Features : Vivek Pandya brings cultural fusion to the music world with “The Tabla Cypher”

Vivek Pandya is an artist bringing something new to the world of music. With an Indian heritage and having grown up in New York, he is quite familiar with the power of blending cultures. His new single “The Tabla Cypher” is the epitome of the state's melting pit.

Vivek plays the tabla, a traditional Indian percussion instrument with thousands of years of history. He has paired his playing with modern hip-hop production to create something that pushes both cultures forward.

“The state of New York is a hub for hip-hop, rap, jazz and other music genres. I started just taking different beats and putting them into Logic Pro and playing my tabla over them. I started doing that about 4-5 years ago. For this track, I wanted to use my instrument as a conversational tool.” he said.

Vivek’s connection to the tabla goes all the way back to his childhood. He shared that when he was learning to walk as a toddler, he used a tabla to brace himself when standing up. In fact, when he was about four years old, he went viral for keeping the rhythm as his grandmother sang.

“That video got around five or six million views and it wasn’t even supposed to be public but it was.” he said.

Shortly after this, Vivek’s father took him to a concert for Anindo Chatterjee, a world renowned tabla player. His father asked Anindo if he could give Vivek lessons and he said yes.

“I was in Brooklyn the next week taking a lesson from him. Like I said, that happened when I was four years old and now I’m 21. I’ve been playing classical tabla for 17 years” he said.

Vivek shared that he does not believe in coincidence. He believes that everyone has a purpose and as they continue to make the right steps towards that purpose, things will fall into place.

Vivek has been making his hip hop fusion music like this for 4-5 years but “The Tabla Cypher” is the first commercial release of it. The hip hop beat on the song comes from a producer he worked with online that lives in India named Hershal Pandya. Vivek is familiar with the Logic Pro software from his early days in this fusion project but wanted to bring in a different producer for this one.

By guiding him and working together, the duo were able to create something where neither part of the music overpowers the other.

“Typically, I make the beats myself. But, for this one, I spoke with Harshal and told him what I wanted. I took about three attempts to get to where we got to. I told him I wanted to be able to play and pause for the beat and also let the beat pause for me. The most difficult part was arranging my tabla and the beat so the musical exchange between them sounded conversational.” he said.

Vivek has been playing the tabla the traditional way for 13 years and has played for live audiences multiple times. By playing for this long he has naturally played in a variety of environments and for a variety of audiences. These live performances are one of his favorite parts of playing music.

“When I’m playing, I’m capturing the essence of the music. I’m adapting to the environment I’m in and in my mind, I’m thinking of everything I’ve learned and applying it as necessary to whatever I’m doing at the moment. It doesn’t matter what the genre is, I don’t even like segmenting music into genres. I just feel whatever I feel in the moment and look to the other musicians and go along with whatever environment they’ve created.” he said.

Vivek has been playing his tabla live for 13 years. He shared that recording in the studio has its own advantages such as being able to layer his playing on top of itself and other techniques. But, nothing compares to being amongst people listening to the music in real time.

“The way the sound hits you in person is different from the way it hits you on a speaker. Your vibration as the musician and your communication with your co-artists is transferred to the audience directly and they just don’t hear the music - they feel it. And they transmit their energy back to you. I would love to just continue experiencing that. There’s no other feeling like it.” he said.

Vivek hopes one day the tabla and its fusion with hip-hop can reach a global scale and bring more awareness to not only the instrument itself but the power of the fusion of different musical cultures. He has more fusion projects plans which include him working with a guitarist and even a new version of “The Tabla Cypher.”

Vivek understands that when it comes to his music, every day will not go exactly as planned. By embracing the ups and downs of life as it pertains to his music, he’s able to move forward each day and let inspiration hit him naturally.

“Music is an extension of emotion. You have to adapt to your environment and use it to create the music that’s going to bring you the most joy and make you happy…I know the technical aspects of playing the tabla so now I look at things through a cultural lens. I ask myself ‘How can I use my cultural knowledge to my advantage?’ Music teaches you situational and emotional awareness. I believe that in any setting, you should express yourself in your own way and you’ll realize that people will appreciate and accept you for who you are.” he said. 

“The Tabla Cypher” is available on streaming services now.

You can watch the music video for it here, which was directed by his friend and collaborator Dipanshu Barvariya.

You can see more of Vivek’s cultural fusion by keeping up with him on these platforms:

Apple Music
Spotify
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook