San Francisco’s Rupa Marya, a doctor by day, mixes Argentinean tangos, Latin cumbia, Indian ragas and Gypsy swing into a French cafe music with a vintage cabaret vibe and arresting lyrics.

Rupa was born to Indian parents and raised in the U.S., India and the south of France. She founded Rupa & The April Fishes through a closely tied arts community in San Francisco and started playing the bars in the barrio, attempting to forge a sound that would bring a strangely segregated city with a radical past into a joint space of engagement.

Inspired by street music and the ethos of public art around the world, bandleader Marya started composing music in multiple languages in order to investigate what runs beneath apparent differences. In a country where space for public noncommercial gathering is incredibly limited and shrinking, she sought out like-minded mischievous musicians to create opportunities for artistic dialogue. She found in drummer Aaron Kierbel a longtime creative counterpart who provides the essential heartbeat to the sonic adventures, and together with the rest of the band, they are creating music that is bridging divides and pointing to the value of living music.

– SH; Kirkland Performance Center