Spacey, psychedelic, rusty, and yet spiritual. Speaking in ragas and taals, Advaita’s music tries to dissolve the difference between the being and the soul. Shubham Nag catches up with India’s latest musical sensation for a freewheeling chat on everything that makes music.
Your website states that behind every song, there’s a story. So, what’s the story behind Advaita?
Chayan Adhikari (Western Vocals): Kisne likhi thi yeh line? (laughs)
Abhishek Mathur (Guitars): Lot’s of stories. For each one of us, it will be a different version, different aspects. It’s eight distinctively different elements.
Generally, we are used to seeing one cover art for an album. But for your second album The Silent Sea, we can see a set of illustrations, one each for all the songs. Why?
Chayan: It wasn’t on a need basis. The artist we worked with, Dev, we sat with him and came upon this idea where he wanted to artistically interpret each and every song. He was very much into the music… it wasn’t a scenario where we just hired him to do the job. He was very much a part of the process of the album coming out eventually. So, a lot of it is his interpretation, mixed with our feedback, and which eventually culminated into this album cover which comprised ten different display pictures.
You guys started out in 2004, and your website mentions that Advaita was formed during a transitional phase in the Indian music scene. A time when the focus was shifting from primarily live gig bands to bands which compose original music. So, what do you think brought about the change in India?
Abhishek: At that time, there were some bands who concentrated on creating their original music, and suddenly a whole lot of bands started following their footsteps. I don’t know if it was a coordinated switch, but it just happened at the same time. I don’t know if there could be any definite answers to why that change occurred.
Your brand of music demands detailed attention from the listener. And considering how concentration spans of the general audiences have drastically reduced in today’s date, how difficult is it to get the music across?
Chayan: Surprisingly, I think we have been lucky that way.
Abhishek: I think that’s a good question because not always is the audience in the mood to listen to the music carefully. Catering to different crowds, we also respond differently.
Ujwal Nagar (Hindustani Vocals): Sometimes, you feel the pain of a concert; the disconnect. You go about for 2-3 songs, hoping that one song will pick it up… that will make a certain amount of connection with the audience… and sometimes,waha se gig apka uth jata hai, recreate ho jata hai…
Chayan: But again, on the other hand, the audiences are also very smart these days, you know. They may have short concentration spans, but we have gathered a lot of following, and that includes people from different sections and age groups…
Ujwal: Yes, that’s also what me and Chayan were discussing while on our way to the gig… zaruri nahi hai ki every time we need to crack a joke…2 gaane baad, 1 joke maar do, just to get back their attention…aisa nahi hai… because the audience is smart now. It’s not that they don’t listen to much music, they listen to a lot of music, of different variety…
Gaurav Chintamani (Bass): I agree that people do have short attention spans, but if you can grab their attention, then they do not lack in patience. So, whether in the context of a CD or a gig, once you grab the attention, then you can build on that. And I think our music sort of serves that aspect, rather than gimmicking and grabbing some eye balls…
Mohit Lal (Tabla): Because at the end of the day, it’s 8 different elements, you know. So, that helps as a catalyst in helping the audience anticipate what’s going to be next.
“I am just a little taken aback, I was expecting one of those ‘when was the band formed’ sort of interviews, but this is serious stuff at 12:30 in the night…”
Talking of 8 different elements, quite a few critics have vouched for you, saying that Advaita is that perfect blend of Indian classical music and Western music, whereas most fusion bands in India tend to fall over on either side of the line of control. How do you achieve that ‘perfect blend’?
Gaurav: In a nutshell, it’s about not relying too much on your virtuosity of any one element in the band or any one sonic element. For example, we know about certain tracks, like the one with the vocal texture of Suhail saab, we know that it will work in certain pockets, and they are not used in a gimmicky way. Strictly speaking, in case of fusion music, I really want the audience and critics to step away from it, irrespective of whether it’s working or not working. If a sarangi has a texture of a different sonic space, it is chosen particularly to put a certain point across.
