Wild City To Present Alternative Music Showcase At London's Southbank Centre

We’ve been dying to share the news.

Wild City will present a showcase of alternative music from India at Alchemy, a six year old festival of UK and South Asian arts at the celebrated Southbank Centre in London. The shows at Alchemy, which aims to reflect the growing alternative music and cultural space in the subcontinent to a wider audience, will feature performances by 3 of the most talented and original outfits in the country – Sulk Station, Nicholson and Curtain Blue. The events will take place in London and Glasgow on May 20 and 23 respectively.

The Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London and Europe’s largest centre for the arts. Amongst its many festivals is Alchemy – an annual occurrence that presents work from established and upcoming artists in various mediums from music and design to literature and dance. It also holds a series of workshops, book clubs, talks and debates.

Rahul Giri of acclaimed downtempo Bangalore based duo Sulk Station, whose other half is Tanvi Rao, tells us that “The UK sound has played a very important role in shaping and influencing our music probably more than anything else. So getting a chance to showcase our work there through Alchemy means a lot to us. We are super excited and maybe a touch nervous too.”

Joining the duo will be Abhishek Bhatia, whose solo project Curtain Blue has caught the attention of electronica producers like Robot Koch who has collaborated with the Delhi-based producer on his latest EP, ‘Tsuki’. The third featured act is Mumbai’s Nicholson, who has carved a special space for himself in the music circuit with his uncommon blend of emotive songwriting, live electronics and folk tones.

We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to take these deserving acts to wider audiences around the world, particularly to a space like the Southbank Centre, which is regarded as a pioneering institution in promoting the arts. Here's what the Southbank Centre had to say about the collaboration:

"We are delighted to be working with Wild City to present the Alternative India show as part of this year's Alchemy, the sixth version of Southbank Centre's annual festival showcasing the best in UK and South Asian arts, culture and ideas. The dialogue between music-makers in both the UK and South Asia is increasingly two-way and mutually influenced, as well as international in focus, and this project is a thrilling testimony to that, presenting cutting-edge new India-based talent to wider audiences."

Check out the Alchemy page on the Southbank Centre’s website for more.

Gig details:

Wild City Presents: Alternative India featuring Sulk Station, Nicholson and Curtain Blue
Date: May 20
Venue: Southbank Centre, London
Time: 8pm
Tickets: 10 GBP (tickets.southbankcentre.co.uk)

Wild City Presents: Alternative India featuring Sulk Station, Nicholson and Curtain Blue
Date: May 23
Venue: Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow
Time: 8pm
Tickets: 14 GBP (tickets.southbankcentre.co.uk)

Image credit: Nishant Shukla