Crossover TV started in May 2018 with Avik Ray, Rich Russoman, and Chris Whitmore. These men combine their audio and visual powers with their love of music to create a showcase of the best musicians in the DC area through their YouTube channel. “Bringing people together through music” is what they hope to achieve by creating content that conveys what happens when musicians from different backgrounds and genres collaborate. 

In 2018, the trio came up with the idea of bringing different styles of bands together to perform a cover song. This went very well, and Crossover TV started to build a name for themselves. The Covid-19 pandemic stopped them in their tracks, however, as they were unable to go out and film during the lockdown.

Before COVID-19 the logistics were already difficult to balance in a live setting. The men decided to come up with a more viable idea where people could meet and discuss collaborations over email and virtual platforms. Avik Ray explains it as an unexpected angle to their initial meetings that they didn’t have in 2019. 

The Crossover TV crew initiated the process and everyone came in with their own unique sounds to add onto it. These are known as The Lockdown Sessions. These sessions gave the CTV team more ability to mix up bands that had not played together before. Avik tells me, “We were able to create new music with people from all over and come up with something that wouldn’t have otherwise happened in a live setting.”

The Perfect Blend of Beats

The trio listens to music that is currently trending and then find songs that they think are cool. Thereafter, they sit down together to discuss who they can get to do the collaborations by reaching out to an array different bands. The trio finds it to be a much easier and faster process compared to pre-lockdown. It sparked creativity and offered innovation for the DC music industry. 

Do you think this approach will remain in place or do you think you will try a combination of live and zoom calls in the future?

The group feels that their sessions will likely grow to be a combination of the two as everything operates in phases. They do, however, feel that live shows are still beneficial as bands collaborating physically together creates an energy that is not achieved virtually. COVID-19 has allowed the same level of enthusiasm online and the trio feel that it has been a creative obstruction that they have adapted to.

Future Collaborations

Will be any new collaborations outside of the Mayor’s Art Awards?

A collaboration idea was ignited by a soul singer called Deja Bell who was one of the very first people on their show and the inspiration behind the channel. The crew later bumped into her again and she brought forward the idea of doing a collaboration to send out a message of unity based on the Bob Dylan song “Blowing in the Wind”. This collaboration will be released soon. 

“There are so many beautiful experiences you can have in life when you are open to them”, says Avik. The group is working on another long-term project to produce an entire album called the “Lockdown Session”, which has been spearheaded by the band Black Dog Prowl, who will collaborate with other bands to create the album.

 What bands would you love to see collaborate?

Avik: “I would like to reach out to a British folk-rock band called Tureen Breaks. I would love to pair them up with Nas. This would be a hip-hop fusion with folk-rock collaboration.”

Chris: “Jazz musician ‘Louis Cole’ is a drum and jazz performer and Anderson Paak. who is a rapper. I would love to see him rapping over some incredibly complicated and wonderful chord changes.”

The Takeaway from Crossover TV

Their connections have grown through various interviews, including local magazine ‘DC Music Review’ with Nina Goodman’ where Avik was featured as a guest writer. 

They also came across a lady called Maryann Lombardi’ who is the director of creative affairs for the DC government. She was fascinated by what Crossover TV was trying to achieve and reached out to them to do an episode featuring different artists to perform a song that would represent the different walks of life in DC. 

Avik holds a firm belief that we all live in different pockets of society even though people live just a few blocks away from each other. He wants Crossover TV to be a platform where people can come together regardless of their differences, and do what is beautiful together. He said, “When bringing people from different backgrounds together, can you imagine that kind of a scale on global politics?”

Avik believes that his life to date has been a crossover. He was the son of immigrants from the UK and learned the beauty of both the British and Indian culture, later moving to DC to experience a range of other cultures. He believes that they can show the audience many collaborations that involve bringing together people from different backgrounds. 

COVID-19 swept the world off its feet and musicians, artists, producers, and filmmakers felt the degenerative pinch of lockdown in the music industry. It is inspiring to hear how the crew of Crossover TV has essentially ‘crossed over’ the barrier of lockdown and have successfully created new avenues to reach out to their listeners.