Mohit: It’s like, if a particular song doesn’t require a particular person or a particular instrument, we actually…
Gaurav: …step away from the chorus (laughs)
Ujwal: You know, we have been fortunate enough because there are many talented musicians who haven’t got the opportunity to collaborate with other musicians and write songs. We have been fortunate in the way that the 8 of us could come together and move towards a particular direction…
You talk about the 8 of you bringing in 8 equally important musical elements to the final product, but more often than not, in India we see that bands generally have one ‘star performer’, be it the vocalist or the guitarist or someone else. How can this ideology be changed?
Abhishek: First of all, thank you for noticing that change in us… (all of them break into a laughter)
Gaurav: Give yourself a round of applause…
Chayan: Gaurav, you answer that question…
Gaurav: No, no… I am just a little taken aback, I was expecting one of those ‘when was the band formed’ sort of interviews, but this is serious stuff at 12:30 in the night… (another spell of laughter)
Chayan: 8 very strong individual elements – yes. I think, as Gaurav mentioned earlier, instead of getting into a gimmicky mode where you highlight one person or one form just because it sells you better, in our case, the band is reflective of each other’s strengths. And to an extent, we hide each other’s weaknesses. Like I can honestly say that I am not some virtuoso, or a fantastic vocalist or guitarist for that matter, but I work in this band and this band works for me. I don’t think that it was any science lab experiment that worked out, that after all these experiments and deriving these many formulas, this is the conclusion; LHS=RHS, let’s go ahead with the stuff… nothing like that. We have been doing whatever we could possibly do, till now. And to talk of the ‘star performer’ thing…
Mohit: Sorry to cut you Chayan, but I think that shifts from track to track…
Gaurav: Like let me give you an example; second album – 10 songs, we do not have a single chorus…
Abhishek: We do…
Gaurav: No, our interpretation of choruses is completely different, you know…
Chayan: Like what he might think to be the chorus, I may not treat it the same way…
Ujwal: Aur jaha virtuosity wali baat hai, kuch groups mein I think woh important hai unke liye… it comes naturally to them. Har band ko perfection ki khoj mein jana hi nahi hai kyunki that is not their style, not their brand of music…
But when it’s a band in question, aren’t all the members equally responsible for the final output?
Abhishek: I will give you an example… like there have been these famous in-band disputes, say Pink Floyd or U2, but we do not believe in that logic. For us, all the songs are by the band and the way we contribute is not necessarily obvious. With 8 people on stage, it could easily be a chaos…
Ujwal: But this coordination comes naturally to us…
t’s been almost a decade for Advaita now, and in this time period, there has been a more than evident social media uprising. Contrary to earlier times when bands used to depend a lot on live shows, tours and albums to reach out to more and more audiences, nowadays, having a respectable social media presence solves that purpose. So, how has Advaita benefited from this phenomenon?
Abhishek: Umm… We have. Definitely. In short.
(All the band members break into a spell of laughter)
A little more details please…
Gaurav: Just a couple of days back, we had this meeting with a company whose primary job is regarding the social media. We are trying to use the social media tool to increase, not only our presence, but our reach. And to consider the band over the last 9 years, things have really changed. When we were coming out with the second album The Silent Sea, we were actually pondering upon whether do we actually need to go down with a label or just go for an online thing. At the end, it was a tossup and we just went with the classical dramatic notion of a CD, but maybe the next album will be different, possibly.
Chayan: I am sure it’s an amazing tool to reach people because during this meeting a couple of days back, these people were explaining to us that if you want an ad to target just people from Kharagpur prior to your gig there, that is possible. And that is amazing.
Now, social media marketing is again an additional expense…
Gaurav: We are a band which likes to spend… (laughs)
My question is, from the larger perspective, how does the economics of a band work in India?
Gaurav: Umm…
Ujwal: I don’t think we are the best people to answer that… (laughs)
Gaurav: I am sure there are certain models, but to speak specifically for Advaita, as I just said, we are a band which likes to spend. We spent upward of Rs.20 lakhs for the two albums. For a solo artist, he can just sit at home, record a few songs and reach out to thousands of people. But, we just happen to be working under a certain model in which we want to go to a really big studio with an elaborate set-up…
Mohit: We do not want, at any cost, to compromise on the final music…
But are there structured economic models which work for bands?
