Our country is brimming with young musical talent. The Toto Awards held annually by Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani is proof of this as they award the very best in various creative fields, including music. Every year a concert on the night before the Toto Awards ceremony in Bengaluru showcasing the music of the short-listed candidates of the Toto Awards is held. This year TFA and Fandom present Toto Night of the Nominee. Rohini Kejriwal, a volunteer with Toto Awards and writer and curator of The Alipore Post, says: “I am among the volunteers who choose the long-list for the music award which is then sent to the judges. The concert is a tradition that was started three years ago. The three artists shortlisted for the Toto Music Award 2019 - Akrti, Dhruv Visvanath and Plastic Parvati, by Suyasha Sengupta, will be performing. Akrti and Suyasha will be performing a set of 30 to 40 minutes, while Dhruv will be performing a 45 minute set.”
Speaking about the wide-ranging musical styles of each artiste, Rohini says: “Dhruv has a unique style of percussive acoustic guitar playing, earning him the nickname ‘Guitar Spanker’. He usually performs in a band, but this time he will perform solo. He launched his first EP, Chronicles in 2011, a collection of soulful finger-style/ percussive tracks he dedicated to his father. He was nominated for a TOTO award (2012), in addition to playing for reputed festivals such as Pune’s Baaja Gaaja, and Delhi’s NH7 Weekender.”
Rohini says that Kolkata-based musician Suyasha Sengupta is immensely talented. “She runs the solo project/venture Plastic Parvati. The songs are conceptualised, written and parts of it are recorded in her quiet, little bedroom. Her debut album, Songs About Lovers , has been produced, mixed and enabled by Miti Adhikari. It seeks to explore the masculine or feminine dynamic through sexuality.”
Akrti, Rohini says, She uses trap and hip-hop beat undertones. Deep-echoing vocals pushing through, Akrti’s aesthetic is what one might call glitch lullabies.”
Rohini says that Toto Awards continues to receive an overwhelming response. “Last year we got about 100 entries in the music category. And this year we got over 200 entries. The demographic changed as well. We received entries from small towns such as Raipur and Bareilly. Also the entries we received belong to different genres that aren’t tried and tested.”
Toto Night of the Nominee will be held on January 17, 9 pm, at Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, 5th block Koramangala. Tickets are priced at ₹300 entry and ₹200 cover at the gate.
