Tech Panda x Kenzani on Making Their Massive New Album ‘Tijori’

As producer-DJ duo Tech Panda and Kenzani’s album Tijori opens, we hear a snippet of an interview with classical vocalist Arati Ankalikar, where she says Indian classical music isn’t an artform that’s for people’s entertainment (manoranjan) but for “self-entertainment” (atmaranjan), drawing from the concept coined by the late vocalist Pandit Dinkar Kaikiniji.

“Atmaranjan” introduces the New Delhi folk-electronic duo’s 21-track album, which one could say has been in the works ever since Tech Panda aka Rupinder Nanda and Kenzani aka Kedar Santwani got together in 2020. Kenzani says, “We had over 300 songs that we didn’t finish. We had time in the last three months, because we were just spending time in the studio. We just finished the tracks because we want them to be out, they were in our hard drive for too long.”

Originally selecting and finishing 30 tracks, Tijori now has 21 tracks that fit well together, offer a journey from their originally-honed folk-electronic sound to the deeper tech bangers as well as jazz excursions.

The first half of the album, comprising songs like “Pyaar Bhare” featuring a vocal sample of veteran artist Rekha Bhardwaj, “Sach” and “Nadia” are calming and fusion-leaning. The initial tracks are grouped together as a dedication to fans of the duo’s earliest hits like “Khoyo,” according to Kenzani. He adds, “It’s a very vintage sort of Indian electronica, very down tempo, [the] kind of sound that we used to make.”

By the time you get to songs like “East Meets West” which features the voice of grime MC Flowdan (off a sample pack), “Come With Me” and “One Love,” it reflects the sound that Tech Panda x Kenzani have explored in the last two years. Kenzani says, “Now that we play a lot of shows, we understand that we have to make a few tracks that that we can actually drop in our live sets.” The four-minute “Mind Yo Sur” gets special mention, for being a “tech house banger” but it also has a strong konnakol sample running through it, the classical element making it “perfect for a festival” as Kenzani says.

Between the calming cuts “Dulcimer” and “Peace and Chaos” to the slinky, hip-hop-informed songs like “All That Glitters” and a surprising jazz-fusion of bass and sarangi on “Liquid Days,” there’s a lot of diversity on Tijori. Other songs like “Homecoming” with producer Aarav, their lead single “Sada” with producer Blu Attic and vocalist Aaromal and “Gumaan” with Aamir Azhar have a razor-sharp focus of futuristic dancefloor-ready tunes. Tech Panda x Kenzani On the Journey To Making Their Massive New Album ‘Tijori’

How do they keep changing things up? Kenzani says with a laugh, “Tech and I both are extremely moody people. When we sit in the studio, the kind of mood we are in that day is what comes out on the computer. We don’t limit ourselves. We go over it again and we see if a track is worth finishing, and if it is, then we go ahead and finish it.” Invariably, the duo’s moods may not match. But it’s a fluent process nevertheless, considering they work out of separate studio setups and keep sharing ideas.

Tech Panda adds, “We sit when we’re absolutely blank. We don’t sit on projects to specifically finish something today. This is something which is, you’re sitting on a blank canvas and you’re drawing. The mood and the track will go [in that direction] only I feel.”

He was responsible for “60 percent” of what’s heard on “Liquid Days,” arguably the centerpiece of Tijori. “I was stuck in a dream with this track. It was such a ticklish tune that I used to keep playing and just added a small layer every day. When I was 60 percent done, I made Kedar hear the track and he finished it instantly. I love the way he approved, ‘He was like ‘wow.’”

With the album out now, Tech Panda and Kenzani are lining up Tijori showcase gigs in New Delhi and Mumbai, among other cities waiting to be finalized. Kenzani says, “The next few months will be filled with new singles, new collaborations. We’ll be starting our international touring by December.” Tech Panda adds, “The plan is to keep people in surprise mode now.”