RJ Rohit from indigomusic.com caught up with Kabir Café which is an Indian indie-folk and folk-fusion music band based in Mumbai. The band’s lineup consists of Neeraj Arya (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Raman Iyer (Mandolin), Viren Solanki (percussions and drums), Mukund Ramaswamy (violin), and Poubuanpou Britto KC (Bass Guitars, backing vocalist).
The band is well known for performing songs composed out of Saint Kabir’s Dohas. Kabir Café’s goal is to ensure that the verses of Kabir Das permeate the rest of the world. Some of their works that you would be familiar with include: Fakir (Hindi Medium) and Mat Kar Maya (Scam 1922).
Kabir Café was formed on 13th November, 2013. The founder of this incredible band, Neeraj Arya is a self-taught musician who began his music career as a solo-artist in early 2000s. Drawing inspiration from 15th century’s saint Kabir and his guru Prahalad Singh Tipaniya, he started playing folk melodies of Kabir’s dohas and sakhis. In 2012, Arya had a chance encounter with violinist Mukund Ramaswamy while he was performing on the streets of Mumbai as part of the non-profit Natural Streets for Performing Arts (NSPA). Ever since then, they began performing as a duo.
Kabir Café talked about their new third album, Sabr with Rohit. They recently released the first track from their album, Peele Ameeras which was a collaboration with the well known music producer, Shekhar Ravjiani. They also spoke about why they were called Kabir Café and how excited they were to work with Shekhar Ravjiani.
Catch Kabir Café in conversation with RJ Rohit below.
—Silviya Yohannan