Sharmistha Talukdar a.k.a Tavishi is a post doctoral scientist working in the department of Human and Molecular Genetics, at the Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia. She is also a producer, experimental electronic musician and involved in activism. Tavishi is her the solo project showcasing her talent as a composer, performer and visual artist. Her sound is a large and relatively unpredictable canvas of ambience, melody, subdued beats, field recordings, dissonance and even lectures which uses disparate points of inspiration (scientific research data, indian music, noise and non-conventional tones).
Tavishi's music and creativity leans into academia yet stays close to instinct and gut feelings. The sound is loaded with incoherent voices and raptures speaking to the listener yet not weaving a specific narrative (no lyrics). There are no hyper-drops nor glitchy gimmicks. She says "The single most driving force behind my sound is finding ways to merge science, art, music in a way that is capable of delivering a socio-political narrative or message. Something that makes people think from another perspective. I am constantly thinking of new things to learn and implement in a meaningful way" Her album titled Boundaries is a collection of tracks with large ambient drones hosting orchestral ideas replete with voices and subdued conundrum. Our favorite, Agay Jodi Jantam (If I knew before)
Who Has A Home? "Tavishi’s sound art inspires difficult questions of privilege and place"
Sarmistha Talukdar uses science and politics to provoke thought and inspire activism. She is questioning many inequalities, stereotypes and injustices via her sound. Her inspiration draws from science, feminism, history, colonialism, minorities as well as her own experiences as a woman. “Richmond has given me a lot of opportunity, to be creative, and exercise my freedom creatively. It was something that I felt limited in India. But culturally, I can never identify with the culture of US. The fact that she found a more accepting environment in which to live as a queer woman in the US is of small comfort to her; in other ways, her existence in this country has been complicated and difficult" at www.gayrva.com/
H O M E Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, is an evolving ambient track stretching 18 minutes. The sound traverses various moods yet retaining a certain hollow erie vibe. Colliding waves, bells, outbursts of noise, dialogues, granular sounds and much 'kling-klang'. Sharmistha states "H O M E reflects on the some of social issues that affect marginalized communities. Pollution, environmental racism, colonialism, violence against non-conformation to cis-heteronormativity and immigration and are some problems that disproportionately affect marginalized people. ". There are no patterns to be heard here other than the rise and fall of passages (in the composition) suggesting a strong visual narrative. Performing live at the WRIR 93FM, the first piece titled 'Sitting in a circle looking for corner' is full of gasping voices, dissonance, occurrent bells and perhaps whales making for the bass. Distortion and layers of subdued sounds reign her sonic spectrum, intermittently coaxed by ghostly incoherent voices. Just listen to 'Cancer' Tavishi's music contains deeper oriental elements yet without the cliched trappings usually associated with desi-exotic electronica. The Bengali Factor? "I grew up listening to a lot of Bengali folk music, 'Rabindra Sangeet' and other forms of Indian classical music. So, whenever I am trying to express myself these influences come very naturally to me" A giant wall of urban noise with passing screams set against a lilting voice forms the crux of Bishakto (Toxic in Bengali)
Sarmistha Talukdar uses science and politics to provoke thought and inspire activism. She is questioning many inequalities, stereotypes and injustices via her sound. Her inspiration draws from science, feminism, history, colonialism, minorities as well as her own experiences as a woman. “Richmond has given me a lot of opportunity, to be creative, and exercise my freedom creatively. It was something that I felt limited in India. But culturally, I can never identify with the culture of US. The fact that she found a more accepting environment in which to live as a queer woman in the US is of small comfort to her; in other ways, her existence in this country has been complicated and difficult" at www.gayrva.com/
About the situation in India : reflecting her thoughts in context to the new Fembot5 empowerment project, she states "What the experience of lot of women in music, is that, if you are vocal, if you call people out, you are immediately casted as an angry woman, with whom nobody wants to work with. Many people have to choose between being the token representative of women, queer, dalit, indigenous or any other minority, or not being represented at all. This might be another reason on top of many others why representation of women is so poor. People have an image of what women should be, and they praise the womanly qualities to high heavens. But very few people actually want to do the work of listening to what women have to say, address how their actions are reinforcing patriarchy/oppression, and instead being the "ally/voice" support impacted leadership, especially for women from marginalized communities."
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