I conceived this series in August of last year, inspired by my love for fantasy books. Initially, I planned it as a ten-song series with a large ensemble cast and intricate plot and character ideas. However, I completely forgot about the series for about six months, only revisiting it when I applied for a studio residency during this challenge (hint: I didn’t get it). The residency requested an interesting project idea, and for some reason, the only idea that came to mind was a “Ramayana-inspired Rock Opera.” So, I decided to start the series anyway, having only written 1.5 songs at that point.
Throughout this challenge, I've had a couple of different series, but this one is my most absurd—and that’s saying something, considering I also have a series about two particles falling in love.
1: Mumbai Train
This song introduces the first of my main characters: Arjun “Cowboy” Sharma. He is a contract cow thief, hired by the Bangalore crown to steal cows from Mumbai, as both claim they have more holy cows. If that doesn’t sound silly enough, I encourage you to listen to the rest of the song (spoiler: he prays to a demon and gains powers, specifically to help transport cows). The vibe I aimed for was very much Country Rock, with inspiration from songs like “Can’t You See.”
2: Archana Devi
Archana Devi is my second outlaw, known as the “Dragon of Dalal Street” (initially, it was “Dog of Dalal Street,” but my friend suggested “Dragon,” which is much better for so many reasons). For those unaware, Dalal Street is the Indian equivalent of Wall Street. Archana siphons money from her wealthy clientele to give to the poor, quickly nearly bankrupting her bank, so she turns to supernatural powers. I opted for a call-and-response structure in this song, which I hadn’t done before, and I think it turned out quite well.
3: Yusuf Khan
Unlike the first two characters, Yusuf Khan becomes an outlaw through his actions rather than starting as one. He is the Sultan of the North and a benevolent ruler, but unfortunately, his land is ravaged by supernatural snow. He is then greeted by a mysterious man named Karan Gupta. I quite enjoyed the minor, snowy northern vibe I created.
4: The Heist of Centuries
In this song, the characters take part in a heist—what could go wrong? This was an enjoyable song to write, as I was able to use a chord progression I had for a while and finally figured out what to do with it. That said, the B, A, E (541) progression isn’t the most interesting, and I've already used it a couple of times during this challenge. However, the chorus incorporates suspended chords and sevenths.
5: We Are the Indian Outlaws
This song emerged because I realized I couldn't conceivably create a nine-minute epic tying together songs four and five, and I was traveling today and couldn't record. Consequently, I ended up with a song recorded using the first stock chord progression that Logic loads when you use the piano plugin, with vocals captured in one take. The result is a catchy tune that, if you don’t look too closely at the lyrics, could easily be a pop song you hear on the radio - especially because of the amount of autotune on the vocals! I managed to squeeze in some guitars before I left but didn’t have time to film. I edited the video on the train while also doing this write-up.
I have decided to post this last one on Zora rather than Rodeo, as Rodeo is stopping support for their web app, and I post exclusively from my computer/laptop, since I don't have airdrop, and need to post quickly given the one day timeframe. I will continue to post the videos on Zora, and the audio on tortoise until the end of the challenge.
The song is as usual on Youtube, Instagram and TikTok as well.
Desh Saxena on Warpcast
Check out my new track "Song 88/100 - We are the Indian Outlaws" on Tortoise. Paragraph will be up shortly https://nfeed-frame.vercel.app?id=72d90e6f-868d-4496-a35d-2b8416b9a245&img=bafybeiberewb4gdjxch4pcjccnrz6gd525uxm5lzeabrpsuhqnnf3ggtla
