Each day this week, we're spotlighting the homegrown budding talent sourced via KCRW's Young Creators Project, a community arts mentorship platform celebrating the creative work of SoCal residents under 21.
Yorba Linda’s Kaiden Surti gravitated toward instrumentation at age five. The now 13-year-old tabla percussionist, violinist, and composer learned tabla first, which Surti notes was inspired by his Indian grandparents. The following year, he picked up the violin which he feels connects more to his American side. Soon thereafter, he was itching to combine the two. Enter: His dad’s old MacBook and GarageBand.
“One time I was in my parents bedroom,” Surti tells KCRW’s Novena Carmel, “and we had this old MacBook from when my dad was in college. On it, there was GarageBand, which is an app where you can record music on and where you can arrange different songs. So then I started fiddling around with it, recording the tabla and the violin together. I'd go and record the violin, press stop, and then start over and add a tabla layer on top of it. And they support each other.”
Surti’s Young Creators Project entry, “We Beat Together,” showcases an artist who has mastered this approach. The violin sounds robust and urgent with the tabla beats building steadily to meet the track’s frenetic peaks. And with just the right amount of electronic enhancements, “We Beat Together” wouldn’t be at all out of place on your next dance floor excursion. Watch it and its impeccable accompanying vistas above. Then, press play on the button to your left to hear more from Surti and Carmel about birthday projects, jumping fences, and the art of layering (both in music and in life).
More: Check out our 2024 featured Young Creators
CREDITS:
KCRW Music Director: Anne Litt
Interviewer: Novena Carmel
Producers: Liv Surnow and Anna Chang
Recording Engineer: Katie Gilchrest
Mix Engineer: Nick Lampone
Audio Editor: Zeke Reed
Digital Producer: Marion Hodges
Digital Editorial Manager: Andrea Domanick
