Kaadhal… that’s the first catchy song on love from the music album Mudhal Murai . Launched by Asthra music band, the album celebrates love. And, friendship with the melancholic Piriviley .
The founding members of Asthra —Sindhu Vardhini, Santhosh Kumar. R. and Sathish Kumar. V. — formed the band recently. The starting point of their journey was the music club at Coimbatore Institute of Technology, where they studied engineering. While Sindhu pursues her post-graduation in engineering now, Santhosh and Sathish work as software engineers in Chennai. They meet during long weekends and holidays and continue to make music.
The debut music album, launched recently by actor Gautam Karthik, has five songs. Sathish has composed the melodies Unai Kaanum and Un Paarvai and Kaadhal , Mudhal Murai and Piriviley are by Santhosh. They have also sung along with Sindhu, and other singers, Varunkanth and Raaghavan. Band members also include Surya (bass guitarist), Kishore( lead guitarist), Gowtham, Ajay, Manikandan ( drummers) and Sharmila (lyricist), and current members of the music club of the college.
Sindhu, a trained musician, remembers composing the tune of Kaadhal while they were in the final year of college. “We composed the song for a short film and later retained it for our album. It’s a popular number among the college students. They sing at music competitions,” she says. After they get the copyright, they plan to release Mudhal Murai commercially. “We might add a video to the album and popularise it. And, keep composing and singing,” she adds.
Santhosh, a keyboardist, who has cleared the exams from Trinity College, says the Asthra band sets a trend in light music. “We have either rock bands or classical music bands, there’s hardly any in the cinematic genre. We make our original compositions, and try to fuse the old with the new,” he says. They look up to musical stalwarts Ilaiyaraaja and A.R. Rehman for inspiration.
For Sathish, it’s the music club at the college that opened up his musical journey. Now, he has sung uyire uyire for a short film Lokesh Veena , that is just up on YouTube. And, he is one of the singers of another album Sollitaaley Ava Kadhaley . “I was introduced to music through Ilaiyaraaja’s compositions. Now, I listen to a lot of composers and practise regularly to make a mark as a playback singer.”
