Sarod, Rap and Interpretive Dance Come Together on Grand Tapestry’s Evocative ‘Seagulls’
San Francisco Bay Area-based Alam Khan and L.A. hip-hop veteran Eligh are prepping their project’s second album ‘Tides’ for release on October 23rd
Grand Tapestry - Eligh and Alam Khan (from left). Photo: Stian Rasmussen
Matching frenetic rap delivery and impassioned sarod playing, American duo Grand Tapestry’s vocalist Eligh and sarod artist Alam Khan take their craft to the next level on their latest song “Seagulls.” Part of from their upcoming sophomore record Tides (out October 23rd via Gravitas Recordings), the emphatic music video directed by Los Angeles-based filmmaker and photographer Safi Aryan ruminates of themes of time, consciousness and more, featuring dancer Olga Sokolova.
Khan – who is the son of Indian classical music’s pathbreaking, globally-renowned sarod exponent, the late Ali Akbar Khan – teamed up with Los Angeles-based Eligh (a seasoned name with hip-hop crew Living Legends) to form Grand Tapestry a few years ago. Khan grew up listening to hip-hop as well as several other styles of music even as he trained in sarod and dabbled in beat-making, digging the sound of artists like Living Legends and eventually connecting to Eligh via social media.
As Grand Tapestry, their first single “Atma” released in 2014, followed by the 2016 self-titled debut album, which included collaborators such as singer-composer Priya Darshini, vocalist Aditya Prakash and more. “Grand Tapestry is all about going beyond any one genre of music while creating from a place of integrity and authenticity that is made possible from a strong foundation. Finding your own unique voice and that dynamic sense of self-discovery is really important. When form and genre dissolve into that ocean of endless creativity, that’s the vibe,” Khan tells Rolling Stone India.
Pushing the possibilities of how Indian classical instruments like the sarod can emote and create melodies to match rap bars, Grand Tapestry get cinematic on “Seagulls,” which also features violinist Raaginder and santoor artist Kamaljeet Ahluwalia. Eligh says about the song, “Seagulls is about our ever present battle against time. I find myself unwilling to be pressured by the concept of time any longer, and this song speaks to that energy.”
Watch the video for “Seagulls” below. ‘Tides’ is out on October 23rd on all platforms.