Gaurav: Not really…
Abhishek: There may be such models, but at the end of the day, every band adopts them and adapts them to their own needs and style…
Okay, now a question specially for Khan Saab (Suhail Yusuf Khan) and Pandit ji (Ujwal Nagar). While Advaita is the perfect blend of Indian classical and western forms of music, what do you think about the possibilities of an Indian classical band?
Suhail Yusuf Khan (Sarangi and Hindustani Vocals): Wow. Indian classical band as in a band of only Indian classical music?
Yes…
Suhail: Well, there have been a lot of Indian classical orchestras on All India Radio, where people like Pt. Ravi Shankar Ji, Ali Akbar Khan Saab and their Guru Baba Allauddin Khan, among others; they have been writing a lot of orchestras based on the ragas. So, it’s not really a new thing, but I doubt how many people listen to All India Radio. It’s very different from Western Classical music, they have a bass and a harmony kind of thing… but with Indian classical music, it’s more about the composition and how elaborately and beautifully you describe the raga within those boundaries.
” Humari toh bahut kam body hilti hai…”
Coming back to the album art question, we have always seen a very strong visual side to western music. All of their legendary musicians and bands have had equally remarkable artworks. Do you think that visual treatment to music has been missing in India?
Chayan: Well, I don’t know if I can talk about others, but talking of us, I believe our music has a very strong resonance in terms of what needs to be displayed and visualized. As a band, we believe that whatever we play has its visual counterpart, which we are trying to showcase. Like for the last album launch, we had shown visuals for each song. We are trying…
How many takers did you get for that idea?
Abhishek: Very very frankly, we know this idea of an illustration per song is very unique. And the execution of the illustrations exceeded our expectations.
If I look at each of those illustrations, most of them were deeply inclined towards the Western School of Art, whereas your music is finely balanced between the Indian classical and western forms. So, at the first impression, do you think they might be giving out the wrong impression?
Gaurav: May be it gives out the right one. Because after seeing those illustrations, the listener might listen to the song even more carefully. And speaking of the interpretation, we left that totally upon the designer.
Abhishek: Yes, he just took the lyrics and then, leaving aside the western and Indian interpretation thing, interpreted them in a very metaphysical way, which in itself is a very Indian thing. Like Ga Ma Pa Ni Pa is a good example because the lyrics go like you are sitting under a tree. And he interpreted them by showing this tyre hanging from a tree and very old western-looking TV set. So, that sort of held meaning to the song.
And talking of lyrics, do all of you contribute equally to all the songs? Is it like one of you write one song, or all of you write a song together?
Gaurav: It’s mostly a couple of guys doing that…
Chayan: It’s not always the vocalist. Like Abhishek has written a lot of the older songs, and has also contributed to few of the newer ones. But again, generally it’s the vocalist… it’s just natural, you know, you pen the words because at the end of the day, it becomes your responsibility to sing them…
What is your interpretation of body language on stage?
Ujwal: Humari toh bahut kam body hilti hai… (laughs)
Magar body language toh sirf body hilane se nahi hoti hai…
Ujwal: Exactly. The way we are standing or sitting on stage, itself depicts whether we are happy and comfortable on stage or not. So, it’s a tricky thing for us.
Chayan: It’s been like a giveaway, whether something is said or not, it is always the first mode of expression.
Do you think quite a few Indian bands, at times, tend to misinterpret ‘body language’?
Chayan: Speaking very personally, it has taken me 8 years to be where I am, on stage. And I am very true to myself when I am on stage, I mean I am not too alienated from the Chayan off stage…
Abhishek: And it depends and varies from person to person as well, you know… and another aspect of body language is that…umm… it’s like if you feel like playing a song eyes closed, you should be doing that. You are not breaking any protocols or norms by doing that…
Well, it’s getting quite late in the night, so I will put my final question forward: Tell us something about your future projects…
Suhail: We are trying to plan a few international tours…
Gaurav: Actually, after the second album was out on stands, we were completely drained out. So, there are plans, but nothing concrete really…
Suhail: We wish to, someday, come up with an Advaita School of Music sort of thing…
Chayan: These are all plans… Let’s see where we can go.
