Brandon Colaco and his didgeridoo | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Although Bengaluru-based Brandon Colaco has been playing the didgeridoo since 2011, he stopped performing around 2019. “I decided to stop performing and start learning music, working with friends and other musicians,” he says over a phone call.

This eventually evolved into the didgeridoo dance music act Two Eyed Wizard, whose first show took place at Gillies Redefined’s club venue Fandom in Koramangala in 2022. “We saw about 350-400 people there, which was a great attendance,” Colaco says.

There was some turmoil along the way, including a family loss, which caused the cast to “rethink” The Two Eyed Wizard. This resulted in the droning, mysterious boom of the didgeridoo being presented in a more “interactive and relatable form” to audiences in bars, festivals, restaurants and other venues.

Now, after performances across India – and most recently, nearly 80 shows in Goa – Two Eyed Wizard is going international. Colaco will perform a solo performance at the Tribal Elec Festival in Andely-les-Marais, France on August 10, followed by another set at the Fat Festival in Odemira, Portugal between August 29 and September 1. While Two Eyed Wizard has undoubtedly been a regular live performer, Colaco says it was the release of the project’s album tuwakituwa in 2023 which helped attract global attention.

Brandon Colaco and his didgeridoo | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Across five songs, Two Eyed Wizard use the didgeridoo to draw on trance, psychedelic, ambient and Indian classical music, among other genres. It helps that Colaco also associates the didgeridoo with Konacol (the art of vocally performing percussion syllables in South Indian Carnatic music), which has probably never been heard before around the world.

He says, “I have my own style of playing the didgeridoo that I have developed over many years, mostly because I design the instrument. To make a variety of instruments you need variety to play them all and only then is that variety Konacol Which has just come to me. Applying this to the didgeridoo is a wonderful thing because you get complex rhythmic compositions in a new sound.

Colaco always considered the didgeridoo a “sacred instrument”, to the extent that he often felt annoyed, disappointed or isolated if the audience spoke during his performances or ate or drank during his set. Taught by the late Mukesh Dhiman, a renowned didgeridoo maker and teacher in Rishikesh who had DIY workshops since the 1970s that attracted musicians from around the world, Colaco says he developed a love for the instrument early on. Had also learned to prepare. “He would say just close your eyes, think about God and play.”

Brandon Colaco and his didgeridoo | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In Europe, the Two Eyed Wizard set will be based on Indian classical sounds, including Tanpura as well as Konacol, “I’m thinking of using more Indian influences in my set. I’m practicing being more interactive with my audience and trying to engage them Konacol To properly bring this didgeridoo India flavor into the mix. My aim is to put this Indian didgeridoo sound on the map.

More shows in Europe are likely to be confirmed to keep Colaco busy during his 35-day tour. Given that he is also an engineer, a farmer and a visual artist, he is confident that there will be a lot to do.

Once he’s back, another single follows tuwakituwa The collection of songs is scheduled to be released later this year. Another focus is to build a more organized community within India for didgeridoo artists and fans.

“I realized that this community is going to support me tomorrow. We have a community in Goa which has around 40-50 didgeridoo players. I just did a workshop in Pondicherry, so there is another community there with about 20 players. There is a very strong community in Bangalore and we will be organizing meetings next month. This year, we want to establish this community and organize a festival of didgeridoo maker players.”

Brandon Colaco and his didgeridoo | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement