Here is an interview with independent collaborators -Arunava, Avigyan and Apratim- who played for Kindle’s Music Squared this week. Sanah Agrawal talks to them about their influences, their work and current music set-up in the country.
What inspires you?
AR: Almost everything, but specifically, Myles Kennedy and Steven Wilson.
AV: Same for me, we draw inspiration from almost everything. I listen to a lot of Coldplay, Keane,Travis.
AP: Almost everything under the sun, but a few people deserve special mention. Some of my favourite bands are Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Deep Purple, Dire Straits and a the solo musician would be John Mayer… it is too big a list to name.
Are you into music fulltime?
AR: I am working in the IT sector.
AV: I am doing my Masters in media…
AP: I am handling a job as well but I am also a part time musician, so it’s professional…
What instrument do you play?
AR: I play the guitar and sing vocals.
AV: The same for me…
AP: I play the guitar majorly and sometimes even the harmonica.
Why this particular choice of instrument? What drew you to it?
AR: It was the cheapest and easiest choice really. Everywhere you will find a zillion guitar players and maybe a hundred drummers. It is also the easiest instrument to pick up.
AP: Actually, it’s a very interesting question because far from being the easiest and cheapest option, I think that there is some kind of a charisma or an enigma that prevails around this instrument that sort of draws any person whether he is into music or any other form of art, they are somehow attracted to it. When one walks into a room and spots a guitar in a corner, they are always attracted to it, so I think that’s how it began for me…
AR: Adding on, Bollywood heroes are always portrayed as guitar players or singers, they are never drummers or bassists…
What are your thoughts on the music scene in India that you are a part of?
AR: I would say it is very good and it has been growing since the time we were born as musicians and I hope it keeps growing more. I would say that the Kolkata scene has degraded a little; nonetheless, there is always time for improvement.
AV: Like he said, the scene is ever growing, it has a dynamic shape and character to it. We can expect a lot from Kolkata, where we mostly play.
AP: I think to say the scene in Kolkata is not upto the mark would be an understatement because if we were to go twenty years back when we were young, the scene in Kolkata was rupturing like a volcano. There was every kind of music- the Park Street scene, there was a Jazz band in every pub and some of the most famous musicians from all over the world poured in. But the motion for contemporary music has suffered in Kolkata. At the same time, in the country, there is a lot of promise, a lot of opportunities.
What was the starting point for each of you?
AR: All of us come from different lanes of music. Personally, I started off as a choir singer in my school and then I moved on and trained under Mr. Amyt Datta; learnt a lot of music from him and then played with a lot of different bands in and around the city.
AV: Music comes to me naturally. Like they said earlier, it is a ‘T.V. thing’… I grew up watching rockstars and heroes…
AP: For me, music came to me pretty late in life- even though I think it was somewhere hiding- somewhere beneath the skin because a lot of people in my family are musicians. It happened to me after my class 10 exams, I happened to walk into a room where my friends were practicing and I just heard the sound of an electric guitar and I got blown away.It has been an upward ride from thereon.
You guys are collaborating for the first time. Individual musicians have their own space. At the same time, how do you add to the music of others?
AR: It does matter because individuals come with their own individualities of sound and mental wavelengths, so there is always a conflict when three people sit together. That is what has been happening and that is what brings out the differences in sound. I think that works for us and it feels great to collaborate.
AP: When we talk about collaboration, if we look at the individual space of any musician, it’s a circle- it’s essentially an intersection of two or more circles. It is at this intersection point that we are making it happen- making it work. Ofcourse, we have our own musical lineage and differences but sometimes as Chaki(Arunava) pointed out, the conflict is often constructive because the conflict helps you understand what is going through the mind of the other musician and that’s what makes the difference. As opposed to the performance, when you are the final word on the notes- you are only expected to play your part to a certain extent. When it comes to collaboration, I believe, you are free to do what you want to do. There is a lot of chemistry that happens when you are collaborating with musicians freshly, out of the blue and coming out with something in a short span of time. It’s always fresh- it’s always magical.
It is becoming more and more difficult to earn money from art forms. How can we change it?
AR: Musicians shouldn’t do anything; people should pay money to listen to music. That, I think is the only thing that needs to be done.
AV: Real music is a conglomeration of emotions; art is always at its best when patronised.
AP: True, I couldn’t second that thought firmly enough. We do music for the sheer passion of it, we don’t think we are need to earn our daily bread from it but there are lot of people who are fighting for it. If you look into their lives, it is actually sad and so unjust because you know every form of profession in this country is rolling in money. Any profession you look at has its financial space but when it comes to art, people somehow believe that they can freeload and they are not supposed to be paying for it. If you’re paying for surgery, if you’re paying for your mail- things that you ‘need’ to pay for- art is something that you need in life so you have to pay for what you need. If you don’t pay, you are not going to get it, at least not in its prime. The scene has to grow and the musicians are also supposed to be responsible to some extent. They shouldn’t settle for less and hold their ground.
