Idea Jugglers

Andrew Davidson, author of The Gargoyle, reads an excerpt. Junkyard Groove raises the tempo with Save Me.

 

 The Gargoyle and Save Me [8:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Andrew Davidson reads from his debut novel, The Gargoyle. I began the year with this book… it was a great start! This is a darkly beautiful love story of a mysteriously alluring woman who sculpts gargoyles and a man who has become one after his burns. The story moves back and forth in time, weaving intricate patterns. Read the Gargoyle and it’ll live with you for a long time!

The Gargoyle Official Site and Andrew’s Goodreads Page

Music during the excerpt is provided by Guitarefrench. Catch the awesome folksy French music on Jamendo.com.

We close this podcast with ‘Save Me’ by Junkyard Groove. They are one of my favorite Indian groups. They have opened for Iron Maiden, Incubus and set off the Dubai Desert Festival. Groovy tracks… you’ll love their sound and best of all you can download their music for free!

Info and Music Downloads

IdeaJugglers Music and Writing Podcasts Group is now on Facebook! Join the group to stay tuned.

3 poems by Arka Mukhopadhyay and music by Project Divinity

 

 3 Poems by Arka and Music by Project Divinity [6:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When it comes to Spoken Word… you’ve got to remember, when you’re up on stage and you fumble… don’t apologize. It’s okay… just go with the flow. The poet coming up now however… is perfect with his poetic pitch. It’s Arko Mukhopadhyay… poet, performer and performance creator from Bangalore. He is the founder of the Logos Theater and has been involved with more than 15 stage productions in a host of capacities. He’s a true innovator. As a Spoken Word artist he has given several performances and held numerous workshops. We’ll be listening to 3 of his poems.

The music track is Ethereal Awakening from Project Divinity, a Finnish project on Jamendo.com. Awesome ambient sounds and diverse music. You must check out their sister project… Frozen Silence.

More about them here

Share your stories, excerpts and poetry on IdeaJugglers.com. Subscribe to stay tuned.

Noor by Sorayya Khan and music by Maya Filipic.

 

 Noor by Sorayya Khan [7:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Noor is one my favorite novels. It was recommended to me four years ago and I finally got down to reading it. It’s beautiful, haunting and lyrical with stormy themes. The author, Sorayya Khan, lives in New York with her family. Born to a Pakistani father and Dutch mother, Sorayya has lived in Vienna and Islamabad along with many cities in the United States. She was a Fulbright Creative Writing Scholar in Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1999-2000. Sorayya is working on her third novel and I’m looking forward to it.

Find out more on www.SorayyaKhan.com

Maya Filipic is a classical musician from Spain. Though she had studied the violin, she found her heart in the piano. You can find her music on www.Jamendo.com. The album is ‘Between Two Worlds’.

Poetry by Delhi writer and filmmaker Akanksha Joshi and music by Russian Independent Artist Gorje Hewek.

 

 Mohabbat and At The Cafe [4:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’ve known Akanksha for 10 years. She is a writer, photographer & film-maker, whose works are rooted in the rich tapestry of India and her people. The sensitivity of her approach lies in the deep bonds she forms, with the people whose stories she tells; as can be seen in her documentary films on the Gujarat carnage, Passengers and her recent film ‘Chilika Bank$’ tracing 40 years of ecological changes in India’s largest coastal lake, Chilika. Her film on the river Ganges, ‘Ganga- A Prayer’, has for the first time brought together visuals of the impact of climate change from across the globe, and placed it in an Indian cultural context. Her poem speaks of romance in an environmental context.

Here’s a transcript of her poem: Mohabbat PDF

Gorje Hewek is fusion, jazz and classical musician from the Russian Federation. His music is eclectic and very diverse. It took me a while to get in touch with Gorje and he was fantastic. It’s almost as if he and Akanksha had a connection, without knowing it, and I realized that At The Cafe was just the track for Mohabbat.

Do visit Gorje’s site deepmix.eu and his MySpace Page for more music and information.

Click to download Performance Poetry Presentation Slides

I had a very interesting Saturday last week. I was called upon by Annie Zaidi and Peter Griffin of Caferati in Mumbai to talk about performing poetry. Along with me was Mukul Chadda, a well known TV and theater actor and a fantastic poet. We’d won the Kala Ghoda Poetry Slam in early 2008 with Mukul bagging first place and me following closely behind.

My dilemma was- how does one teach poetry performance? I’d thought it was my poems that dictated my performance. I just jabbered them out. Now I had to actually analyze the process and it led to some very interesting questions - no answers… just questions.

So I put them down in a presentation (poetry and ppt? GAH!) and we had a very lively debate. Mukul fortunately did have something to share in terms of super exercises centered around holding the crowd’s attention, hooking them to your voice and performance. I’m going to persuade him to share the experience with us, but in the mean time, you can have a look at my presentation and maybe it’ll spur you towards thinking about your own style.

Some of the key topics we covered were:
1. Finding your voice
2. Setting the theme of your poem
3. When to be expressive and when to be natural
4. Branding yourself and your performance

The comments section is open for discussion.

Coming up very, very soon is a fantastic feature, a love poem in Hindi with music by a Russian independent composer. It’s awesome how art attracts art. You can look forward to this around Thursday if I don’t fall into limbo.

Click to Download Performance Poetry Slides

Ladies if you have a really nice reading voice, IdeaJugglers.com wants you.

