The average age of the band members is 23. With its brand of Indian ethnic sound and classical music that has world influences, Yodhakaa has sparked off a revival of sorts for non-film music in Chennai.
The band is all set to release its eponymously named first album for Purplenote, a new non-film label launched by the promoters of Sathyam Cinemas recently.
Band members Darbuka Siva, Subhiksha Rangarajan, V. Pradeep Kumar, Keba Jeremiah and Divyan Ahimaz are a fun-loving bunch. Bassist Keba observes, “What we do is spontaneous. We don't play what we rehearse. Our concerts end up very different from what we had rehearsed. If someone is angry before a concert, the music turns out angry. We are unpredictable.”
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Yodhakaa was started by ‘Darbuka' Siva in 2005. “We were doing world music back then. The line-up was very different. After a year, Pradeep and Subhiksha joined the band. Around last year, we realised we were getting a little tired of doing cover versions. We didn't have anything that was our own. We felt it was not our natural expression. That's when Pradeep had an idea,” recalls Siva.
Pradeep had worked with Sanskrit slokas and that interested the band. “We take Sanskrit slokas, add Indian sound to them and mix them with influences from around the world, but retain the lyrical quality and the tune.” Do they understand the meaning of the slokas they incorporate into their music? “Always. The meaning helps us tune the songs,” says Siva. Subhiksha, the vocalist adds, “We have a friend, Pranav, who understands what we want. He's a Sanskrit scholar and has written two of our songs. He has researched different slokas over the years.”
“We are not afraid to use a Brazilian groove like the samba to an Indian sound. We don't have any hang-ups and are open to any musical style as long as it sounds good,” says Siva.
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Classical and contemporary
“The stuff that Pradeep and I sing is classical and what we do with it together makes it contemporary,” Subhiksha chips in.
“Every sloka was written in a very different era. The Ganesha Pancharatnam and Vishnu slokas are centuries old... There were only 3 notes in 2000 BC,” says Pradeep. “The tune of ancient slokas evolved with time. When we started singing Sangeetha Shastram, the tunes changed. We all know how the sloka should sound as a song. We had an interesting groove and instinctively knew how it should sound and Pranav helped us out with the right kind of Vishnu sloka.”
Despite their age and constantly shifting moods, the band members have never had any fights or disagreements. “Decisions are either taken together or not,” says Subhiksha. “Mostly our fights are about food or biscuits,” adds Siva, talking about their practice sessions in T.Nagar, which are held at least once or twice a week.
The newest member of the band, a pilot, Divyan joined Yodhakaa just before the album. “I always wanted to be in a big band…” he starts, as Siva cuts him short: “We are not a big band.” “Being the youngest here, I have been learning quite a bit,” smiles Divyan, sheepishly admitting that he still flies planes in New Zealand. “We have only seen him fly kites,” says Siva pulling his leg again.
“The idea is to perform live as much as possible. We want people to find out what Yodhakaa sounds like. We always ask everyone who has heard us, ‘Who do we sound like?' And they tell us: ‘You sound like no one else. You sound like Yodhakaa.' That's what we've been struggling to do and we are glad we are here. But what we do from now is what counts.”
Yodhakaa – The Album
The album to be released soon has eight songs that have already been recorded in Mumbai for Purplenote. What's more, the album was produced and funded from scratch by the label.
“That has not happened for a while. In fact, it's been a while since a record label has even okayed a non-film music album. Record labels usually expect you to master it, mix it with your own money. And in Mumbai, you are also expected to record a video and submit your masters of audio and video for consideration and can still be rejected. We are very, very lucky,” says Siva.
“We were playing for a Satya Paul fashion show and Swaroop Reddy was one of the guests. Since we hadn't done anything like that before, we played it by ear and decided on some tracks we usually do and other improvisations. It went down really well. It became a collaboration between music and fashion. We had good chemistry. It got us noticed. A day after that, Priya Krishnan from Think Music called us and said her boss had seen us performing and they were thinking of doing something for non-film music. They asked for samples and, after two months, got back to us. They gave us a good budget. I don't know how many bands get a chance to go to Yash Raj Studios to record their first album.”