Today, when most bands sing of love and heartbreak, Swarathma's music addresses issues such as the Cauvery water dispute and India's economic regeneration.
This Bangalore-based band also does one free performance, for the underprivileged as well as for promoting causes, for every paid performance they do.
Known as an Indian Folk Rock band, Swarathma's come a long way, earning the love of many fans and some serious recognition on the journey. The members — Jishnu, Montry, Pavan, Vasu, Sanjeev and Varun — talk about what makes their music tick.
Tell us a little about your music and why is Indian folk such an important part of your identity.
Vasu: Folk music and its stories anywhere in the world is true to its roots. Similarly even in India the folk culture/music tell a lot about its roots. According to one of my teachers, ‘the more rooted you are, the more universal is the message'. That is why we are trying to find our rootedness in the folk music, so that we can reach out to a wider audience. Moreover we don't sing folk songs as they are; we use elements of folk music and write our own songs.
Tell us a little about how the band began.
Pavan: Vasu formed the band with the then-bass guitarist Abhinanth Kumar in Mysore in 2001-02. They used to bump into each other in the youth fests back then and met through a common friend. And one such day while they were jamming in our college (I was Vasu's junior in college) I started tapping on the table and they found a percussionist in me. Later when Vasu moved to Bangalore in 2006 he met Montry and through him we met Jishnu (replacing Abhinanth Kumar who was committed to his job) and Varun. It might sound unusual but we happened to ‘just meet' each other; there wasn't a hunt or auditions for any member.
All of you belong to very different fields. How difficult is it to balance your careers with your music?
Jishnu: It used to be difficult when we had full time jobs but, a couple of years ago, we took a conscious decision to focus on music as a career. Since then it has not been difficult as we have taken a call that music comes first.
You were named the best Hindi rock band in 2008 and have also earned international acclaim. What, according to you, makes your music tick?
Jishnu: I suppose our music means different things to different people; therefore it is for the audience to decide what makes it tick. But to take a guess it could be the honesty of expression and youthful energy in our music. We come from different musical backgrounds, so the blend in the music is quite diverse. This probably makes it unique and refreshing to our listener's ears. Another aspect is the exuberant live show experience. We've always been a live band, most comfortable on stage, so the live experience is usually something people cherish.
Your songs manage to retain the flavour of traditional India but have strains of modern and futuristic India too. How do you achieve such a fusion?
Varun: One of the main reasons for this is our difference in musical interests. We probably don't really listen to the same kind of music at any point in time. And even when we play together as a band or sit to work on songs we tend to play stuff that comes more natural to us, our influences n stuff. So that way we come up with a sound which has both traditional and modern sounds in it. It's all in the mind i would say!
Any specific bands or artists you particularly admire? Anyone or anything you could name as your inspiration? (as a band and as individuals)
Sanjeev: As a band we admire Indian Ocean who have been the torchbearers of this genre. We also admire artistes such as U2, Sting and Dave Matthews Band. I am personally inspired by the music of L. Subramaniam, L. Shankar, Jean Luc Ponty, Kitaro, and Samvel Yervinyan to name a few.
Montry: Phish, Avial and Spongle
Vasu: Freddy Mercury, Susheela Raman and Kumar Gandharva
What keeps the band together and creates the obvious chemistry that shows on stage?
Pavan: We're friends first, bandmates next. What we're off stage, we'rethe same on stage. It's just being natural.
Vasu: Also the off-stage respect and understanding that we have for each other as artists and human beings shows on stage
You have come a long way. How has the journey been so far? Was the going tough initially?
Pavan: The journey so far has been pleasant (touch wood). In between we were a little conscious when the transition from the old lineup to the present happened. But it took very little time to get settled. No looking back after that. Initially we had our own struggling days like any other upcoming bands. Getting one gig in a few months was difficult. But no regrets, we've enjoyed our lives of being lazy musicians also!
What plans do you, as a band, have for the future?
Sanjeev: We would like to tour places within India and abroad where we haven't performed before. This year, we would like to play at more colleges as we haven't done many college shows in the past. Our second full length album is also in the pipeline, we plan to release it later this year.
