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'Music
is the common thread, but it's friendship that holds us together' |
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| Published
on 31 March 2007 |
They
are the winners of what is arguably the first radio talent hunt in India- Swarathma,
the 'fusion' band from the Garden City of Bangalore who stood way above the 125
bands that started off for the RC-Live, Radio City Talent hunt. The band comprises
Vasu Dixit, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist; Jishnu Dasgupta the bass vocalist
and bass guitarist; Pavan Kumar, back-up vocalist and Indian percussionist; Sanjeev
Nayak, the lead violinist, Montry Manual -for drums and percussions; 19 year old
Varun is the lead guitarist. The band considers Jishnu its de facto spokesperson.
Radioandmusic.com's
Tarachand Wanvari caught up with the band during one of their bi-weekly practice
sessions in Bangalore and the band, through Jishnu, shared some insights into
how they work and gel together. Excerpts - Excerpts:
How did the
band form?
The band came together three years ago, Vasu and another friend
Abinanth, who doesn't play for the band anymore got together and formed a band
called Twin Daffodils. They were from different colleges in Mysore. They saw Pawan
playing the percussions on a college desk and asked him to join the band. He learnt
the various instruments, the table, the mridangam, etc. So Vanu, Pawan and Abinanth
were doing the rounds of colleges enjoying themselves. They met Arjun who was
a classical violinist and he too joined the band.
Then Vasu met up with Arjun who was a classically trained violinist, a guy who
would actually sit down and play the violin. They were the original guys. Then
Vasu went on to do his film making course, at the National Institute of Design.
But once he came back, they took it on again in Bangalore. They met Montry who
handles the drums. Montry is a graphic designer, and Vasu met him in the course
of work and they started jamming. The first real success came by way of Radio
City Live in 2006. At that time, it was just a Bangalore competition. Swarathma
won the contest then and it was great. This line up has now been stable for about
eight to nine months. How
did the name Swarathma come to be?
Abinanth
was responsible for the name. Instead of just being cool, he wanted the name to
mean something. Swarathma was a way to touch people's souls through music. Quite
literally translated, it means the soul of the note.
| Are
domains clearly defined in your band?
There isn't any such demarcation.
More than a group of musicians that come here to play, we are a group of friends
who do something that each enjoys. And even when we are on stage, we look at each
other and the music happens because of that, and not the other way around. Though
we did come together initially because of the music, the reason we are together
today is because we are such good friends.
However, if you were to look
at it from the purely objective point of view, Vasu does much of the song writing
and the arrangemets, Montry and Pawan do the photography and design work, Sanjeev
does a lot of the online stuff... |
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And
you?
I end up as a sort of spokesperson, though that is not by design.
But it could be Vasu who could be doing a lot of the talking, more than anyone
else. So
friendship holds you together, it's the binding force?
Music is the common
thread, the foundation, but it's the friendship that holds us together. Playing
music is what we do together 40 per cent of the time that we spend together. The
rest of the time together we enjoy as much as playing.
 What
do you think differentiates you from the other bands, why do you think you won
the all India RC-Live contest this year?
I think that we are more than
a group of people that make music. When we are on stage together, we are greater
than the sum of our parts. Which means that if you take Pawan as an individual
percussionist or me as an individual bassist or Varun as an individual guitarist,
we wouldn't be earth-shattering, but if you put us together on one stage, doing
something with a common objective, then there is this crackling energy on stage
that's hard to replicate for any other group of musicians that are bound together
purely by music. It's that strong bond that we share. We did get some feedback
from the RC-Live judges that it was great to observe the energy that we had on
stage. It's not easy just to be energetic on stage, it's only when you realise
that your energy is resonating with the guys playing with you. We have a connect
with each other to realise, to feel the moment like, when a number is at the final
stage. If the audience wants to listen to music alone, there are brilliant records
available, they may as well have listened to it at home. The reason they are there
is to be a part of something that is electric, that is alive. And that's the magic
of live shows. We have gotten there and we will keep getting better.
I
notice that you don't have a keyboard player. Why?
It's by design, because,
we have a violinist. The violin takes care of a lot of the filling elements that
are required. A keyboard would just be too much. The sound would get a little
confusing. Where
is the classical genre heading to in the Bollywood music industry?
Pure
classical music no longer exists as there are not many takers for it. Today, what
is available is fusion of classical with different genres, like we have a bit
of western, pop with classical. Such fusions do not hold any emotions and the
song seems cluttered as there are too many things infused in the classical one.
What
do you think of the music scene in India? I mean vis-à-vis bands, do you
think that they are appreciated here? Where does India stand?
There is
always space, maybe a small space, for honest original expression. Of late, there
has been an explosion in the number of bands, especially in New Delhi. In fact,
Delhi people are saying that there are too many shows. Of late, audiences in India
have become more open to original songs that are not by their favourite western
bands. Which is why you have bands which are as big as Pentagram and other brilliant
bands. The crossover has happened because of a select group of music connoisseurs
who have been brought up on a diet of Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd, who know what
chord progression means and know the difference between Alternate and Rock music.
These are pretty much the kind of people who appreciate Indian Rock as it stands
today. But
the listening public at large?
To cross over to the listening public at
large, you need to have your own identity. An identity is not going to be formed
by copying your favourite band note for note. That's great, good musicmanship,
but that is not an identity. The future for a band in India is if it's able to
carve its own identity.
What
is the identity that you have chosen to carve?
I believe that is for the
public to decide, but we must feel the pulse of the Indian youth. Ironically,
this is very rooted in Indian tradition while being very open at the same time
to incorporate western elements in the way of life. How
lucrative is it to perform abroad as against in India?
Abroad, people
appreciate Indian music a lot. With the keen interest of westerners in our music
and improvisation of Indian taals and ragas, there is an amazing response to classical
music today. Although it is not a new phenomenon, as even in concerts held about
20 years ago, the whole auditorium used to be filled with non-Indians. Foreign
jazz musicians are inclined towards Indian classical music and want to learn our
music. It is only now that Bollywood music is picking up pace abroad. So
do you think that the music scene in India is improving?
Very much so.
The fact that in the RC-Live contest there were around 125 bands which got to
showcase their original material itself is a giant leap. I think we are riding
a very positive wave. Where
do you see yourselves once you cut the record for EMI? Over the next one or two
years?
Obviously, the album is going to give us a lot of visibility. The
objective is to carry our music to as many people as possible. I expect that we'll
do a lot more live performances which we enjoy. We haven't really thought so much
about it. We now have enough material for about two and half to three albums.
We will continue working on it and getting better. Right
now we are working on the modalities with EMI. We have a fair idea about the songs
that we would like on the album, but we are still in discussions. Which
is your all-time favorite band?
Speaking for the band, our ideal would
be Indian Ocean. Why?
We are in great awe of them and we are great fans. Its not only their music,
but the way they believe in themselves. We've
had the opportunity of seeing them live for the first time when they performed
in Delhi for the RC-Live. The first thing that we liked about them is that they
are together on stage. They are four musicians who are very clearly close friends.
The second thing is that their compositions are very highly evolved. There are
compositions that make you get up and dance and there are compostions which make
you think. You are moving from one artiste to the other, watching what he's going
to do next. | 
