Gabriel Dharmoo is a performer, composer, and experimental vocalist. He’s bringing his present Bijuriya, revolving round drag artistry, South Asian tradition, and identification, to Buddies in Dangerous Instances with performances November 26 to 29.
Gabriel and Bijuriya are two aspects of the identical particular person, and the performances delves into the dualities and hybrid layers that they share. As he explains in an announcement,
“My drag refers to classical/conventional musics of South Asian origins, Bollywood music, and experimental sound practices that search to push the boundaries of music. I would like my drag to reference my intersecting musical identities with out compromise, and to be beneficiant, trustworthy, and subversive.”
LV spoke to Dharmoo concerning the present.
Gabriel Dharmoo
Dharmoo is a Montréal-based artist whose follow spans a number of disciplines, together with musical composition, drag artistry, vocal efficiency, and analysis, amongst different issues. He explores blended identities, brownness, queerness, and satire, typically with a playful edge.
His musical compositions have been carried out throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Singapore, and in South Africa. His works has been acknowledged by a number of awards, together with the Canada Council for the Arts Jules Léger Prize for his chamber work Wanmansho (2017) and the Conseil québécois de la musique Opus Award for his opera À chaque ventre son monstre (2018). His most up-to-date album of chamber music, Vestiges d’une fable (2024), was recorded in collaboration with the Nationwide Arts Centre Orchestra.
Gabriel Dharmoo: The Interview
Within the present, he makes use of music, speech, and lip-syncing to quite a lot of musical genres from unique pop songs to Bollywood soundtracks. He performs cello, metal pan, and harmonium, and can also be liable for sound design for the present.
“I’m principally a musician. I began with cello as a child,” Dharmoo says.
Research in composition and evaluation adopted on the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, a Bachelor’s diploma from Université Laval, and a PhD in research-creation from the Individualized Program of Concordia College.
“I’ve been concerned within the music scene for a while,” he provides. “I believe that if there’s a chapter of life that’s sort’ve coaching in music and musical training, I’ve been immersed within the Western musical world,” he continues.
Parallel to research in that world, nevertheless, he was additionally concerned with bands and experimental music.
“I’ve all the time been on either side of that fence.”
His experiments with vocalism stem from the intersections of these worlds. “The experimental, extra underground, vocal improvisation is one thing that’s been developed and nurtured over a very long time.”
Both facet would take priority over time. He targeted on up to date composition for years, and tried to suit into the world of Western classical music. “After ending college, I’ve rekindled that curiosity and practices which can be extra grungy.”
He grew to become increasingly concerned in underground subcultures that took him farther away from the music he’d studied. “They aren’t essentially linked to Western classical,” he explains. “I nonetheless sort’ve have ft in each.” His 2024 album Vestiges d’une fable, for instance, is orchestral music. “However I’m placing extra coronary heart and energy and rising extra in an interdisciplinary follow.”
Voice and music will all the time be a part of his creative life.
Bijuriya
“I’ll simply preface this […] there’s one thing about this piece, it has completely different entry factors.”
Individuals aware of his work might consider it as exterior his typical performances. “They may suppose that it’s very completely different, however it’s very linked to my duality as a drag artist and a composer.”
He says his viewers lately typically discovers that he’s a composer by coming to see his exhibits. And, whereas he notes that viewers members have a tendency to come back from a broad swath of backgrounds, he desires extra musicians to be amongst their numbers. “It’s been three years; I really feel like not sufficient musicians have felt like they need to come.”
Together with the music, after all, comes a narrative, and whereas his materials revolves round his identification as a brown queer man, there’s extra to it than that. “It’s pertaining to a variety of issues that might be relatable. It’s an enormous enlargement on that, and it’s a departure.”
There are humorous moments, however it’s not completely optimistic. “It’s different issues.”
Sound Design
“Sound design is a giant a part of the present,” he says. “My sound design is stuff that I’ve executed with my musician mind.”
A couple of of the numbers in Bijuriya are chamber or orchestral works. He’s utilizing archival recordings that he’s remixed for the present. Interspersed with the music, at instances, is recorded dialogue between him as Gabriel and as his drag Bijuriya persona.
“With hindsight, I do know that these references weren’t essentially legible to South Asian ears,” he says. “So, what I’ve executed is taken these recordings however, typically if there was a component of Indian affect […] I’m reinfusing new life into these works.”
