Fusion band Samarpan believe in retaining the authenticity of the Indian classical ragas they base their compositions on. When the band performed the popular Odisha folk song, Rangabati at the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival, Bhubaneswar in 2015, not only did their rendition end with resounding applause, but also had one of the makers of the original make his way through the crowd to congratulate the band. “That was the biggest award we could’ve got,” says Ojas Adhiya from Samarpan. It’s important, he adds, that you treat a folk song like one and not do away with its flavour.
Making music
A five-member band, Samarpan is made up of Vishal Dhumal (keyboard), Manas Kumar (violin), I.D. Rao (saxophone), Gautam Sharma (percussion) and Ojas Adhiya (tabla). Each of the members have had prolonged individual training in Indian classical music and have carved enviable niches for themselves in the industry, before they came together as Samarpan. “We used to meet each other quite often, while performing for other artists at concerts and classical events,” explains Adhiya. “So one day we thought, why not create our own music?”
One of the band’s founding principles was to present Indian classical music to audiences in a relatable way. It of course helped that the band members had experience with public performances, “We didn’t want to do things that people didn’t understand. [We] wanted Indian classical music to reach people along with creating something of our own,” asserts Adhiya.
Fusion rules
In all of its outings, the band has ensured that they do not dilute or distort the essence of the classical elements that form the basis of their compositions. Keeping the main line of classical music intact and unchanged, what Samarpan experiments with are the additional elements to the composition. Irrespective of the form the composition takes, special attention is given to ensure the audiences don’t feel an absence of the Indian classical core. “We are promoting Indian classical music to the young generation, just wrapping it differently,” affirms Dhumal. His band member, Adhiya, agrees, “Nowadays the trend is such that, everybody is doing fusion. But what is [important is] training and taleem . It may be the guitar, it may be the piano, or whatever it is. [First] training and then personal practice.”
Though fusion seems to be the easiest way to package Indian classical music for younger audiences, executing it is far from easy. Playing Indian classical music on western musical instruments can sometimes get tricky, says Rao. “While playing classical, most saxophone players stick to one scale. But here in Samarpan, [we] play in different scales. It’s very difficult for me to play all these scales in different keys. For example, their sa is my ma!” explains Rao. For him, fusion is not just an amalgamation of Indian and Western styles. “There are a lot of classical genres in India. If you put them together, that’s also fusion right?” asks Rao.
This week, Samarpan will kick-start the NCPA’s upcoming Band Baja series, that promotes young musical collaborations across diverse traditions. Adhiya says the band is excited to perform for a discerning audience. “We are going to present some classic numbers with a blend of Arabic and Irish [themes] too,” shares Adhiya.
Samarpan will perform on June 16 at the Experimental Theatre, NCPA at 8 p.m; for more details see bookmyshow.com
