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World Music Day: How indie musicians are changing the soundscape
Indie-music has become a global sound, with influences from various genres, including jazz, soul, RnB, and, apart from the Indian classical music and folk. On World Music Day, celebrated on June 21, we spotlight some indie musicians, who are constantly experimenting with sound.
Vasundara Vee
Swipe, tap and repeat is the new addiction. The highs of having access to unlimited information/entertainment feeds, yet being ignorant of the lows of living in a digital haze and FOMOs, defines a life driven by technology. Jazz and soul singer Vasundhara Vee's new single, 'Junk the blame', addresses this. Earlier, this year, Vasundhara made headlines for singing at famed fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee's 25th anniversary celebrations. The Mumbai-based singer is known as one of the powerhouse vocalists, who is credited with bringing time-tested genres such as RnB, Soul and Jazz to playlists of today's youth. 'A singer always has a message, which is channelled through his/her personality,' says Vasundhara. As a child, Vasundhara was quiet and soft-spoken. 'I found my calling in soul, jazz and blues. Music transformed me. It pushed me to communicate through words and sounds,' she adds.
Abhishek Hazarika
Noida-based singer, songwriter, rhythm guitarist, composer and independent musician, Abhishek Hazarika, is trained in Hindustani classical (vocal), acoustic and electric guitar. His debut album, Brightendash, comprising 10 tracks, consists of a grunge-rock sound, rooted in classic and alternative rock sensibilities. Abhishek is inspired by bands such as Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, The Melvins, Oasis, Green Day, The Beatles, The Who, Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and REM. Grunge rock, a subgenre of the 90's hard rock, originated in Seattle, the U.S. 'Grunge Rock gives me the freedom to explore multiple styles of rock music. And that's how I came up with the songs in my album.
Sarthak Sardana
Sarthak Sardana, popular as Sartek, is a DJ and electronic dance-music producer. He has had releases with major global labels and even found support in legends like David Guetta, Tiësto and Hardwell. Over time, he felt the urge to add something local to his repertoire of sound. 'I wanted to blend folk and Bollywood with house-techno and Afro. So he came up with productions that fused Indian folk tunes with electronic beats. Today, it resonates on dancefloors around the world. 'It is all about creating a sound rooted in culture, but built for the future,' says Sartek.
Neel Adhikari, Pushan Kripalani, Arijit Datta
Singer-songwriters Neel Adhikari, Pushan Kripalani and Arijit Datta recently collaborated with Tiger Baby Records (Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Ankur Tewari) for their latest album City Sessions.
Pushan is a filmmaker and theatre director-turned songwriter, synonymous with his collective Slight Diversion. The trio's debut EP, 'Borrowed Guitars', earned them critical acclaim with the track 'Man, boy and liar' topping the charts. When Pushan wrote his first song, he was inspired by a woman singing in Central Park, New York. 'She sang with just an acoustic guitar in front of a small crowd. The songs were her own, yet appealed to people because of the simplicity of its rendition,' he recalls.
Singer-songwriter Arijit Datta is the frontman of the Hindi-Indie band, Airport, which is known for its bluesy, evocative sound. 'The sound of Airport feels like home. It holds the weight of everything I have lived through — silence, chaos and search. This genre gives me the freedom to be myself, to communicate what I cannot articulate verbally. Making music is my way of staying connected to my original self,' he shares.
Neel Adhikari is the artiste behind the opening track of Netflix's Little Things and Modern Love: Mumbai. Neel sees his music spread over two areas — background score and song. He dislikes categorisation of music and finds it hard to imagine himself stuck to one genre. He adds that he is drawn to certain textures and sounds. 'If it comes from an instrument that has wood and strings, it usually sounds good to me. My songs have a lot of acoustic guitars, ukuleles, banjos and now mandolins too,' he shares. Neel also loves analogue synths and percussions from interesting sounding non-instruments. His lyrics are essentially a play at depth using simple language. Quite often, one finds deep or dark words over a chirpy tune in his songs. 'I love the existence of contrasting elements in a composition and the sound of melancholy. Being a journeyman, I enjoy the process but am also goal-oriented and I break my back trying to achieve a sound I have imagined,' he states.
