Empty Café is a fusion of not just two instruments, but cultures and genres of music, originating in opposite corners of the world. Empty Café started off in the winter of 2007, when Vinay Kaushal accidentally went to college one day to find that flautist Gandhaar Amin studied in the same class as him. They started playing together in Vinay’s bedroom after they found out that that their musical tastes were surprisingly similar. In less than a month, they had already made a song together, which they still claim to be the best song they’ve ever made – ‘Wounded’. Thus, Empty Café was born!
With influences ranging from John Scofield to John Petrucci, Vinay’s repertoire covers genres of blues, jazz and funk. Vinay started learning the guitar in school, and it soon became a big enough part of his life to take it up as a profession. That’s when he went to the prestigious GIT, a part of Musicians Institute, Hollywood, one of the premier contemporary music institutes in the world. Since his return from Los Angeles, he has contributed a lot to the band from the knowledge earned from his stint at MI.