Ankur Tewari Hits the Road for MTV ‘Sound Trippin’

Mumbai-based singer-songwriter and music supervisor Ankur Tewari. Photo: Courtesy of MTV India

It was only earlier in October – while the country is in the thick of fighting the spread of the coronavirus – that singer-songwriter, composer and music supervisor Ankur Tewari stepped out to helm MTV Sound Trippin’, the music and travel show that made its comeback earlier this week. “It’s not something I’ve ever done before in my life. You had to be prepared on all levels. As we got into the groove of things, it got exciting,” he says about shooting and traveling during a pandemic.

Tewari explains that he’s had a fairly productive time at home in quarantine, so when the offer arrived to reboot Sound Trippin’, the artist knew he was also working on a show with a legacy of sorts. The inaugural season was hosted by composer Sneha Khanwalkar, while season two in 2013 was jointly hosted by composer/multi-instrumentalist Karsh Kale and desi bass music DJ-producer Nucleya. Tewari says, “They all brought in their personalities to the show – that was the only thing I was starting with – that I have to bring myself to the show.”

Describing his role in MTV Sound Trippin’ as one that amalgamated all his roles in the past – singer, songwriter, lyricist and music supervisor – Tewari headed out to meet and interact with artists in Goa, Uttarakhand, Jodhpur and even Mumbai. In the shooting span of 25 days where the camera crews instinctively followed Tewari (“I’d do it in one go and not repeat it, so they brought a bunch of cameras and the crew was really sweet,” he says) work with Kumaoni, Rajasthani and Goan musicians. “We took Portuguese elements from Goa, Kumaoni elements from Uttarakhand, Rajasthani elements from Jodhpur and in Bombay we had some interesting experiments. I was trying to contribute things that I know and everything else, I was letting it flow from experts,” Tewari says.

Ask the Ghalat Family frontman about how he found something new to dig into in the long-established music space in Mumbai and he remains somewhat tight-lipped. “I can tell you that Mumbai is the only track I didn’t write myself. The plot to the Mumbai episode is something that stemmed from what I noticed when I first came to Mumbai and I got some people to write it for me,” he adds. With four songs created out of four episodes, all music videos and accompanying tracks will be released on streaming platforms.

With Sound Trippin’ airing every Friday at 7 pm on MTV, Tewari is now on to more supervision work for streaming giants such as Netflix as well as recording an EP. “I’ve recorded a single as well and just have to make a video for that, don’t know when I’m putting it out just yet […] Being indoors has made me very productive, so I have really pushed for interesting material coming out of me. I hope everyone likes it,” he says.