Says Madhavan, “It happened when I was just jamming, thankfully, and not performing live. I’m running on Advil, but once it runs out, I’ll be in pain.”

Stream Deluge by The Burning Deck