Meet The Artist: Interview with Vertaal
Vertaal (Ajit Gill and Theo Howarth) are a progressive, jazz-funk duo, heavily influenced by the sounds of hip-hop, electronica, soul, and all different types of exotic melodies. Taking inspiration from iconic artists such as Yussef Kamaal, Haitus Kaiyote, Robert Glasper, and Alfa Mist, their off-the-cuff live shows feature an eclectic host of guest players and improvised compositions making for a truly energising and unique musical experience. We at vibe rating had the incredible opportunity to catch up with vertaal to talk about an array of interesting music-related topics, and here’s what came of our insightful chat:
Hi Vertaal, could you introduce yourself to people who aren’t too familiar?
Theo: I and Ajit make music together as Vertaal. This duo is really about our friendship and growth together in music.
Ajit: We’re just two kids with crazy obsessions for music. Music is this powerful thing that can bring all kinds of people together from all different backgrounds and cultures. It’s something that lives and breathes in a moment, and in particular, for Theo and I there is an emphasis on communication and conversation within the music we make. Vertaal is the Dutch word for translate, which really resonates with our ethos.
How would you describe the music you make?
Ajit: Our music centres around jazz, hip-hop and soul, with groove at the core. Jazz to us is a label that allows the freedom to fuse many musical influences and ideas freely. Vertaal is based around the musical connection and exchange that Theo and I have when performing, writing and recording. We are free to pull from whatever influence that may be inspire us in the moment. This kind of leads to a melting pot of ideas and directions.
Theo: Bringing guests to live shows is a huge part of Vertaal. It shapes our sound, inviting different people with different flavours to add to the conversation. For Paradigm Shifting LP, we had close friends contribute to the recordings who have been part of the journey for the last 4 years.
How did you both get into music?
Ajit: Drums and music have been a huge part of my life, growing up around a lot of hip hop, RnB, and traditional Indian music at home, I naturally gravitated towards grooves and drums in particular. My passion grew into my teens and I decided to take a leap into taking it all seriously and turning my dreams into a proper career. I haven’t looked back since, and its been a bit of a mad journey so far.
Theo: I started playing guitar and writing songs, and then fell into teching on gigs and in the studio. I got into more electronic / trip-hop / downtempo stuff and fell in love with the world of sonic textures within synths, dope chords, and weird production stuff - Vertaal allows me to take all that and use it within a “Jazz” sound; I’m really influenced by Ajit and his feel. Really, I only started learning keys so we could play the Vertaal stuff in a live context.
How did you join forces? What’s the story behind your coming together?
Theo: We met touring as techs for a disco band after a few shows, and I got Ajit in my little studio and things were flowing nicely. As we were doing so many shows together, there was a lot of time to listen to music, jam before soundchecks, and just hang out. Our backgrounds are quite different, but we seemed to meet at very similar stages in our musical journey.
Who are your biggest influences musically speaking?
Theo: Jeff Buckley, Bonobo, J Dilla, Clever Austin, Radiohead (In Rainbows, Kid A specifically).
Ajit: Yussef Dayes, Richard Spaven, Nate Smith, Kendrick Lamar, Alfa Mist, Chris Dave... (I sound like such a drummer lol).
Describe a day in the studio with Vertaal?
Theo: Basically micing up a drum kit for most of it... we like to bring in stems and demo ideas from other sessions and repurpose them and combine them with live takes of ideas.
Ajit: Early mornings, late nights.. favorites chicken and greasy drum sticks... looool Nah in all seriousness, the studio for me is this space where I love to challenge and push myself as far as I can. I love the feeling of putting everything we’ve got into the music we make, its such a release to be able to input so much creative energy into Vertaal. Theo and I bounce ideas all day long and begin to sketch out the arrangements and ideas we have, by the end of the session we’ve usually pulled something together, which in most cases, gets pulled apart and reworked again, again till we are happy.
How has Covid-19 affected your musical journey?
Ajit: Man it's been really tough, feels like someone just slammed on the brakes. Literally the same month the pandemic hit in April, we had just dropped our Paradigm Shifting mixtape on digital with the plan to tour it over the summer. But when we were hit with everything, all the shows and studio time got cut and we were left feeling seriously disheartened. Being unable to work in the same space together was super odd, but we persevered and worked a lot remotely sending things across to each other and grafting alone in our home studios to keep the ideas rolling; but it definitely wasn't easy. So after a lot of thinking, we were still sat on tunes from previous Paradigm Shifting recording sessions that we were stoked on. We felt like it would be an idea to put together a kickstarter campaign over the lockdown to fund an extended, limited edition version of Paradigm Shifting onto coloured vinyl which would include a whole load of additional unreleased tracks, skits and reworked renditions of songs. The response to the campaign was beyond anything Theo and I thought was possible, and we were incredibly humbled by the support from our fans. The limited run of coloured LP's sold out during presale, which had led us to repressing onto black vinyl. We cannot thank everyone who has supported us enough, they have really helped us get through this challenging time.
If you could collab with any UK artist/s who would they be?
Jordan Rakei(is he U.K?), Rocco Palladino, Sharlene Hector...Bill Laurence??
Who are your top 5 Jazz musicians of all time?
Tony Williams, Robert Glasper, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Chris Dave.
What other genres are you influenced by other than Jazz?
Hip Hop, Broken Beat, DnB, Downtempo Trip-Hop stuff, Fusion, RnB - lots of things really, disco...
What advice would you give for someone looking to get into music?
Keep going, many many hours, and identity within what you’re doing is really important.
How do you motivate yourselves when lack drive?
Ajit: Go watch some 12-year-olds play stuff that you can’t even comprehend playing, cry for a while looking in the mirror, then try again...
Theo: Meditation, slow down and focus, go listen to some tunes that inspire... I try to give myself time, which sometimes makes things worse cause of deadlines but it is nice to be kind to yourself.
What’s next for Vertaal (releases etc...)?
We’ve just put out our first LP, Paradigm Shifting, and are currently on a record store tour, doing a series of in-store shows and some select venues around the UK. We’re so stoked to just be back gigging. We just played Standon Calling and Ronnie Scott’s which were super cool shows and we’re excited for the rest of the tour.
Where can people find you (socials etc...)?
Our social pages are all @vertaalofficial for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. You can find information on shows, releases at www.vertaalofficial.com.
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