After working with upcoming as well as well-known bands in the city, including fusion band Divine Raaga and Ajivika, musician and band manager Ananyabrata Chakravorty has started on his own solo music project, The M Theory, which will involve collaborations with several city-based musicians to create Hindi acoustic rock, with Chakraborty leading the way on vocals and handling songwriting duties. The M Theory released their first single, ‘Udja Panchhi’, featuring guitarist Monjyoti Bhattacharyya, last month. Up next, The M Theory, a studio-only project with no plans of performing live at the moment, will release their second single ‘Laapata’. Says Chakravorty, “It’s a debate between two points of view, one more youthful, the other mature. The song is coming along really well and I am getting to learn a lot from Monjyoti in the process.”
The story behind the band
Says Chakravorty, “The concept of The M Theory came into mind early this year and we had it initiated with our first song on May 30, 2014. The M Theory is my way of collaborating and learning from different musicians through jam sessions. Our country is filled with some great musicians who aren’t as well-known as they should be. Through this project, I am getting to know them closely and am ending up making a song or two with them.”
You guys play music because
“I don’t play any instrument. I am more of a lyricist and sometimes add vocals to songs,” says Chakravorty. He adds, “What drives me to make music is the very pleasure of creating something new. I have been a part of several outfits across cities and genres. With The M Theory, the idea is to keep things as simple as possible. I am totally in love with simplicity and want the music, the lyrics and my vocals to convey that.”
You’ll still remember the time when
Chakravorty says the most memorable part has been launching the M Theory, with their song ‘Udja Panchhi’. The artist adds: “What I really loved this time round is the way people made this song their own. Monjyoti and I put our heart out into this song and created it with utmost honesty. People somehow connected to it and said really nice things about it, things that we could never have imagined. This reassurance was important, I feel. For instance, you'll obviously love your child like mad; but when the teachers and others praise him, you feel proud. That has happened with our little mind-child, ‘Udja Panchhi’. That makes me really pleased.”
The toughest part about being a young band
Says Chakravorty, “The toughest part is to go back to office and do the usual stuff. After you work on creative stuff, nothing else satisfies as much, but we need to do those things to learn a living. That’s the tough part.”
The story behind the name
“The M Theory is a concept in theoretical Physics. It's a killer concept that unites all of Physics and all the string theories of Physics. I fell in love with this concept while writing down my second novel, Split Second, which revolves around Physics and Psychiatry. The letter M also stands for a lot of nice things. I thought of keeping this name because in a way, just like the M theory of Physics, we are trying to unite multiple concepts and influences, this being a collaborative project,” explains Chakravorty.
Musicians that inspire you
Says Chakravorty, “I really admire Javed Akhtar saab a lot when it comes to lyrics. From a music standpoint, I love Eric Clapton, Lucky Ali, MLTR, Pink Floyd, Strings (Pakistan) and now, Arijit Singh.”
Compositions over covers
“I am pro-originals. A 70:30 of originals: covers is good, as long as the covers have a flavour of your own. I have no plans of going live at the moment. I just want to collaborate, produce and keep learning. However, if I need to go live as a part of the collab experience, I’ll do that. And if I go live today with 10 songs, I will have the two from The M Theory, five from my previous projects and three covers from songs by the influences I mentioned earlier,” says Chakravorty.
Follow The M Theory on Facebook.com/TheMTheory.in
