A music that resonates of cosmos

Added: (Fri Mar 05 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - It is the thing with old civilisations... they tend to churn out the old in newer ways. So, Sufi transforms itself into Sufi rock. Ragas transform themselves to become Raga rock. In the last 10 years, the Indian sub continent has seen many such attempts to give that which has been around for centuries a contemporary identity. This urge to recreate the old into something new saw bands like Euphoria, Indian Ocean, Parikrama, Pentagram come up in India. Pakistan saw the emergence of bands such Junoon, Strings and Jal. Bangladesh and Nepal too had their bands.



Taking this tradition further is a relatively new Delhi band, Advaita. However, Advaita though falling in the same category is quite different. It describes itself as psychedelic fusion band. First, their core philosophy. Advaita seeks inspiration from the ancient Indian philosophy of Advaita, non duality. What they stand for is oneness and spirituality of music. Everything they sing pivots around this central theme. It deals with the belief of energy and consciousness. So while other bands sing of love, rebellion, unity and humanity, Advaita brings all of this together and pitches it in the context of the universe, the Brahman and the spiritual. As you listen to songs like Rasiya, Raga Durga and Ghir Ghir from their first album, Grounded in Space, you are immediately struck by the variety of sounds. Not just of Western acoustic instruments like drums, the electric guitar and the synthesizer but by distinctly Indian instruments like the Tabla and Sarangi.



On questioning, Abhishek Mathur, one of the founding members of the group says, "Classical music forms an important dimension of our music. You see there is this natural psychedelic element to Indian Classical music. We wanted to explore it but at the same time blend it with the space psychedelia." That brings us to the composition of the band. One is pleasantly surprised to see that it has 8 band members, as against the routine 4-5. Of which, two guys, Ujwal Nagar and Sohail Yusuf Khan, hail from classical music families. Listen to songs like Raga Durga and Rasiya and you’ll know what one is talking about. Explaining further, Abhishek says, “With classical Indian music based songs, we try to retain its core but add that extra something that makes it sound edgy and funky too.”



Whoever thought classical music couldn’t connect with the youth, must listen to works of Advaita. Agreed, they do borrow a lot from the established 'bandish' of the Hindustani Classical music traditions but they give them a facelift that at once appeals to the younger generations. Sufi rock does pretty much the same thing. It picks of themes of love and spirituality and refurbishes it to cater to the younger generation. However, it is a lot simpler as these are based on folk traditions emanating from the soil. However, what is indeed welcoming in Advaita is its successful attempts at making contemporary the complex spiritual character of the raga. In short, retaining the complex precision of the Sanskrit traditions of Hindustan Classical music and yet making them sound funky and edgy.



Of course, it is not as if they do not pick of popular spiritual experiences. Advaita picks on a lot of divinity music from Braj Bhasha and Avadhi traditions too. Which then brings us to which language they sing in—Abhishek insists that Advaita doesn’t want to be bound by barriers of language. As of today, they sing in English, Hindi/Urdu, Braj Bhasha and Avadhi and going forward if an opportunity comes their way, they might even sing in Bengali! Since its inception in 2004, the band has been steadily growing in exposure—in 2009, they were part of Great Escape Festival in United Kingdom. They have also performed in the SAARC Band Festival in Delhi. They have been invited to perform at the Kala Utsavam, Singapore. 2009 also saw the launch of their first solo album, Grounded in Space.



In 2007 they were part of the Gwalior Heritage Festival. In 2006, they performed at the Jaipur Viraasat Festival. What’s amazing is that they have managed to keep the Bollywood temptation at bay. Says Abhishek, “We do want to stay away from that big monster called Bollywood as maintaining out individuality is very crucial to our existence.” And how do they support their quest for creating music? They all are involved in careers other than creating music, though in some way connected to music. So lead guitarist Abhishek Mathur composes music for ads, theatre, documentaries, etc. Base guitarist Gaurav Chintamani runs a company called runs Quarter Note Studios, a well established studio in south Delhi where apart from conducting recording sessions; he composes and produces music for commercial projects. While, Mohit Lal doubles up as a music teacher at the DPS, East of Kailash, Delhi.


The author is an entertainment news editor and works for many websites related to event, bollywood, music, movie, concerts and theater. Visit one more interesting article of author: Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge or visit: http://www.buzzintown.com/new-delhi/movie_atithi-tum-kab-jaoge--segment_synopsis--id_173457.html