Though the term global citizen brings to mind American Express commercials and Business Class lounges, you could say Shub Roy is a true cosmopolite. Of Indian descent, Roy grew up in Montreal where he was performing in classical guitar competitions at age 10 and later became involved in the city’s underground music scene.In 2013 Roy based himself in Berlin for twelve-months but as a composer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist he’s spent the last few years travelling the world and playing in Dirty Beaches.Transit, his debut solo album as Night Musik was written, recorded and produced during these two years on the road. A mixture of techno, industrial and ambient, the music captures his journeys through hotels, and afterhours clubs of Berlin and Tokyo, to the night trains of Russia and the barrios of Lisbon.Adding to the globalism of this release, the album will be issued in LP and digital formats by Mind Records, a label based on a partnership between Paris and Osaka.As well as premiering the video for “Hard to Tell”, a track from the upcoming album, we have a chat to Shub about his music and travels.Noisey: Where are you based now?
Shub Roy: At the moment, I don’t have a fixed address. I’m spending some time in Ukraine before moving back to Berlin where I was based for a year in 2013. It’s an interesting time to be here, to be able to talk to people about the political situation and life in a country at war. It makes me feel lucky that as a Canadian citizen I can expect a pretty good standard of living and have options of how I want to lead my life. The album is called Transit and it has a feeling of fluidity and movement. What are the pros and cons of writing music in hotel rooms or airport lounges?
There’s a kind of blankness to these “non-places”, to quote French anthropologist Marc Augé. They’re liminal spaces where we don’t really have an identity, we don’t have any real relationship with the space and they usually don’t have any history that is relevant to us. They’re anonymous and temporary. I think this blankness allows for more absorption in the creative process in a way (you can block out your surroundings in a desolate airport waiting area at 5am), or a unique state in which I’m stimulated in a sense that’s hard to define by being in a foreign, sometimes public, place that I’m not familiar with (as opposed to a home studio where you’re surrounded by your own possessions and their associations, memories). The biggest drawback is probably not being able to use a lot of hardware or gear that I’d use at home or in a studio. Maybe the fluidity of the record comes from trying to maintain focus and a stable state of mind in constantly changing surroundings. Do you dance? If so when was the last time you really let loose?
I do dance, but the mood and the music have to be right for me to get drawn in. I actually didn’t dance all that much until a few years ago when I started travelling more in Europe. I think people are freer here (at least when it comes to techno/electronic music), maybe because the culture of electronic music has been present here for longer. Something about it put me at ease to let loose as well. I find dance floors interesting even when I’m not dancing. There are certain moments on a dance floor at dawn when most people are on something, lost in individual moments- a feeling that everyone is alone, yet together.'Transit' is available April 20 on Mind Records.
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Shub Roy: At the moment, I don’t have a fixed address. I’m spending some time in Ukraine before moving back to Berlin where I was based for a year in 2013. It’s an interesting time to be here, to be able to talk to people about the political situation and life in a country at war. It makes me feel lucky that as a Canadian citizen I can expect a pretty good standard of living and have options of how I want to lead my life. The album is called Transit and it has a feeling of fluidity and movement. What are the pros and cons of writing music in hotel rooms or airport lounges?
There’s a kind of blankness to these “non-places”, to quote French anthropologist Marc Augé. They’re liminal spaces where we don’t really have an identity, we don’t have any real relationship with the space and they usually don’t have any history that is relevant to us. They’re anonymous and temporary. I think this blankness allows for more absorption in the creative process in a way (you can block out your surroundings in a desolate airport waiting area at 5am), or a unique state in which I’m stimulated in a sense that’s hard to define by being in a foreign, sometimes public, place that I’m not familiar with (as opposed to a home studio where you’re surrounded by your own possessions and their associations, memories). The biggest drawback is probably not being able to use a lot of hardware or gear that I’d use at home or in a studio. Maybe the fluidity of the record comes from trying to maintain focus and a stable state of mind in constantly changing surroundings. Do you dance? If so when was the last time you really let loose?
I do dance, but the mood and the music have to be right for me to get drawn in. I actually didn’t dance all that much until a few years ago when I started travelling more in Europe. I think people are freer here (at least when it comes to techno/electronic music), maybe because the culture of electronic music has been present here for longer. Something about it put me at ease to let loose as well. I find dance floors interesting even when I’m not dancing. There are certain moments on a dance floor at dawn when most people are on something, lost in individual moments- a feeling that everyone is alone, yet together.'Transit' is available April 20 on Mind Records.