By Willie Gordon Suting
Adiel Massar and Kevin Lywait have come a long way in the music scene. Starting out as producers, now they have formed adl x kly, which specialises in contemporary electronic genres. They released their first Beat tape EP Vol.1 on March 23 this year on Soundcloud, which was well received.
The fusion of hip-hop, jazztronica, R&B, house, Neo-Soul and Lo-Fi are not common sounds in India. Massar says this is something new, “Our multi-genred, experimental sound has no limitations.”
From the national scene, they only have contemporaries like Kumail and Sandunes. Their song Let’s Get To Dancing from Beat tape EP Vol.1 recieved over 20,374 listeners on Soundcloud. Both 23 years of age, the duo met through chatting on Soundcloud, and later through a mutual friend.
“We do share a commonality in our musical tastes. We benefitted a lot from technology we use,” says Lywait.
The duo say they are both bedroom producers. “Everything we learned about music software was through YouTube Tutorials”.
Massar plays keyboards, cello, bass and uses Logic Pro software. Lywait plays keyboards and uses FL Studio software , Ableton Live software and Maschine Beatpad. The duo’s influences are Anomalie, Tennyson, Tom Misch, J-Dilla, Pharrel Williams and Jay-Z.
“We are trying to revive classic soul hip-hop through incorporating electronic sounds,” says Lywait.
Based in Mumbai, the duo had performed in Dance Ok Please in Mumbai, High Spirits in Pune and The Hills Festival in Umiam, Shillong.
Massar says they are settled in Mumbai because of the active live scene there. They both add that their music has a universal appeal, meant for all ages. “But it is not totally commercial. We believe in art for art’s sake,” says Massar.
Lywait finds music to be a good escape. Massar finds it as an outlet of the soul bringing in a mixture of different moods.
The band performed with The Other Soul Collective at Bacardi NH7 Weekender.
“This was a privilege. It’s amazing knowing people appreciated our music,” says Lywait.
The Other Soul Collective is a new band of well-established musicians. The group comprises eight members. Banrap Lyngdoh, rapper, says, “adl x kly (members) are very good producers. Soul music is rich in their compositions. We on our part will brought versatility”.
Massar says the sound will be new improvisational remixes. “So it was an ensemble of live instruments and electronic music. The sound was enhanced. We also played our hit Tynrai.”
The duo adl x kly are planning to work on an album soon. “We desire to work on an album as we have some artistes in mind who will feature.”