There’s a whole lot of really exciting work contributed by female authors and we need someone to read them out. We are looking at a maximum of 1000 words excerpt, which roughly translates into about 3 to 5 minutes of reading time.

If you can flow in the emotions, that’s even better.

We can’t pay you in cash, but we sure will give you loads of credit and lots of good wishes and you’ll be a crucial member of the IdeaJugglers.com community.

Currently there are 2 pieces in need of voices:

1. Science Fiction Writer Anna Tambour’s story
2. Excerpt from Tanushree Podder’s new book

This is what you need to get started:

A decent microphone attached to your computer

A recording software like AUDACITY, available here for free and here are instructions for installing it

Converting your recording into an mp3 and emailing it to me

If you think you want to do this or know somebody who might want to try it out… click here to get in touch.

Awesome jazz and poetry track by Suman Sridhar and Jeet Thayil

 

 City of Sisters [4:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Formed in late 2007, Sridhar/Thayil is a collaboration between singer, programmer Suman Sridhar and performance poet, guitarist Jeet Thayil. Their live performances include the Galle festival in Sri Lanka, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

More of their music on MySpace.com

Jeet Thayil is a performance poet, songwriter, and author of four books including ‘These Errors are Correct’ (Tranquebar, 2008). He has been described as “a master of the knockout lyric punchline.” Jeet has performed at venues as diverse as the Jaipur Literary Festival (India), the Knitting Factory (NYC), and the Edinborough Book Festival (UK); and with bands such as Atomic forest, Crosswinds, Chronic Blues Band (India) and Bombay Down (NYC). His TV and audio programs have aired on CNN-IBN and All India Radio.

Suman Sridhar is a singer, actor, and songwriter. She grew up in Mumbai with Carnatic and Hindustani classical music and is trained in Western classical music (NJ). Suman directed and produced ‘Yoni Ki Baat’ in NJ, USA, where she sang with several jazz bands. Her vocals appear on independent albums including ‘Bliss Beyond’ (Earth Tones Music, 2005). On stage, she has appeared in musicals such as My Fair Lady (USA) and Exit the King (India). Suman has been described as a “wonderful ironic soprano” who “provides depth with a clear sound.”

 

 Daniel Wallace and Roadside Graves [8:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Excerpt from Daniel Wallace’s book Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician with music by Roadside Graves.

The excerpt is from Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace. Daniel is also the author of Big Fish which was made into a movie by Tim Burton. His new book is a haunting, rollercoaster ride of a novel about a tragic secret, a meeting with the devil, and awesome stories recounted by circus freaks about their friend, Henry Walker, the Negro Magician. It’s one of my favorite reads and you should give it a shot.
http://www.danielwallace.org

Roadside Graves share their song Far and Wide and it’s a fantastic folk number. Think Jack Johnson and give inject a little gypsy spirit. That’s what the song feels like. Buy their new EP. Details on their site.
http://www.myspace.com/theroadsidegraves

Background intro music is Confused by Missing Host band. Check out their album Dusk Gazing.

Background excerpt music is Nothing but the Sand by Little Wood Studio. Find them here.

Subscribe to the podcast. Leave your comments or the magician will cut you in half and never fix you back again.

 

 A Journey interrupted and Sec Walking [10:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Podcast of Farzana Versey’s book, A Journey Interrupted, and Sec Walking by My Morning Jacket.

Farzana Versey writes regular columns on politics, communalism, gender, culture, society, and the media. She has written for The Asian Age, Illustrated Weekly of India, Times of India, Sunday Observer, Gentleman, Deccan Chronicle, The Friday Times (Pakistan), CounterPunch (USA) and several other print and online publications. Her poetry and short stories have also been published. She is presently working on a biography of former Indian prime minister V P Singh.

Link to her Book on Harper Collins Site
Farzana Versey’s Blog

Intro Background Track is A Duck Train by Little Wood Studio. Find more music here.

Background track during Farzana’s piece is Confused by Missing Host Band. Fantastic stuff, find more here.

Sec Walking is by My Morning Jacket. One of the top Indie Music Groups from the United States. I’d heard this song a few months ago and finally found an excerpt to team it with.
MySpace Page
Official Website

 

 Standard Podcast [10:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sathya Saran reads from her book 10 Years With Guru Dutt with music by Valentine Shipley

This week’s excerpt is from the book, ‘10 years with Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi’s Journey’, by India’s leading journalist, Sathya Saran. She is the editor of the popular women’s magazine Me, a DNA publication. She has written awesome short stories, articles on cinema and issues concerning women. This book is full of anecdotes from the life of the brilliant filmmaker, Guru Dutt, as shared by his friend, Abrar Alvi. Sathya Saran looks at the incredible relationship between Guru Dutt and his equally talented though unsung writer, a partnership that evolved over a decade till Guru Dutt’s tragic death in 1964. Sathya lives in Mumbai with her family and dogs.

Pick it up here.

The music track is ‘Apna Hi Swar- Finding your Voice’, by Valentine Shipley. I met Valentine about 8 years ago and was blown by his songs. We jammed on a beach front one evening and didn’t stop till early dawn. It’s only now that I’ve found out that Val has been performing since he was 4, that he has sung for musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Mikado and that he is the founder member of Friends of Music, a society that helps new musicians find their bearings. My favorite album of Val’s is, ‘The Wandering Mystic’. His voice is so good.

Visit ValentineShipley.com and his MySpace page.