Exclusive: Glass Beams Speak About Indian Heritage and Magnetic Fields Festival

In what might just be their first-ever interview, Melbourne psychedelic act Glass Beams not only give us an insight into their so far mysterious world as a masked trio, but also a name – founder and musician/producer Rajan Silva is the Indian-origin artist responding over email to questions from Rolling Stone India.

The globally-lauded band released their debut EP Mirage in 2021, drawing from Silva’s father’s Indian roots, particularly classical music, disco and pop from the country. Created at the start of 2020, the four-track EP is a hypnotic concoction of jazz, krautrock and psychedelic vibes that piqued the interest of artists like DJ-producer Jayda G. There’s an undoubted galactic and cinematic sound on tracks like “Mirage,” while “Taurus” and “Kong” flitter along with a groovy Sixties influence that has drawn comparisons to Texan trio Khruangbin.

Glass Beams will make their India debut this week, performing at Magnetic Fields Festival in Alsisar Mahal, Rajasthan. Closing proceedings at the Jameson Connects South Stage on December 16th, Glass Beams add to the eclectic value of the three-day festival that has for long booked exclusive performances by the world’s rising acts. Ahead of their performance, Glass Beams’ Rajan Silva takes us through Indian roots, favorite theories behind the masks that the trio wears and what’s next.

Rolling Stone India: What is it like making your way to India for Magnetic Fields? It feels like sooner or later, Glass Beams was going to make it to a show in India given your roots. 

Rajan Silva: Glass Beams started with the record Mirage – a love letter to my Indian heritage. Fast forward two years and traveling to India to play this music is feeling like a homecoming of sorts. The anticipation is immense, and we feel humbled to share our music with an audience rooted in a rich musical tradition.

Speaking of roots and how it influences your music, what kind of Indian music/artists would you say Glass Beams discovered that count as inspirations? 

‘I had a dream, to try to combine Western and Indian music into a new form of music which has no particular name but is melodious and touching, and which combines the most modern electronic devices with the old traditional instrument…’

This is an excerpt from a quote by Ananda Shankar, the nephew of the legendary sitarist Ravi Shankar, found on the cover of his 1970’s self-titled record. Whilst Ravi holds a place in my heart for childhood inspiration, I’m drawn to the ethos of Ananda’s music, which fuses Eastern and Western musical styles and blurs the cultural lines of sound. You can’t discuss this concept without noting the compositional and production work of R.D. Burman and composer duo Kalyanji-Anandji, which count as influences. Think droning synths, sitars, breakbeats and electric guitars all distorted through Neve preamps and flanged to another dimension.

As an act that’s been playing in different parts of the world now, what has it been like seeing how the music has been received? What do you do differently if anything in new territories? 

It has been incredibly humbling when you arrive in a new city for the first time and to realize people know your music and are eager to see you perform. You can’t be anything but truly grateful.

Since touring internationally, we have realized that as our music; a lyric-less fusion of musical cultures – actually has a universal quality to it that means we can enter new territories and just perform our music. The first time we played in Turkey the crowd were ‘singing’ guitar melodies and echoing vocal chants in the songs. People find a way to attach themselves to the music.

I think it may sound glib, but I did want to ask about the masks that you all don and what it represents. What kind of things have you heard/read about fan interpretations, if any? 

Like a singer explaining the lyrics to a song, we’re hesitant to give the definite answer of what they mean to us, for fear of destroying the beautiful fan interpretations.

Here are two favorites:

Indra’s Net in mythology is an intricate web which extends infinitely across the universe. The net is bejeweled, it’s glistening, as at each node of the net where threads cross there is a perfectly clear gem that reflects all the other gems in the net.

Ego Death is a “complete loss of subjective self-identity”. Complete transcendence − beyond yourself, beyond words, beyond spacetime. No self. Just pure awareness and ecstatic freedom.

It’s been a couple of years since Mirage came out. How do you look back at the time making it? 

It was created in 2020. Though those times had their challenges, there was this undeniable stillness to the world. The Glass Beams project was completely infantile and there was this unique creative environment, where it felt like the world was on pause whilst you could freely and creatively express yourself. Looking back at it, it was a truly magical time.

Do you have any plans outside of the show at Magnetic Fields while you’re in India? 

Eating soul food, exploring the architecture and nature, and discovering artists playing at Magnetic Fields festival.

What else is coming up in 2024? 

There is a lot. We busied ourselves throughout 2023 touring the Mirage EP Internationally, and now fans from all around the world have expressed that they’re eagerly awaiting new music and more shows. They shall wait no longer.

Glass Beams performs at Magnetic Fields Festival on December 16th, 2023 at Alsisar Mahal, Rajasthan. Listen to ‘Mirage’ EP below.