Hear New Delhi Duo Rusha & Blizza’s Seismic Ethno-Electronic EP ‘Mudra’
With a heavy emphasis on sound design, the six-track record melds Indian folk elements for a hectic mix
New Delhi electronic music duo Rusha & Blizza. Photo: Courtesy of Lion Entertainment
As recently as seven years ago was a very different time for electronic music producers who were on SoundCloud. The streaming platform was a key tool in elevating the status of trap, hip-hop and other genres to the world, with artists amassing hundreds of thousands of hits.
New Delhi producer duo Rusha & Blizza were certainly amongst those capitalizing on SoundCloud’s reach and audience. Paurush Kumar aka Rusha says, “It was a very exciting time in music where you could just explode into the scene without being backed by any major labels.” But he notes that when paid promotions and “repost chains” became the norm by users, people did begin switching platforms, which meant that things were no longer going to be the same. But the duo moved with the times and made their catalog available across streaming platforms.
While Kumar and Blizza (Aman Khare) have often leaned into ambient and sound design for their music over nearly a decade, their new EP Mudra is a culmination of honing in on a sound that incorporates bass music, trap, dubstep and Indian folk music but without any of it sounding formulaic. Khare says the genesis started with the indefatigable earworm that is “Kaka.” He adds, “We were playing around with a few samples and we immediately knew it would be a banger. ‘Kaka’ was the first track we completed and we used it as the theme for the rest of the EP.” Other tracks like “PashuGudwan,” “Hunter Wala” and “Adhunik Tandav” are bass-heavy chaotic cuts that offer a refreshing take on ethnic electronic music. Khare says, “We prefer the sound design to speak for itself through the melodies and rhythm, so we don’t see our songs as incomplete without vocals.”
With several collections of songs already released, Rusha & Blizza plan to continue their prolific, ambitious run. Kumar notes that there’s EPs and a full-length album in the works. “The sound will be experimental future bass, which I can best sum up as AI [artificial intelligence] music. It will be a new genre and we derived immense pleasure while producing it as it is something we relate to at the moment.”
Listen to ‘Mudra’ EP below. Stream on more platforms here.
