This story is part of True/False Conversations, a series of in-depth interviews with the filmmakers of this year’s True/False Film Fest. Find the rest of them here.
Every year, the True/False Film Fest brings a lineup of dozens of innovative music acts. True/False Music Director Ashwini Mantrala recently sat down with KBIA's Abigail Zorn to talk about what's coming up from this year's music lineup at the festival. He says he's excited to bring jazz and hip-hop to the forefront of the festival along with about 100 other groups.
Here's an excerpt from their conversation:
Abigail Zorn: So I guess we'll start with how exactly do you, like, curate the lineup for True/False every year?
Ashwini Mantrala: Like, as far as, like, a thematic undertone goes, that stuff usually comes, like, within the process itself. It's never really something you know, out the gate where you say, like, oh, what I really want this lineup to resemble is, like, you know, X, Y and Z, or like, I want it to really carry these notes or whatever. I mean, you might have that in the back of your mind, but usually, you know, we just start with like, Hey, this is something I've been listening to a lot lately. And, you know, I feel like this could be a good addition to, you know, kind of what, not only like maybe this lineup is starting to look like, but also sort of feeds into, like, you know, kind of the trails that we've built with, you know, the music program over the last few years. And you know, we have a core audience that we want to kind of keep, you know, sort of engaged and interested, while bringing in new people too.
Zorn: So, speaking of the theme and international headliners, I saw online, correct me if I'm saying this wrong, Shabaka?
Mantrala: Got it.
Zorn: Okay, I saw he's the opening night showcase, and his is kind of like the theme that kind of set the tone for the rest of the music
Mantrala: We're presenting the showcase in collaboration with Dismal Niche Arts and the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series, you know, he's kind of going through, like, a very publicized, sort of, like, seat change in his career, where he's moving away from the saxophone, which is something that he was mostly known for, kind of doing these big, sort of, like bombastic, you know, kind of brass bands, and way more, like up tempo type music. And now he's switching into this far more meditative, sort of contemplative, like kind of flute and sort of like ambient, sort of serene, kind of part of his era.
Zorn: Would you say that there's a specific genre or style that's probably more prevalent this year?
Mantrala: This is our jazz year. You know, this is our jazz and hip-hop year, for sure.
Zorn: If you had to pick one that you would say is probably the most unique this year. Who would you say it is?
Mantrala: I was going to say I'm going to cheat. I'm going to cheat. The first I want to talk about is a gentleman who goes by the name Takuya Nakamura, he's a Japanese expat and has been, you know, living stateside for a minute now. First and foremost, he is a trumpet man, you know, kind of in the tradition of, you know, miles, or any one of those amazing artists, CCM artists from like, the 60s or 70s. But what he does, most, you know, relevant to what we're doing out here, too. On top of just being an exceptional instrumentalist and producer, is he's also a DJ. And he leans a lot into, like, these, kind of, like hard bass heavy, like UK jungle, you know, Drum and Bass garage kind of sounds like, you know, this sort of like rave music, but not to be one, to kind of like, you know, sort of lose the plot. He also incorporates his trumpet play into those DJ sets. So, he'll be, like spinning, and he'll be, he'll be getting in his like, deep bag, and then, on a whim, we'll just pull out the trumpet and just start lacing notes down over it. Another artist, kind of, in a somewhat similar vein, that I want to talk about is Josh Johnson. Josh is a saxophonist, again, deep collaborations. He won a couple Grammys now, but a solo craft, which is what he's obviously bringing out to this situation, is really, you know, the thing that's, again, I can't wait to see people just experience it in real time. He's, you know, saxophonist. He brings loop pedals into it, but, you know, and so it seems kind of like a minimal setup at first, just watching one guy with the saxophone and some pedals kind of just like, begin, you know, the sort of building blocks of making songs. But as it kind of keeps going, and as he's, like, sort of keeps incorporating, you know, each additional layer of looping, and then he'll add in a couple more notes, and it becomes this really just amazing, blissful, massive, sort of like, yeah, jazz and soul, sort of inspired sound.
