We’ve often seen the children of musicians taking to their parents’ instruments on similar styles. But what sets third generation prodigies Bindu Subramaniam and Ambi Subramaniam apart from the rest is their ability to be comfortable in almost any genre.
The children of violin maestro Dr L Subramaniam, vocalist Bindu and her younger brother Ambi, who is known as the ‘new king of the Indian classical violin’, teamed up with a bunch of musicians in 2013 to form SubraMania. The band recently dazzled Bengaluru’s music lovers at BFlat.
“What makes this concert special is that our first concert in the city was in BFlat. After that, we toured the world. So coming back to the same place is a homecoming for us.”
With lively contemporary world music to offer, SubraMania likes giving their audience a new take on music with their fusion tracks. Although these young maestros have been in the field for almost 20 years, it was not until four years ago that they decided to form the band. With Vivek Santosh on the keyboard, Alwyn Fernandes on the guitar, Keith Peters on the bass and Karthik Mani on the drums, SubraMania has evolved into a family. The band had the Bengaluru audience hooked to their tunes in the backdrop of the launch of their latest single ‘7 songs’, which is an amalgamation of indie music with gypsy elements.
“Contemporary world music can be interpreted in any way you like, but it stays reflective and rooted in tradition. It is important to have an open mind and experiment when it comes to this genre,” says Bindu. The siblings with a rich musical lineage were always surrounded by music and had the liberty to choose their style as they grew up.
Often fusing Indian classical music with pop, rock and jazz, Ambi says: “Earlier we had included a few Spanish words and other elements, as we play to audiences that come from various backgrounds. They are able to relate with our songs as we incorporate different styles. Our current single even has a few gypsy elements.”
The evening kicked off with a power-packed performance by the band. Some of the crowd favourites included ‘Days in the Sun’ and ‘Midnight musing’, that as the name suggests, brought back memories with its instrumental notes. A few other songs in tribute to their parents were also performed by the band. ‘7 songs’ is their latest single. With catchy gypsy tunes blended with an Indian touch, the song incorporates a plucking technique inspired by Hungarian violinist Roby Lakostos, also known as the ‘God of plucking’.
Talking about making connections with their foreign audience, Ambi says, “Music has no specific language or culture to be understood. There was this time in Latvia where our band had performed a few English tracks fused with Indian languages like Sanskrit and Tamil. While we needed a translator to make even minimal conversations, everyone in the audience was able to connect with the music. That goes to prove why music is a universal language.”
