Using pots and pans to make electronic music may sound like an unusual approach, but it's not entirely unheard of. In fact, some musicians like Bjork, drummer Dario Rossi and the Blue Man Group have experimented with glass bottles and buckets to create interesting sounds in their compositions.
The process of using pots and pans to make electronic music typically involves sampling the sounds made by hitting, scraping, or otherwise manipulating the metal surfaces of pots and pans. These samples can either be played live or be manipulated using digital audio software or hardware synthesizers to create new sounds and textures. Such live performances are spontaneous and usually unforgettable.
You could certainly say that about the duo Noisy Pots, who are currently taking their music across India. Jakub Tengler and Michal Šupák have already finished the Pune gig and are doing a gig-meets-workshop at True School of Music in Mumbai (May 4), followed by Miss Ginko in Kolkata (May 5) and Topsin in Ahmedabad (May 6).
Noisy Pots |
Says Michal in an email interview, “The first time we were in India last year, we had a chance to play two shows, including one at the conference 'All About Music'. At first, it was all a bit overwhelming for us, but here we are again! There are still a lot of things we need to learn from India. We'd like to give a shoutout to Rani Kaur Management for all the support and arranging this tour for us.”
These two jazz and western classical aficionados from the Czech Republic entered the music scene back in 2014 with what they call “DIY kitchen electro” style. Acoustic sounds from pots, buckets, cans and other stuff from the kitchen and garage, combined with live synths, samples, vibraphone and vocals deliver a unique and unusual sonic timbre.
“It’s interesting how people travel far away to find instruments or things they like, but sometimes it can be found very near you – the best sounds I created are from my house. Needless to say, seemingly simple things might actually be more complicated and using the so-called household appliances doesn’t make it any easier sometimes,” adds Michal.
When you see them face-to-face, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart from computer programmers employed in Silicon Valley; Jakub and Michal have the ability to blend in anywhere with their checked shirts and hoodies.
Noisy Pots take inspiration from a wide range of artists including Moderat, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Seekae and Com Truise, even old school jazz and classical musicians. The duo has played at Seoul Music Week 2019 in Korea, Trans Musicales de Rennes in France, TEDx Basel 2018 in Switzerland, and at major Czech festivals.
Noisy Pots at Tedx Basel:
Their latest song Khan features singer Tanita, whose feisty vocals are influenced by her Bulgarian roots. It's a dance-ready track with tribal elements and gives Lean On-meets-Paper Planes feels, with a layer of techno-rap. Khan is their most mainstream song to date. Says Jakub, “We felt the urge to fit some female elements for both production and live shows. Tanita is a great musician and person. She is originally from Bulgaria and the song has roots in the mythology of her ancestors.”
Ask them why they have such few releases despite having been around for nine years, and they say, “We released our first album 'Home Alone' in 2015 as a trio with a producer. Since then as a duo, it took us longer to finish the songs. We also wanted to learn how to produce the songs ourselves. It took us more time to find our way through it and to learn everything. We are still learning!”
On their last visit to India, they started working on a collaboration with Goldie Sohel of Aaj Sajeya fame. This time, they have “some collabs on the way already” including the one with Goldie Sohel.
Watch the video for Khan featuring Tanita:
