In Conversation With: Pippin
5 March 2015
Not a lot of people outside Delhi know the name behind producer Pippin (Pip), despite his debut EP ‘1010’ creating ripples within the scene after it released early last year. Pippin is Jatin Puri, for those curious.
‘1010’ was certainly amongst the better debuts of 2014. Influenced heavily by instrumental hip-hop and dubstep (the ‘post’ prefix was an intentional exclusion), ‘1010’ was an intensely introspective, fluid and melodic slow burner that saw the artist experiment with production in ways his fans hadn’t heard before. We thought we had Pippin’s sound pegged down well and good (assuming that his future work would be an extension of the aesthetics in ‘1010’) but were forced to erase that idea earlier this year, with the release of his latest single - ‘Sea Of Gold’. Succinctly, it sounds nothing like ‘1010’. Its sounds fall in a different group of categories altogether with pop influenced beats, dreamy synths and heavy percussion.
More than anything else, the 4 minute song is much more accessible than anything on ‘1010’ without ‘selling out’ or adopting formulaic mainstream mantras. The crowds in Delhi have had a hugely positive response to the few times Pippin’s played his new tunes live, so it looks like a step in the right direction.
We got in touch with the evolving artist just before he left for a 3 month stint in New Zealand to talk about his inspiration, views on the music scene in India and of course, his radical departure from ‘1010’.
“It is quite different but it’s not a jump from one sound to another, it’s more like moving forward - an evolution. ‘1010’ didn’t have any of my vocals and I wanted to change my sound from what it was before.” Jatin went on to tell us that while ‘1010’ helped for a kind of basis for his sound now, it wasn’t until he added his own voice that he truly felt like he had expressed himself creatively. “I knew I had to include my writing and vocals in my music again after I wrote that EP. It puts a bit of “me” in my songs and I think it is important to open your soul a little when you create something.”
We’re huge fans of incorporating instrumentation with electronic music here at Wild City, so we were delighted to see Pippin use live percussion during his opening performance for FKJ. “My new piece of equipment! I was a drummer in a band for a while and I was looking to grow my live set up. A drum pad is perfect for that. I think I’ll stick to live percussion and singing for a while, till I get bored and want something else.”
We talked to Pippin on his views of the ‘scene’ in India, which he says is “definitely on the up” as audiences are slowly opening themselves up to more experimental music and supporting new sounds. His opinions on the absurd side of nightlife in the capital is also one we tend to agree with - “Delhi could help with a shut down time that’s later than 12:30. Either that, or people learn to get to gigs on time.”
So what makes for a good gig? “Good people, good sound and good support. By good people I mean those who are there for the music, not just the kind who end up stumbling into our gigs with no idea or interest in what we’re playing. I had a great time playing at antiSOCIAL where I opened for FKJ. The best festival will have to be Magnetic Fields. I was the first artist to ever play Magnetic Fields (I like saying that), which meant I didn’t have too much of a crowd but there were musicians and fellow producers around and I had just come back from New Zealand, so I felt like I had to impress.”
Jatin sites Barsoom, the location for the video for ‘Sea Of Gold’ (by Kartik Mahajan and Sachin Soni) as another haunt, telling us that some of the best nights he’s had have been there (unsurprising, considering the good work that the venue is doing to bring upcoming international and national talent to the city). He sites Barsoom regular When Pandas Attack as one of the artists he thinks has the potential to create a dent in the industry along with Mumbai’s Kumail and Bangalore based Blent.
Pippin’s just finishing up with his new EP, which he says will be out in a “couple of months” - “I also have an idea I want to work on for an LP, which I hope to conceptualise and start while I’m in New Zealand. So expect lots of new music and maybe even another video! Lets see what the future holds for Pippin!” The future looks busy and bright.
There are a few generic questions every artist is asked in virtually every interview. Their favourite artists, gigs and the absolutely mandatory “Where do you find inspiration” question, which we’re not shy to say we’re guilty of ourselves. More often than not, the responses we get are as banal as the question itself.
It turns out, however, that Pippin’s music is not the only thing that inspires us. “Everything is inspiring isn’t it? From the first thought in our heads in the morning and the sounds we hear to our dreams at night. This world we have created for ourselves is beautifully painful and full of surprises. You learn, experience something new everyday.”
We don’t know what the future holds for the producer, and certainly don’t want to hazard a guess – it seems like Pippin will follow wherever his destiny leads him, and we'll be happy to tag along.