‘Agam’ means ‘soul’ in Sanskrit, Tamil, and Malayalam. Because that is what music is, to the band. Aditya Kasyap, bass guitarist for the band since its inception, believes more people are open to listening to indie music today.
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The band defines their genre as Carnatic Progressive Rock, having been trained in the classical genre. Speaking over the phone from Mumbai, Aditya feels this form of music came organically to them because of their childhood training. “Ours is not a fusion of classical and rock; we just use the roots of Carnatic music in the songs we compose,” he says.
“At the core, we are still a Carnatic Progressive Rock band, but over the years, we have dabbled with many other forms such as heavy metal and jazz,” he adds.
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Even with indie music attracting big crowds now, he admits challenges do exist. “Marketing music and creating awareness are some of the challenges we struggle with, but with social media it is easier to reach more people,” he says.
Meet Agam: Harish Sivaramakrishnan (vocals) Swamy Seetharaman (keyboards and lyricist), T. Praveen Kumar (lead guitar), Aditya Kasyap (bass guitar and backing vocals), Sivakumar Nagarajan (ethnic percussions), Jagadish Natarajan (rhythm guitar) and Yadhunandan (Drummer) | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
As with everything else, the pandemic put a brake on their performances. “COVID-19 was a big blow to independent artistes across the country, and for those of us who live off the energy of the crowd, we could not adapt to performing virtually.”
Having not been able to perform live for over two years now, Agam has returned to perform on stage. “This is like a homecoming for us, to perform in Bengaluru, as we’re based out of the city. Wanting to play on the stage every day for the last two years, we are now coming back live with vengeance,” he adds.
Agam will be performing live at Forum Mall, Koramangala, Bengaluru, on April 23 from 6:30 pm. Tickets can be booked at www.insider.in here.