Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality
(L-R: Andy Bauer, Chris St. Hilaire, myself, Carter Yasutake and Mayteana Morales)
“Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality make some of the best music coming out of NYC. Not the best Afrobeat, not the best post-highlife, not the best South African psychedelic disco. Some of the best music, period.”
-Saxon Baird, Afropop Worldwide
I started Low Mentality in 2012. It’s my version of what Donny Hathaway once referred to as “the totality of music.” Low Mentality music draws from all the various sounds and ideas I am most fascinated by to make music that can bring all types of people together. Our songs are heavily influenced by Fela, reggae and dancehall, the great rock and R&B voices, modal and early electric jazz and 90s hip-hop. When I write songs for the band, I look for common points between seemingly disparate styles and find ways to fit them together organically. Over the years we’ve performed regularly in NYC, with scattered out-of-town shows and a lineup that has evolved as the concept has grown.
In addition to releasing a full length LP in 2016 and a handful of singles and videos before and after, an expanded version of Low Mentality served as the backing band for Ethiopian music legend Hailu Mergia, and we even contributed a School House Rock style original song to a series of educational shorts produced by Morgan Spurlock called We The Voters. A number of recordings have been in development since, to be shared when the timing is right..
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