Antarman, a band weaving blues, electronic dance music (EDM), rock and other contemporary genres with folk rhythms, has been taking its audience by surprise ever since its debut album was released. Recently, the self-titled album bagged the Mirchi Music Award Bangla for the hit number “Hobe Na”.
Band members Rahul Mukherjee (of Voice of India fame), Pooja Shankar and Randeep Bhaskar focus on folk because they want to stay connected with their roots and the origin of music. “Fusion was not something we really thought of. We never wanted to do folk the way it was sung, but we arranged the essence of folk into today's music, so the child listener gets to enjoy the same thing as the adult listener absorbs the philosophy behind the song,” says Pooja.
The magical mixture of genres has something divine about it, she adds. “Hum kaun hote hain banane wale, woh bana dete hain. Hum toh sirf zariya hain! (Who are we to make music, He, the supreme power, makes it. We are only a medium!),” exclaims Pooja.
New single
The band has followed up its spectacular debut with a single named “Kolonkini Radha”. “We have a couple of singles ready, so hopefully every month, we'll have a release coming up. We are also working on our second album,” says Pooja.
From the long list of New Age folk tunes that Antarman created, “Marghat” and “Maati” have been the band’s favourites. Rahul reminisces the time when his father composed a section 10 years back, which is now used in “Maati”. “The opening section of the song was basically composed by my dad. I kept composed a new song called ‘Maati’, based on his tune, says Rahul.
Opening up to music
Antarman is not about rejecting the existing popular music in India. Pooja says, “I listen to Bollywood tunes too. Singers Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal are my favourites. But I also listen to other things like Jazz, Opera, Western Classical. I believe people should show love to not only a particular genre or Antarman, in fact, they should patronise any kind of music, because it’s a form of reaching out to God. People need to be more open to all kinds of music.”
Antarman seems to enjoy experimentation.
“We don't mind mixing rock with folk. But we will only do it if it’s enhancing a song’s appeal. We want young generation to fall in love with our unique brand of music,” says Pooja.
Breaking the stereotype
Band member Randeep Bhaskar says folk musicians are often dismissed as shabby travelling troubadours. “We shouldn't stereotype a folk singer as a person roaming with an iktara.
Folk has a power of adapting to any genre and we do that. We mix folk, but we never tamper with its essence.” Rahul believes that Antarman’s music is ethical and soulful. “It's the energy to create something new and the idea of going into a different zone and experiencing music which keeps us three going,” he concludes.
