It looks like a college canteen, lots of commotion, emotion and the-will-to-make-it talks. Five friends, pursuing different genres of music, discuss over glasses of vanilla milkshake what made them come together to perform live and for the making of their dream album IndoSoul.
To cut a long musical story short, composer, violinist and singer Karthick Iyer and the lead member of this band was excited to cross over the blurring borders of the sonic world to come with new-age tunes that are a synthesis of his classical roots and contemporary outlook. He is soon joined by four others, who like Karthick, were least likely to waste their young years just hanging around at cafes and pubs. Mridangist Sumesh Narayan, guitarist Vikram Vivekanand, Naveen Napier on the bass guitar and drummer Ramkumar Kanakarajan were raring to go in search of their own space in the rhythmsphere. They wanted to put together their musical minds, influences, strengths and multi-cultural leanings. Sounds like a template answer! “We know there are more and more independent musicians and bands coming up with same ideas and proclamations. But we believe there is enough room to accommodate all of them. There is also enough substance to explore and enough listeners to hear us out,” say Sumesh and Karthick.
But isn’t experimentation the soul of all fusion groups? “It depends on the way you break the mould; without distorting the original shape. The attempt is to make the listeners open-minded, and as artistes forget the limits, be fearless and brave enough to push oneself away from the comfort zone,” explain Vikram and Ramkumar.
The band loves taking the listeners along with them in their hunt for something refreshing yet with a deep connect to the soul. “Much of the structure of the compositions emerges during our casual and serious jam sessions. It’s during these exchanges we find our groove, learn to be accommodative and improvise,” says Naveen.
They have a lot of expectations from their debut album in which the tracks build up nicely to reflect the dynamism of the musical arrangement and production. “They sum up our togetherness, journey and vision. The interesting chords and tones and heartbreakingly emotive qualities of the tracks I am sure will appeal to listeners,” says Karthick.
The album IndoSoul: Looking Within, Looking Beyond will be launched on June 13 at Museum Theatre (7 p.m) and will be followed by a performance of the band, Karthick Iyer Live.
