Back in 2009, Manasi Nene found a sense of liberation, call it new expression, when she chanced upon beat-boxing on MTV. That music can be made without " classical tradition or notation or instruments..." The power of the voice and the "voice box". 12 years down the line, Manasi is emerging as a resilient voice in the beat-boxing sorority of India, which was deeply male dominated earlier, now progressing towards better gender equity and participation. FEMWAV recently caught up with Manasi, talking about her past, the rise of beat-boxing culture in India, the crew she belongs and "transcending the mundane..."
Hmm, a lot happened along the way I guess. A few highlights are, I recorded the soundtrack for a KitKat advert in 2016, and became India's first female champion at the "Colossal 3.0" event held in Bangalore in 2018. Rapidly, I got pretty deep into loopstation based beat-boxing. I won the first round of the loopstation category at the same Colossal event. I also represented Fergusson College and Flame University at a number of college fests, as a solo beat-boxer as well as part of the 'a cappella' crews. A bit difficult to say what I learned purely through beat-boxing, since it was integrated so much into my life. One big thing, it opened my eyes to many many different genres of music and got me comfortable jamming with literally anything. Especially because there's no classical tradition or even established formal notation for beat-boxing, your individual style and community play a 'huuuge' role in your musical progress. And watching battles and videos of international beat-boxers gave me a really global perspective on music and genres, which is really cool, I don't think I would have had that if my home base were in a more formalized tradition. Another "learning" was how similar people across cultures are, at the end of the day -- you don't necessarily need words to connect with someone, often a groove is enough. There's something very heart-warming, seeing someone's face light up when they come across beat-boxing for the first time.
You have to consider some factors linked to its rise
in India. 1) it's free 2) it's versatile, you don't need to be a hip
hop head to enjoy it 3) there's something inherently cool about its
self-reliance, not needing an instrument 4) the community nature, be it
online or offline, you're always learning from your peers and growing
with them. Beat-boxers tend to be a bit offbeat and curious in nature, so
we're all friends who get along as well as musicians who learn from
each other. Plus in the pandemic, it's been a great release of pent up
frustration for a lot of school and college students, we're seeing the
median age get younger and younger -- the internet has always played a
big role but over the last 2 years that has really come to the
forefront. The movie 'Gully Boy' and the concurrent rise of Indian hip hop, together
definitely played out, but without the sheer accessibility of
beat-boxing, none of this would have happened. There's a general "pay it
forward" ethos when it comes to creating tutorials and spreading
knowledge -- while some people do (and should) charge for their
knowledge, most of us acknowledge that we learned it from free
tutorials, and it's for the best if the foundational knowledge is free
and accessible.
My crew and the 'slam scene'?
LOL! well frankly, those are two different parts
of my life. I was the founder of the Pune Poetry Slam back in 2013, and
there was a tight group of people there, but that has nothing to do with
my beat-boxing life. If anything, my "crew" now is my team at BbxIndia,
the nation-wide "official" body whose job it is to organise events and
championships, and provide support for beat-boxing. We're organizing the
Indian Beatbox Festival in December, which I'm quite excited about right now!
What all do i write, slam about?
I've
been bit inactive in the slam scene since 2016 ... So I don't think it
really applies. Haven't been putting out my writing either, and unlikely
that this skill will translate into me writing lyrics for my music
(never say never, but i largely prefer instrumental to vocals). But to
answer the spirit of the question --
As of now, I'm working on a beat-boxing and
live looping set, and the "vibes" are very inspired by the drama ... the aesthetics of post-rock and shoegaze. I want to make music that helps the
audience "transcend" the mundane, and create an atmosphere of cathartic
emotion. The world is not a very good place to be right now, and I want
my music to be the calm in the eye of that storm. And even the sparse
lyrical material I have for that centers on celebrating life, the human
spirit, or providing solidarity in the darkness. The world is turning us
into automatons, I want to use music as a way to pull back to the human
self.
About my recent interaction with FEMWAV.
Through my limited
interaction with the team, I'm quite impressed, and hope to create a new collaboration with FEMWAV. Yes the organization, is an important initiative and I
really look forward to network with more women
and non binary in the indie music scene...
