It’s called Rise and it’s from their debut EP, out this Friday.
Two of Auckland’s finest producers, Levi Patel and Suren Unka, have linked up on a new joint EP that brings together both of their distinct backgrounds in classical and electronica music. The project is officially out at the end of the week, but as it so happens, we’ve got an exclusive stream of one of their songs ahead of time.
To get the lowdown, we hit up Levi to ask him what the title of the EP is really getting at, how they're celebrating the release, and what their fans can expect from the collaboration.
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Both of you come into this new project from different backgrounds – Levi, you’re a classical composer, while Suren splits his time between his solo electronica work and his band Beach Pigs. How did you find a middle ground?
I mostly call myself a composer so that my grandparents take me more seriously, but I’m not classically trained or anything. I actually grew up songwriting and playing in bands before making the move to more classical instrumentation, so we both have backgrounds of learning through experimentation.
Photo: Supplied
Our solo work is quite different to each other’s, but there’s a surprising amount of crossover in what we listen to. I think that’s the factor that makes this collaboration really natural. We have different skills and approaches but for the most part we both like to hear the same things.
The EP is titled 5/8. Apart from the date that it’s coming out, what’s the significance of the title?
It’s a ridiculous name, but 5/8 is how many parts Indian we are when you add us together. Suren’s full and I’m a quarter. We came up with some serious, more ‘cool’ name options but we just couldn’t let this one go.
How do you plan to celebrate the release?
We have a show planned at Lot 23 on August 20 with Fly Nights opening the show. We’ll be playing the EP as well as some new music. I’m going to bring my glockenspiel and everything. As for the actual day of the release, I’m not sure but we’ve worked for a long time towards it so I guess we should probably do something!