What started off as a chance remark during a math class for Rohit Gandhi and Anil Prasad during their pre-university days in 2011, has now turned into a full-fledged EDM project. Little did the electronic music duo think that its simple conversation would lead to the eventual release of a single track that would get them national acclaim.
On the verge of releasing their debut album next month, the duo, now going by the name Argenil, believe in fusing Indian instruments and music with EDM to create a self-composed genre they call ‘Hindustani House’. Speaking to MetroPlus at one of their two studios — one’s in Jayanagar and another BTM Layout — the duo talk about their genre and future plans.
Rohit explains the term: “Hindustani House is neither Hindustani nor classical music. It is a synonym we use for the combination of Indian music with the EDM genre called house. Since we’ve combined the two forms, we call it Hindustani House.”
After brief stints in several bands, 23-year-old Rohit and 22-year-old Anil decided to team up and start their own production house. “Through this process, we want to venture into Indian elements, learn more instruments, and introduce something musical that hasn’t been done so far,” hopes Rohit. Anil pitches in: “Argenil, which is a combination of both our names, initially started as a production house. But now, we’ve decided to label ourselves as live artistes with the same name.”
When asked about the success behind their debut single ‘ Tha-di-ki-na-thom ’, Rohit says: “We found hope the day it went viral. We had a feeling that we might be going somewhere with this, since until then, we only had the idea but our opportunity to make it big was one in a million.”
The band is currently on a crowd-funding campaign with www.fueladream.com, to raise funds for making an album. Looking ahead, the two say they aspire to make it big with their music. “We hope to take Hindustani House to a whole new level where there would be thousands of producers under our genre. Our dream is to play at the Ultra Festival in Miami. A few years down the line, we hope to set up another studio to help upcoming artistes.”
Every band hopes to be the next big thing out there and Argenil is no exception. “When people listen to our music we want them to connect to the culture that we’re bringing to the table. And at the end of the day, no matter who listens to our music, we want them to feel good about themselves and the music that they listen to.”
