New Delhi Electronica Artist Karajimo Releases Hypnotic Single ‘Lunar Howl’
Guitarist-producer Viraj Mohan talks about working with Abhishek Bhatia aka Curtain Blue on the title track off his long anticipated album
New Delhi electronica artist Viraj Mohan aka Karajimo. Photo: Karishma Bedi; Clothes: Gaurav Gupta
In the works for about four years, New Delhi electronica artist Karajimo aka Viraj Mohan’s new album Lunar Howl is finally unveiling itself. The eerie title track – with vocals from fellow New Delhi producer Abhishek Bhatia aka Curtain Blue and lyrics from SundogProject’s Rahul Das – was released earlier today with an animated video.
Mohan, a regular on the scene in the capital for more than 15 years, first made a mark as frontman for prog/psych rock band Another Vertigo Rush (AVR). He says, “I started dabbling in electronic music when AVR was still around.” The experimentation led to the creation of Karajimo right around a decade ago, but apart from one-off projects like “Mombattiyan” with singer I.P. Singh (from rock band Faridkot) in 2016, Mohan was also getting involved as live guitarist for the likes of fusion veterans Midival Punditz and SundogProject. “It’s like any project I would want to be a part of. Either you give it all or you don’t do it,” he says.
Working with producer-guitarist Keshav Dhar (from prog band Skyharbor), Mohan is now slowly getting used to promoting himself and the music in the most effective way, with help from his sister Vedika Mohan and music, tech and liberal arts company Warpcore. Another help along the way has been Midival Punditz co-founder Gaurav Raina who’s guided Mohan in terms of release plans. “Again, social media not being something I spend too much time on, he helped formulate what should happen when and then I made it my own, since every artist/release needs to have its own touch and identity.”
“Lunar Howl,” the title track is accompanied by a video made by animation artist Dhruv Sharma (who is New Delhi/Mumbai producer-guitarist and vocalist Arsh Sharma’s brother). It follows a protagonist on a full moon night giving chase to a spacecraft launch. Mohan adds, “This concept has been in my head for years. I’ve always wanted my videos to not have people in them. I like a bit of vagueness and abstractness, which eventually makes sense when you see the whole story.”
The album and this song is tied into a broader album concept that Mohan says is “based around hope – losing hope or having hope. Up to you, how you look at it.” Lunar Howl is expected in May.
Watch the video for “Lunar Howl” below.
