The second season of Sound Trek is a musical journey in the true sense of the term. Featuring musicians such as Mikey Mcleary, Euphoria, Hipnotribe and Gurdeep Mehendi, the show ( premiering on Fox Life on September 1 ) sees them travel to different Indian cities in search of origins of popular songs.
While Indian Ocean’s Amit Kilam visits uncharted territory by reinterpreting classic Bollywood songs (“Inhi Logon Ne” and “Hum Kisise Kum Nahin”) in Lucknow, and Uday Benegal goes to Jaisalmer and Jaipur with “Nimbooda Nimbooda” and “Kesariya Balam” in tow, Swarathma goes to Kolkata in search of “Ekla Cholo Re”, and finds an unlikely story lodged in the song.
Excerpts from interviews with the three artists:
The places
Uday Benegal: My association with Jaisalmer goes back to around 10 years ago, when I first visited the city. I loved the city’s history as well as the odd mix of beauty and decrepitude, especially as evidenced in the old haveli quarter. It was a city I knew I would be happy to return to.
Debayan Deb of Swarathma: I am a Bengali. Though I’ve only lived in Kolkata for four years in the early 2000s, I love the city, its charm, its people and its culture. I got into the independent music scene as a rookie music journalist covering the scene in the city. So I started my musical journey in this city.
Amit Kilam: Initially when I got a list of songs I remember choosing songs from Kashmir because that’s where I am from. I thought it would be nice to reconnect with my roots. But because of some copyright issues, we couldn’t do those songs...Lucknow was already on their mind, and once I chose these songs I realised that Naushad (who composed the music for “Inhi Logon Ne”) was from here.
The songs
Uday: The first time I heard “Nimbooda Nimbooda” it was in its Bollywood avatar, which was an obviously dressed-up version of an otherwise vibrant folk song. But when I heard it a few years later, on a visit to Jaisalmer, the old street musician’s version that I encountered won me over. I loved the happy energy combined with the sweet simplicity of the song. With “Kesariya Balam” my experience was a little different but the route was similar: through a film version of the song. Dor
Debayan: “Ekla Cholo Re” is a song I grew up with; it is a song every Bengali child learns and sings at home, in cultural functions and in schools. The song is a powerful call, that says that if they don’t heed your call, walk alone. Personally, this song strikes a chord with me: when I decided to take up music as a career after giving up a lucrative management job, there were many naysayers. I wasn’t sure I would make it, but I decided to walk my path, nonetheless.
Amit: We used to have LP player back home when I was young and Pakeezah and Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin were some of the film LPs we had. So these songs were a part of my growing up till my mother gave the LPs away to a bartanwali!
The treatment
Uday: With “Kesariya Balam” I’ve retained the sweet melancholy of the classical/folk version while adding a modern rhythmic element to it. “Nimbooda” kicks up the energy a few notches with a contemporary drum groove and some funky rock guitar added to the folk song.
Debayan: When we went into the history of the song “Ekla Cholo Re” we found out something interesting. Tagore used the tune of a popular Baul folk song at the time called “Amar Ekla Nitai” with the idea of making his songs more accessible to the masses. We thought it would be a great idea to let the song return to its roots by collaborating with Baul singer Lakhan Das Baul, a simple yet amazingly talented musician from Bolepur, in rural Bengal. We also brought in the Swarathma touch with acoustic violins, guitar and percussion.
Amit: For “Inhi Logon Ne”, I have changed the tune completely. While the song was set in a kotha, I have placed it in a jazz club space...I have tried to give the qawwali (“Hum Kisise Kum Nahin”) a rockish feel. It was a challenge to do it in 4 minutes, because the beauty of a qawwali lies in the repetitions.
