The Lojal Experience to Play 4-Hour Set In Mumbai This March

Manipur-origin and Goa-based artist Martin Haokip aka Lojal and his band The Lojal Experience is putting together quite the gig at Mumbai’s antiSOCIAL on March 10th called One Night Stand. The gig is set to go on for a mesmerizing four hours, without a single break. The multi-genre gig is set to feature a revolving cast of musicians and we caught up with Lojal to talk about how this came together, what folks can expect from the set and more. Read below.

What was the seed that made you want to do something of this nature – a four-hour set without a break?

We got bored with the scene (laughs). But on a more serious note, I personally have always liked to push my boundaries and the limitations that seems to be set around us struggling artists – thankfully now, The Lojal Experience has over the years become a safe space where all members are learning to be unapologetically themselves and push each other into various sonic spectrums – conducted internally by Mrtn The Mrtn (my other self). As such, each passing gig became shorter and our ideas and appetite grew to sometimes even seem unaccommodated by industry standards – but isn’t that the role of a musician at their core? To live their largest truth in any way possible? This time we chose to do it for four hours and hope that someone, anyone resonates with every morsel of pain, anguish, love, joy, hope and faith through us. My rapper friend Tintin who put together this special event One Night Stand with the grace of antiSOCIAL, Mumbai has my thanks for taking a chance on a change. We are going to take breaks, just not in the conventional see you guys in 15-30 minutes later way.

Who are the artists joining you for this?

[Drummer] Vaibhav Jaiswal, [keyboardist] Manavon Massar, [bassist] Kavin Paul Raj. [guitarist] Lalsang Donald, [percussionist] Anand Bhagat, [rapper] Tintin and frontman J Haokip. [I’m] not sharing the special guests’ names but if anyone wants to join us on stage for jams which is what this show will also cover, please hit up @lojalofficial on Instagram.

What’s the set going to be like in terms of the songs you’re going to perform?

Directionally, I believe we are going to be spiraling this 10th of March at antiSOCIAL with The Lojal Experience. I’m planning to play most of everything from the pre, during and post-lockdown series including stuff we came up with days ago, elements of our previous NH7 Weekender and Echoes of Earth sets and also just channel the audience’s and our energy throughout the set.  Sharing or creating a solid setlist – while I love doing it – makes me feel like the idea, thought and the dreamlike moment of just getting on stage and playing. That magic of uncertainty, the inkling fear that turns to raging but contained excitement and imperfect finesse, would be lost or contained in a single piece of paper or screen with an order, numbers to the songs and what song is an encore. So this set will be a lot of and mostly originals.

What can people attending the gig expect?

Expect firstly for the gig to start on time so I urge attendees to please come first but also to be early so that you may get yourselves in the right mood much like we will be pre-show. Next, and most importantly expect to find a few friends on the antiSOCIAL stage just jamming their lives and soul out without the fear of being cut off, bass blocked, or given an anticlimactic end, just feeding off of the energy of the crowd when there is a crowd and off of each other when it’s a poorly promoted event and there’s just the bartender. Expect to be transported through various mediums and styles of music.

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