Madboy/Mink talk new EP, making live performances 'theatrical', and reinventing their sound

At electronic act Madboy/Mink’s launch show for their new EP Persons.Elastic.Superior.Fantastic (PESF) at The Humming Tree, Bengaluru, there were old TV sets, cinematic interludes and vocalist Mink, also known as Saba Azad, performing songs from German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s musical The Threepenny Opera.

All this for a crowd that was dancing and taking in the theatricalities, all at once. The music had now transformed out of the somewhat overplayed two-member presentation – Mink on vocal duties and Imaad Shah (Madboy) on guitars, vocals and synth – to become a full band, complete with additional percussion and a horn section. Shah says, “It’s very refreshing sonically to broaden the palette.” The sound is complex and yet funky, but moves away from the electro-swing of ‘Taste Your Kiss’ and ‘Alley Cats’ to atmospheric, psychedelic rock and pop.

PESF is in many ways an EP where ’60s Psychedelia meets modern electronic elements and a handful of funk. Songs like ‘Laika’ reference the first dog that went to outer space, while ‘Comets’ and ‘Plastic Elastic’ (featuring an uncharacteristic appearance from late keyboardist Karan Joseph) are wavy and certainly Madboy/Mink’s lengthiest tracks. Shah name-checks everyone from Velvet Underground and Grateful Dead to Asha Puthli and Thai psychedelic, as well as space pop, which he calls “Space Age Bachelor Pad Music”.

There’s very little doubt that the synthesizer is at the centre of this four-track, 22-minute EP. Shah explains, “With some of this new music, the guitar plays a slightly different role from what it does in some of my more guitar-led music or my roots as a singer-songwriter-guitarist. These songs were definitely conceptualised on the synthesizer first. That said, the use of the guitar might be more subtle, but it’s no less important. We’d love to see what 60s psychedelia would sound like played on synths, or if Hendrix had played a Moog or something.”

In true 60s fashion, Madboy/Mink would rather leave their weird EP title to find a meaning of its own among listeners. Shah, however, adds, “Personally, it perhaps has something to do with the idea of elasticity. Accepting experiences and staying open and receptive to the more surreal, stranger aspects of things.” The duo have certainly been drawing from stranger sonic terrain, packing in mood shifts and even more subtlety as both producers and songwriters.

That explains Azad and Shah’s choice to push even further into building a bridge between their identities as actors and musicians. They’ve had dancers in their live shows before, but just like their full band performances, the theatrical side of Madboy/Mink remained largely confined to Azad’s expressions, delivery and dancing. In previous interviews, they’ve expressed an interest in scaling up to a cohesive performance ‘act’ on stage. Shah says, “We’ve started to give more importance to conceptualising and rehearsing our show as though it was a play. We haven’t yet reached the intense level of dedication and thoroughness that we want to, but we’re getting closer.”

Shah directed Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera late last year, which included Azad in its cast, alongside Arunoday Singh, Bugs Bhargava, Delna Mody and more. He says the rehearsals and constant focus put them “into the zone”. “Another big thing is the use of the space. At the moment we’re working on and conceptualising our big live show where we use lights, costume, the stage space, band, visuals, and all the other elements to really feed in to the music, become one with it and hopefully transport it to another level. Of course, working on a musical also makes you really sharpen your ‘tool-kit’ as a performer. Also Brecht’s social commentary and wonderful, biting songwriting has always been an inspiration,” he says.

Off the stage however, Madboy/Mink initially were adamant that they’d rather fans consume and stream the music on its own, which meant there weren’t any music videos across their two existing EPs – All Ball and Union Farm. “But that thinking has changed. There are things being cooked up. More on that in a bit,” says Shah. With the transition in full flow and a new direction on the horizon, Azad’s health problems have put off plans of a launch tour that was scheduled through July and August, but Madboy/Mink are now writing more material to follow up PESF.

Since The Threepenny Opera took up much of their time last year, Shah says their main focus is now on Madboy/Mink. “You could say it’s almost as though there are a few different Madboy/Minks. Given the amount of sounds and musical styles we experiment with, it’s becoming very important for us to have our audiences listen to all this stuff in the right way and at the right time. Reinventing ourselves is something which happens repeatedly without us thinking about it too much. We’re just finding ways in which to channelise all this creative energy well.”

Listen to ‘ Comets ’ on Soundcloud and  Persons.Elastic.Superior.Fantastic  on Apple Music