about murm

Parts of murm's sound are certainly not easy listening. In fact some of it could make you uncomfortable enough to want to walk away. Why would anyone want to listen to it then? Actually I am not entirely certain of that myself... I am just creating the kind of sounds which live in my head. Also, my political and social awakening has been a recent phenomenon and, unlike my contemporaries, I am constantly amazed and fascinated by my discovery of how our world works. To me murm is also a fuzzy little cotton wall for absorbing that shock.

I have always been exploring sound, and the sounds may not necessarily be grounded in rhythms or grooves which we except music to typically adhere to. I must've been 16 years old when I recorded the entire movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -complete with its score, long silences, ambiance- on an audio cassette and then listened to it endlessly. The first album which had me completely riveted was The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails. I used and abused it like a drug, an emotional crutch and as an envelope to let my mind reign free. I am almost afraid of listening to it now. It lies sandwiched between other halos, dusting on my shelf, as if, avoiding eye contact.

I am a prolific listener, if there is such a term! From the mayhem of Einstrudende Neubauten, Coil and Ministry to the grooves of Kruder/Dorfmiester, Gothan Project. From the quiet restraint animals of Mogwai and Goodspeed you Black Emperor! to restlessness injected by Shobha Mudgal's voice. From the eternal void of Black Tape for a Blue Girl to the peaceful stillness of Malikarjun Mansoor. From the broken rhythms of Muslimgauze and precision of Pan Sonic to the glory of Raz Mesnai's sonic landscapes. And honestly there are SO MANY more. But one thing has held true across all this time... every time I think I've explored music to its edges... I learn of another artist who pushes that boundary further. murm is a toast to them all, they truly inspire me.

- ayush gupta