Posted: 15 July 2020
Exploring APPROACHING EMPTY beat-by-beat with Arun Ghosh
To celebrate the upcoming two-week stream of Ishy Din’s APPROACHING EMPTY, Composer and Sound Designer on the show and our good friend, the sublime Arun Ghosh, has put together a #TamashaTrax playlist featuring its tracks and inspiration.
Here, he tells us why he chose those exact tracks. Over to you, Arun!
Such a moody intro, leading into a power play between 2 and 3 beats in the rhythm. Unnerving. The lyrics are so fitting for APPROACHING EMPTY – capitalism (in the form of drug deals), business gone wrong, friendships breaking down over money…it’s all there. An amazing song.
I play this in the interval too, get the audience feeling good. This song’s hard as nails though…Raf paid the cost to be the boss, dedicated all his energy to the business, maybe losing a lot on the way. Nas samples this on Get Down – which tells the same sort of story.
I play this classic as the audience are coming back in from the interval. Again the lyrics say it all; Gold’s just around the corner, Breakdown’s coming round the bend. I think of APPROACHING EMPTY as a morality play….Fool’s Gold tells the same sort of story.
Didn’t use this in the show…but I imagine Sully, one of the drivers, blasting this out on his way to a job, thinking he’s cool as…
Linton Kwesi Johnson – Inglan Is A Bitch
Our national poet is here talking about the Jamaican experience working in London….but I reckon Raf and Mansha would feel the same way as steel workers, and then getting laid off: “fi di laas fifteen years dem get mi laybah, now awftah fiteen years mi fall out a fayvah”
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Mahya Pardest Hogiya (My Love Has Become A Stranger)
The King of Qawwali! I use a snippet of this in the show…and I imagine Mansha and Raf listening to Nusrat together in happier times.
The Beat – Stand Down Margaret
APPROACHING EMPTY is structured all around the death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher, and her ideology and legacy totally sums up the difference between Mansha and Raf. This song, from 1982 is one of the best anti-Thatcher songs. RIP Rankin Roger.
I thought I’d include this cos Chris Rea is from Middlesbrough, just like our Ishy. The lyrics are quite fitting actually, and weirdly enough I can see Raf quite liking this one if it comes on the car radio.
Arun Ghosh – Ode To The Martyrs
This is a piece of mine from my album A South Asian Suite ; it closes the show…you’ll see why when you watch it.
About Arun
Arun Ghosh is a British-Asian musician and composer.
Twice awarded ‘Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year’ at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, Arun leads his own ensembles, touring nationally and internationally. He has released four albums on camoci records: NORTHERN NAMASTE, PRIMAL ODYSSEY, A SOUTH ASIAN SUITE and BUT WHERE ARE YOU FROM REALLY?
As a composer for theatre, Arun has contributed scores and sound design to an extensive array of productions over a twenty year career.
Arun has been regular collaborator with Tamasha; APPROACHING EMPTY was his fifth production for the company, having previously scored and designed CHILD OF THE DIVIDE, BLOOD, MY NAME IS… and MADE IN INDIA.
Since the lockdown in March, Arun has been looking after his three sons, composing for film projects and working on a new album, due to be released in 2021.