Mystik Vibes is a dynamic cross-cultural trio that presents Indian music in a contemporary context.

Based in Bangalore, the band consists of Hindustani tabla player and hybrid percussionist Muthu Kumar, Carnatic flautist Amith Nadig and contemporary pianist Aman Mahajan.

MUTHU KUMAR
tabla + hybrid percussion

AMITH NADIG
bamboo flutes

AMAN MAHAJAN
piano / electric piano

Each musician is also a solo artist in his own right, who has performed and collaborated internationally, across the musical spectrum. As a result, the band's sound, though rooted in Indian music, is tinged with traditional and contemporary musical influences from around the world.

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Mystik Vibes has a history of performing at music venues, concert halls and private events across India, including NCPA (Bombay), Chowdiah Memorial Hall (Bangalore), Prashanti Nilayam (Puttaparthi), Bharat Nivas (Auroville), and many more.

Mystik Vibes has also released two albums: The Shadow Tree (2012) and Fourth Dimension (2017).

THe shadow tree

Muthu Kumar, Amith Nadig and Aman Mahajan met each other in the early 2010s as active components of the live music circuit in Bangalore. Recognising a mutual respect for each other’s musical style, and the possibility of something new and creatively interesting coming out of the combination, Muthu spearheaded the formation of the group Mystik Vibes.

Hindustani and Carnatic approaches are both used in tandem. Aman was introduced to the intricacies of Indian rhythm and melody by Muthu and Amith, and in turn added his own touches by contributing harmonic and melodic aspects to the compositions.

For a while, visiting French jazz bassist and resident of Pondicherry, Mishko M’ba was also part of the band, and they recorded their first album as a quartet in 2012. The Shadow Tree consists mainly of compositions by Muthu, arranged and recorded by the quartet.

FOURTH DIMENSION

Five years and many performances later, the quartet recorded their second studio album, Fourth Dimension.

THE TRIO

With Mishko’s departure from India, Mystik Vibes reinvented itself as a trio and continue to perform and grow in their music, honing their compositions and sound to fit this new framework. Having played together for so many years, the group has developed many instinctive ways of reacting to one another as a unit, and their performances are highly interactive, immersive, and explosive in nature.

PRESS

The Shadow Tree can be broadly described as having a jazz-fusion framework, but there are many pleasures within the album not contained by that descriptor. There are bass and piano solos that fit squarely within the raga of the song being played, but offer a completely new shade of the raga; Amith’s flute often leads compositions in terms of melody, but also indulges in various experiments; there’s percussion that both provides ambient ‘feel’, as well as a foot-tapping quality.

Neha Mujumdar | The Hindu | 03.10.2012

PERFORMANCES