If you were my guitar...

Baby, I'd play you all night long. And you'd believe him, cause well Senor Rudy Wallang can play. Further anyone who has heard or witnessed Tipriti Kharbangar will testify that our man can't really be blamed for his desires.

SOULMATE

Saturday, 18th July, 2009; Someplace Else, Kolkata played host to Soulmate - India's premier blues/blues-rock outfit. I was there. I had to be, there was no way I could miss them. I'd heard about them from a close friend in college who's love affair with the band started when he'd first seen them perform at Haze Blues Bar, New Delhi. They had just come out with their first album, Shillong, and were touring to promote the same.

Soulmate - an electric blues quartet from Shillong, comprising Rudy Wallang (vocals, lead guitar), Tipriti Kharbangar (vocals, rhythm guitar), Ferdy Dkhar (bass guitar) and Sam Shullai (drums) - has been India's most popular export to the world of blues music. A little bit of background research on the internet yields that the band has tasted unprecedented international attention of blues aficionados over the last 3 years. This includes regular performances at The Kathmandu International Music Festival, an appearance at the Bealy Street Blues Club in Memphis, Tennesee; and on another occasion sharing the stage with none other than Buddy Guy after finishing as semi-finalists at an Internation Blues Competition in the United States. Last evening they were promoting their second album, Moving On, at Someplace Else.

Last evening I met them for the first time, and as the evening wove itself into the night, I fell deeply and utterly in love. Soulmate, unlike most other Indian bands in their genre, have very strong original material that in itself defines the band sound. They further spice it up with covers done the way they would do it, thereby creating a continuum of sound that is specific to them. And that sound, apart from being distinctive is beautiful, energetic and passionate. Something that captures your imagination and holds it till the band leaves the stage, and also has a lingering aftertaste. All in all a phenomenally talented outfit.

Further like most bands in general, Soulmate exudes a distinct sexuality through their sound and command of the stage. However, unlike most other bands they cannot be classified merely as masculine or feminine. They are distinctively androgynous. This is what makes them special, in a market dominated by intensely commercial artists like Parikrama or niche performers like Indian Ocean and Agni, or headbangers like Bhayanak Maut (the Indian Megadeth).

I say they are androgynous for 2 reasons.

Firstly, despite three quarters of the band being male, it is Tipriti Kharbangar - their lethally gorgeous and extremely talented vocalist - who consciously commands the stage and the attention of the audience for most of the performance. However, the rest of the band plays truant like playboys, with their sounds circling around her voice, pretending to chase and failing to catch up with her until the very end. For example last night, amongst their other stuff, they played an original instrumental that sounded to me akin to a rock ballad. Probably inserted as a break from the blues for the rock-inclined audience. However, towards the end Tipriti lets her vocals rip through the air with Rudy panting up the incline on his guitar, and before you know its the guitar thats reached her voice and taken over as the lead sound. It was awesome! Fucking brilliantly executed.

Tipriti Kharbangar

Also their choice of songs possess a strange underlying sexual ambiguity when watched live. Again for example, their number 'If you were my guitar' written and sung by Rudy Wallang, is basically a man's song rendered on what seemed like a typical Albert King influenced blues sound. Heard on the stereo its a man who would take to it instinctively. However, in the band it is Rudy's voice that is more sedate and charming while Tipriti's is the screech of an angry young woman. Thus when performed live after one's brain has already experienced the intense onslaught of a leopard-skin top clad Tipriti Kharbangar, Rudy's rendition almost sounds like a seductively playful young woman looking to get you a place to sleep. Ms. Kharbangar on the other hand sways from a dark femininity of numbers like 'My cup of tea' to the passionate rebellion of 'I am' that would put most men of our times, including myself, to shame.

Rudy Wallang & Tipriti Kharbangar do the Blues.

Soulmate further possesses a formidable reputation for their blues covers. They stayed true to their roots by playing a jazz version of Joplin's Summertime, more classic and true-to-the-original versions of Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'Pride & Joy', which Rudy dedicated to Tipriti, and BB King's 'Rock Me Baby'. However, highlight of the performance was definitely their cover of Hendrix's 'Straight Ahead'. Honest to God, I have never witnessed such justice being done to the artist by any other live act. I've watched numerous local bands botch up, or do downplayed renditions of the maestro's works. I've also witnessed wild covers of 'Purple Haze' and 'Voodoo Child' by Parikrama. But none of them can match upto the justice Rudy Wallang and Tipriti did to the song. My opinion regarding this maybe slightly prejudiced cause personally I've always felt that Hendrix would sound much more sexy on sultry and accomplished female vocals, than it does through a male voice. Soulmate proved me right to myself. Their cover was really really sexy.

The gig ended with the band satisfying the crowd's cheers for an encore with BB King's 'Blues had a baby, and they named it rock n' roll'.

I was left speechless with feeling by the end of the gig. The power of the performance was not lost on my friends either, who despite not being blues fans were rendered awestruck. One of my friends instinctively responded to Tipriti's vocals by blurting "her voice flies everywhere man". It does and the best part is that it carries you along with it.

A word to my audience. Do yourselves a favour and catch Soulmate next time they are in your town. Its an experience that was worth the wait for me.