Schlick Takes You on A Journey of Escapism on New Single ‘Pain’

After the release of his three-track debut EP Buoyant State of Mind in 2019, Mumbai vocalist-guitarist and producer Bradley Tellis aka Schlick channeled his energy working at the city-based music school, Sobo House of Music. “We’re a small team, with about 350 students who attend the school weekly, which really demands a lot,” says Tellis. He adds, “When I’m not consumed by that work, I’m usually in the studio working on my own stuff.” 

Three years on since his last release, Tellis is now out with new Schlick material in the shape of the six-minute imaginative and emotive “Pain.” Having played a number of DJ sets over the last couple of years, the artist admits that those experiences have had an influence on his production sensibilities. “This song started with these piano chords I really liked, and the idea was to create something that would translate to the dance floor, but at the same time evoke some emotion or at least try to,” he says.  

Listening to “Pain,” the track comes across as a sense of relief from something, which contradicts the song’s title. Ask Tellis if that was what he was going for, and he says, “Well, that was the idea, almost like with the blues where once you sing it, you sort of allow yourself to be free from it. I even had a sample in there during the breakdown explaining why we need to feel pain to survive, but decided to take it out.” 

Up next, Tellis plans to put out an EP that will feature a few collaborations too. He’s even tracked guitar on Mumbai singer-songwriter Jishnu Guha aka Short Round’s forthcoming new music, and also has a release with his bandmate – drummer-producer Aditya Ashok aka OX7GEN from pop-rock act The Colour Compound – in the pipeline. Although The Colour Compound released a new single called “Holding On To The Hope” earlier this year, Tellis says, “We’ve not been active at the moment as a result of the four of us being so involved in other areas of work, but I’m sure it won’t stay that way for too long.” 

Stream “Pain” on Spotify below and on other platforms.