Join this drum circle in Kochi if you love percussion

“It all started because of some madness. My answer to all your questions is just that,” smiles DJ and percussionist Kimo (Bejoy Joy), as he raves about his dream project in Kerala — the drum circle.

Every week, a few percussionists from different parts of Kochi come together, sit in a circle and jam together. The notes rumble, roar and roll off the instruments such as djembe, conga, hang drum, darbuka, didgeridoo and cajon, in a rare synchronised rhythm.

You cannot listen to the same music again, it is never the same, neither are the musicians, the rhythms or notes. If you can strike a few notes, they will hand you an instrument and you can also be part of this frenetic musical revolution. Because at this drum circle, it is all about celebrating beats and rhythms of all kinds.

“There really are no bad drummers. Everyone has a sense of rhythm and musicality. Even if you don’t know music, you can join,” explains Kimo, who is based in Kochi. If you join the language of the drummers, you can dance to their beats, because every time they jam, it is a celebration.

The drum circle is held in Fort Kochi twice every week. On Wednesdays, musicians gather at David Hall and Fort Kochi beach on Thursdays. It is organised by Kochi-based music company Art House Music Labs.

“The idea is to develop a street music culture,” says Kimo adding that it all began in 2014 when he experienced the joy of being part of a drum circle for the first time in Rishikesh, on the banks of the River Ganges. “That changed everything. And when I came back to Kerala, I wanted to start something like that. Street music is still an alien concept here,” he says.

So he started the drum circle in Fort Kochi in 2016. He was joined by Hari Krishnan, Nekheeb Sha, Arun Kumar and Sajeer Khan, who were his bandmates in Rhythm Circle, a Kochi-based band. “We used to gather and play. Sometimes travelling musicians would also join us,” he recalls.

However, life had other plans and the drum circle faded away, although the dream to have this music culture continued to brew in his mind.

Eight years later, in early 2024, he restarted the gathering, along with his former bandmate Hari Krishnan. What spurred it? The dream was always there, he says. He adds that it was the time he spent in Ukraine during the war that made him realise that he should revive the drum circle once he was back in Kerala.

Kimo had gone to Ukraine to be with his wife Natalia Terekhova, a Ukrainian, and their baby during the time of the war. “The street music scene was active there even during the war. During the weekend, musicians would come out and jam and it was something that brought some semblance of normalcy. When I came back I wanted to start the street music culture,” Kimo recalls.

Today a collective of 31 people gather with their intruments: they have been meeting regularly for the past four months. “Half of the musicians were strangers, but we are all now united because of music,” says Kimo.

Avinash Kurungot, an advocate and a native of Kozhikode, explains how he joined the group. “Once I shifted to Kerala from Bengaluru I was trying to connect with the music circle here. That is when I came across this drum circle. I like the fact that it is where percussionists can go and jam,” he says.

Currently people come from different districts to be part of the drum circle. “I hope that one day there will be drum circles in all the districts and that even when I am not here, this tradition would go on,” says Kimo.

If you want to experiment with drumming out rhythms, all you need to do is just show up.

The drum circle is held in Fort Kochi twice every week from 6.30pm to 8pm. On Wednesdays, musicians gather at David Hall and Fort Kochi beach on Thursdays. For details contact: 9895162838, 8137096664; Instagram: @rhythmcircleindia; email: arthousemusiclabs@gmail.com