How Randolph Correia Navigated 2020 As Girls On Canvas

While we’re quite familiar with Mumbai musician Randolph Correia as the guitarist from electro-rockers Pentagram, one half of pop electronic duo Shaa’ir and Func as well as moonlighting under his electronica moniker Func, this year the artist provided us with something brand new. 2020 has seen Correia release music under a new name, this time as Girls On Canvas.

He says, “It was conceived around four years ago.” The musician explains that it initially began as an art project while he was creating a lot of semi-erotic and nude pieces on canvas. The J. J. School of Art alumni adds, “I started making a lot of graphic art. I’ve had exhibitions with them, and I sold some of them, so it just became a thing.” While the name for his latest moniker comes from there, the artist felt that he was making so much music as Func that he wanted to separate it into three different projects.  

While the other two projects lean more towards glitch and bass music, Girls On Canvas includes tracks with vocals on them. “A lot of songs I’m singing myself, although I’m fucking scared to sing,” says the guitarist. As Girls On Canvas, Correia has released two 10-track albums; Lo and Unbelievable and a four-track EP titled Nebula. The EP features Mumbai vocalist Azamaan Hoyvoy. “That was during the [pianist] Karan Joseph phase. Then Karan passed and it was really hard. I was really, really emotional at that point,” says the musician. He adds, “So I started fresh again this year with some new sounds.”

The new music under Girls On Canvas features uplifting soundscapes, dreamy electronica as well as soulful sonic elements. There’s plenty of vibrant textures that flow beautifully throughout the tracks while also including poignant and melancholic sections.

Although Correia went to Goa to take a break from the city, he returned to Mumbai recently to link up with Pentagram to perform as part of the digital music festival From The Island. “Playing with the boys is like magic,” says the guitarist. Currently, the musician is finishing up other projects and also the more club-friendly music he has in the works. He says, “Those are more DJ sets.” As far as Girls On Canvas is concerned, Correia wants to assemble a band for it and take it on the road. “No other reason for musicians making music than to share it with an audience. I mean, you can have playlists online but live is live,” says Correia. He adds, “It is what we live for.”

Stream Grils On Canvas below and watch the music video for “What Was I Thinking” here.