sKiZzOpHoNiC

sKiZzOpHoNiC is a Hip-Hop crew from Mumbai that's been in and around the Mumbai Hip-Hop scene since 2003 when there wasn't much Hip-Hop happening here. We compose, write & sing/rap all their works themselves. Having performed at various venues like Rock Bottom, DY Patil, Bangalore, World Trade Center, we're experienced & seasoned in the field, but still learning. We compose in English as well as Hindi. We've collaborated with artistes from various regions of India. Sreejith & Vinay work on compositions, arranging & programming, I, Binoy work on the melodious & structural aspect of the song. Together we form an explosive trio who believe good teamwork & respecting each other's opinions, decisions, differences and optimizing each other's abilities makes it effective, comfortable and easy to work together.

Three guys Binoy Nair, Sreejith Nair & Vinay Acharya, in college, randomly happen to get talking as fate sat them next to each other in class. Soon realized we shared the same taste in music after we heard a few Rap/Hip-Hop cassette tapes borrowed from Vinay. Finally form a Rap/Hip-Hop crew in 2003. Wanting to express ourselves, we found an outlet through Hip-Hop - A vent which helps us let out our feelings, express ourselves & make ourselves heard. We found Hip-Hop to be the most effective form of communication through music. We began in a quite primitive & stone-age manner. Our initial recordings would be on a Cassette Tape Recorder with beats drummed on cardboard boxes. We subsequently started working & bought computers. The Internet helps us in a huge way. We write our own verses. Sreejith & Vinay would program & arrange beats, while "I" Binoy work on the melodious aspect along with the boys. Together we write our own lyrics as well. The tools are primarily a MIDI Keyboard & music programming & arranging softwares. We get together to design & conceptualize every track to be recorded, a day prior to the final recording. Hip-Hop gives us flexibility & creative liberty, composing our own music, writing our own verses allowed us to rap about what we, as individuals, feel deep down inside. We saw Hip-Hop wasnt widely accepted in India, that made it difficult, but not impossible & that had to be changed. India doesnt really have a band culture, Bollywood is primarily the music of the masses. Most good musicians that once had a band, today, make music for Bollywood, which is good cos it means good Bollywood music. But we wanna be recognized as a Band. So we need to change a few things out there. Year 2005, we christen their band sKiZzOpHoNiC, derived from two words, schizophrenia meaning split personality & phonic for sound. Our influences come from multiple genres like Hip-Hop, Rock, Classical, Jazz, Lounge, Trip-Hop, Pop, etc. Their influences include Tupac, NaS, Snoop Dogg, Rakim, Outkast, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem, Michael Jackson, Lupe Fiasco, Outlandish, Gorillaz, Ryan Leslie, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, Dr Dre, DJ Premier, Kishore Kumar, RD Burman, AR Rehman, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent & the likes. We sometimes experiment fusing different forms of music & incorporating different kinds of sounds. Having worked on a commercial Hip-Hop album titled They See (Desi) Revolution with DNOAX, a crew consisting of about 25 rappers, produced by an independent label called Desi Media Networks (DMN), we have one album to our credit. The album is currently being promoted on Radio stations & TV channels across the UK & the USA. sKiZzOpHoNiCs own debut album is currently in the works. The album promises a lot of variety with a lot of experimentation being done & a variety of techniques & styles being used. Initially we made only English music, they slowly started fusing English & Hindi, giving it an urban appeal. When we talk, we usually mix both languages and it sounds fun, so why not do that in our music as well, you know. We burn the midnight oil at BPO/KPOs, also completing our studies along with working on our music. Do what u love most, the way u love it & believe in yourself, or, get stuck in the rat-race, because you wont get another shot. At 60, you dont want to regret anything saying, Oh I shouldve done this, I shouldve done that. This is what we like & this is what we do best. Well have a lot of stories to tell the next generation. Weve come a long way.. still a long way to go.. still evolving.

We regularly played live at a club called "Rock Bottom" in Mumbai, performed in a club in Bangalore as part of promotions for an album we were working on, then at the DY Patil stadium.. we've absolutely loved the experience and the audience response. Everytime a few people from the audience came backstage to tell us how they loved our music, we got thrilled to bits, those for us are very special moments.

AR Rahman, Outlandish, Fort Minor, Outkast, Gnarls Barkley, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Outkast, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, Ryan Leslie, Creed, Metallica, Coldplay, 3 Doors Down, Savage Garden, Sting, Craig David. We have multiple influences from multiple genres across cultural boundaries.

We use a MIDI Keyboard, Fruity Loops & Nuendo for sequencing, programming & arranging.

Because of trying to make a living & taking care of daily routines, people never get a chance to do what they're good at & what they're gifted with. Slowly time passes by and you get old, still trying to make a living & taking care of daily routines. What changed? Nothing. You got stuck in the flow of things. Different people have different talents. If everyone honed it, we'd all be happy & content. Gotta make it big, gotta swim against the current.