Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Gupta
Sulfur Sky is a Mumbai based Synthwave project by Siddharth Chopra formed over the lockdown this year. He had been at it for sometime, figuring out how he wanted to take the project ahead while juggling duties as a music composer, working in multiple bollywood films and scoring music for commercials. Sulfur Sky finally took its shape in three months over the course of the lockdown earlier this year. Chopra, who also happens to be a part of a well established post- rock act A Mutual Question, says, “My band mate Proteesh was the one to introduce me to this new genre Synthwave which I instantly connected to. I felt the same connection I felt with post rock. The grandness, those textures, exiting production, everything had me. So I decided to give it a shot as I couldn’t resist. And it certainly was not as simple as I thought it would be.”
Sulfur Sky released its debut single ‘Time’ earlier this month off of the upcoming self titled debut album, due to release later this year. The single is a classic synthwave/outrun track that is laden with rich synth textures and cleverly arranged beats that keep you hooked. The vocal melodies seep into your brain making you reminiscent of the retro age along with sounding futuristic at the same time. The release of the single has been accompanied by a music video and the visuals make it a complete retro-wave experience for the listeners.
On asking Chopra, what is the difference in his approach to making music for Sulfur Sky as compared to his other works, he say, “Here I would work on a hook or an ARP first and then create chordal harmonies around it. And then add guitar layers the last as compared to it being the heart of the composition in my other music.”
He goes on to say that “The idea of creating a different tonal and sonic experiences really excites me a lot. It’s a lot of analysis of production and tonal understanding instead of just plug, play and record. Having worked in advertising on above fifty ad-films made me look into genres I would have not personally seeked, which I think really opened my mind towards different genres.”
The self titled album features eight tracks which will all be coupled with animated music videos. Sulfur Sky is a solo project but is likely to have a live band set-up for future performances.