Reusing his works is a luxurious he didn’t typically expertise on the earth of classical composition. “One in all my greatest frustrations as a composer is simply how we’re fooled to imagine that it’s for posterity,” he says. “The hassle is disproportionate for the truth of 1 efficiency,” he explains — typically the destiny of so many up to date works. “No person cares,” he provides. “There’s part of it that’s disillusionment.”
Alongside along with his orchestral music, he’s added different components. “Bollywood music and carnatic music is usually a part of the sound design, additionally mainstream pop — however in subtle preparations.”
The Present
Bijuriya unfolds in a sequence of episodes. “There’s completely different elements to the present. A few of them are the efficiency of the pop songs, the drag songs, the unique songs.”
These segments are offered as pretty easy music efficiency, with the same vitality. “There are elements which can be extra character based mostly. After which there’s what I might name broadly efficiency, exploratory efficiency.”
At instances, he explores the concept of lip syncing, however not in a typical method. “I name them porous lip syncs.”
Vidita Kanniks contributes the vocals for these segments of the present. “She involves signify my drag performer’s preferrred voice.”
It’s an genuine classical Indian interpretation, with its attribute ornamentation. “The songs that I’ve chosen are both Bollywood songs or basic carnatic songs that I’ve realized.”
Gabriel says he typically feels imposter syndrome, and through lip syncing, reclaims his voice. “Generally her voice is erased from the time line, and my voice takes over,” he explains. “There’s this mess around voices and our bodies. One of many themes that’s explored is round that.”
Drag artistry performs into that theme.
“We frequently consider drag as a approach to change our picture and alter our physique to create an phantasm of gender,” Dharmoo says. “However there’s vocal drag too.”
He explores the concept of transformation by voice.
“I believe that’s one thing that occurs when folks lip sync, however it’s not been theorized that method,” he says. “One thing that’s attention-grabbing about lip syncing is that it’s related to drag efficiency, however in Bollywood there may be additionally the playback singer.” The playback singer information the music, which is then lip synced by the actor within the movie.
Dharmoo additionally teaches vocal efficiency. “I give plenty of vocal exploration workshops,” he says. “Everybody has a voice. When you’re respiratory, you’re residing. Any method you take a look at it from the angle of capacity and incapacity, you probably have an airway, you’ve a voice.”
His workshops aren’t about instructing the proper or appropriate approach to sing. It’s extra about exploration. “It will probably actually unlock stuff.”
He factors out that many individuals who don’t have a very interesting method of singing typically nonetheless have one thing to say, and connect with their viewers through that means. “It’s not all the time the extremely educated voice that individuals [react to].”
Drag Artistry
Drag is an endlessly inventive area. “I really feel like I can get away with loads,” Gabriel says. “One thing I’ve all the time preferred as an artist is to have each playfulness and intelligence and thoughtfulness, and a vital stance. To have these coexist is wonderful.”
He notes that every one of these components hardly ever come collectively on the earth of classical composition. “As a educated composer, the playful half was typically disavowed,” Dharmoo says. “I’m playful as an individual.” That high quality doesn’t all the time come throughout strictly with music. “That’s why I began doing extra work as a composer performer, and the extra interdisciplinary work.”
In drag, he can do something — comparable to meowing his method by Bach arias (a spotlight of a earlier efficiency).
“It appears like one thing {the teenager} me would say, hey you’re doing nice,” he laughs. “I wouldn’t do it as Gabriel out of drag. It appears like having a personality that may be your self, but additionally an extension of your self. It’s additionally bravery. If Gab was doing that meowing factor, he’d be accused of being disrespectful,” he factors out. Add make-up and costuming, and it’s a distinct vibe. “Individuals can get pleasure from it for what it’s. It may be simply silly, and that’s okay.”
Drag permits him to increase his creative follow, and be courageous in methods he wouldn’t have tried earlier than. “Even one character could be very completely different.”
Greater than gender exploration, the premise of many drag performances, his is extra theatrical — extra of an alter ego. “It simply turns into a personality that permits me to discover, to make it queer.”
It’s a part of his post-school evolution. “I began drag I used to be in my late 30s. I really feel just like the drag is an enlargement of [it], in addition to a critique.” It permits him so as to add social justice and different concepts to his music efficiency.
“I believe lots of people are in that boat,” he says. It’s about making his efficiency a part of right now’s world. “Grappling with it artistically.”
Reveals
- He’s performing the present in Peterborough tonight (November 18) at Power Efficiency previous to the Toronto dates; information here.
- He’ll be at Buddies in Dangerous Instances Theatre November 26 to 29; particulars and tickets here.
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a inventive writing teacher for Ontariolearn.
