Name: Shubharun Sengupta aka Printiig
Nationality: Indian  
Occupation: Composer, sound artist
Recent release: Printiig's Interhymns is out via Point Source.
Recommendations:
1. Any works by Nasreen Mohammedi (Indian Abstract Painter)
2. Kummatty by Govindan Aravindan (film)

If you enjoyed this interview with Printiig and would like to find out more about his music, visit him on Instagram, and Soundcloud.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I started playing the guitar at the age of 12. I enrolled in a music class when I was in grade 8 at school. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen were some of my early influences.

It is difficult to point out what exactly drew me towards music. It wasn’t a singular point or decision but a gradual process over the years where I discovered several types and kinds of music.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

To bluntly put it, music is a very cerebral thing to me to the point of being an entirely invisible spiritual realm. I don’t associate anything with music / sound. For me, it’s a force of nature.

But I have found that music helps calm down my ADHD.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

When I first started making music, I was mostly playing the guitar and trying to imitate my influences. For a while I was in an electronica duo where I handled production and composition. The band broke up after a couple of years and then I kind of disconnected from making / performing music.

I joined film school to study sound design and gradually, my interest in sound design and music started overlapping and from then onwards, I started getting back into making music.

I was never interested in searching for a personal voice or any processes. The process of creation is far more important to me than searching for my voice. The creation already defines the process to me.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

I’m sorry but I’m still searching for my sense of identity. I will tell you when I’m comfortable enough to put it into words.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

I have no specific ideas when it comes to approaching music. Mostly, it is born out of exploring the tools I have with me.

Sometimes, I have a tune in my head which I would try to translate as close as possible to the real world. Other times, it’s just tinkering until I am satisfied .

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I’m interested in neither.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

VCVRack has been an important tool in helping me realise my ideas.
The other piece of equipment I would like to swear by is my Machinedrum from Elektron.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

I work in films, so my routine keeps changing. Sometimes, I go to the studio early in the morning or spend an entire night in the studio and sleep till late in the morning. It isn’t fixed.

When I’m not exhausted and feel like making some music, I sit down with my instruments.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

I don’t have any well defined process to actually talk through.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

When I first started making music, I was in a band so most of the music was collaborative.

Nowadays, making music is primarily a solo array activity for me. To me, both are just different preferences and neither stands apart to me than the other.
But I would love to collaborate. There’s something really exciting and uplifting about creating together.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

I think music brings a lot of people together in times of happiness as well as great perils.

I wouldn’t say music is a language but it’s a form or a way of trying to arrive at a language.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?  

A lot of artists are actively using technology to aid in composition, performance etc. Something I would like to do too in the future. I think it’s a great area of focus.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I think those are two completely different things. I don’t really try to express anything through my music.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

As I said before, music isn’t exactly a language but a way of arriving at a language through which you communicate ideas and meanings.