[This feature was first appeared in the July issue of Soundbox, India’s premier music trade magazine. Checkout the website here.]
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It was late in the evening when a group of three techies walked into one of the residential colonies in Bengaluru. They were going to attend what their host called a musical get-together and they did not have the slightest idea of what to expect. They heard people singing when they entered the host’s house, some people even dancing to the music, all of which was followed by thunderous applause and appreciation. It felt weird to them that a group of people came together, many of them not even amateur singers, just to sing their hearts out. But as they sat through the event and heard the songs being belted out one after the other, they were totally moved. Here was a group of people encouraging and applauding each other to sing just for the love of music and not to scale their ability to sing as in a reality show. Here, it is music that rules.
People from several walks of life in the metro cities and small towns in the southern part of India are forming music appreciation groups where they also get to shape their raw talents. And they are not shy to sing their heart out before the others in their group meetings, because these groups are not primarily about showing off but appreciating a certain song, composer, lyricist or singer.
Inspired by Antakshari
Ant-Tak (meaning ‘till the end‘ ) is one such group based in Bengaluru. They begin the music sessions in the early evening and the music goes on until the wee hours of the morning. According to Rama Iyer, a lawyer and partner at Legal Solutions Bangalore, who is also one of the hosts and organising members of Ant-Tak, the idea of this group came about after a corporate antakshari contest in 2004. An Ant-Tak member’s company had planned to send teams to the contest after internally picking out people who were interested in music. It was then that they realised there were many people within the company who were passionate about music. The rehearsal sessions were filled with the participants’ family members who helped them with song information for the contest. And music being the bonding factor, they became friends in a short span of time. This made way for further get-togethers to sing with karaoke tracks and some music instruments (played by the members themselves) and many other friends joined them. Ant-Tak has held 31 music sessions and the event mostly takes place at members’ homes. If the number of people coming over to the meeting is larger than can be accommodated at home, the host family rents a hall for the purpose, even though it is not obligatory for each family to host an event.
Theme song
Priya and Venkat, a couple from Bengaluru were instrumental in bringing together like minded people and hosted many such music meets in the city. The last event they organised was this April, named Ek sham Bhoole Bisre Geet ke naam. The meet was firmed up through Bhoole Bisre Geet, a music group on Facebook. The success of the event has encouraged the group and they are now planning to arrange such meets in Mumbai and Delhi.
These musical meets sometimes have a central theme. If Ek sham Bhoole Bisre Geet ke naam was about celebrating retro Hindi film songs, they had two musical meets dedicated to the legendary composer M S Viswanathan. They talked about MSV’s music, exchanged tit-bits of his compositions, played his original tracks and their own instrumental versions and sang his songs together. And not just that – the group had M S Viswanathan, the man himself, for two days when the group interacted with him about his music. Priya notes that it was the happiest moment of her life. Another event of Ant-Tak was named Bollywood Hungama where the members came dressed as Bollywood characters and movie posters were plastered on the walls.
There are people from several walks of life who participate in these shows and what bring them together is their love and appreciation of music, irrespective of the language. The participating homes are suitably decorated, most of the times with a banner that has the event name on it. Songs in different languages are sung at these events. But it’s not just about singing one song after the other. The participants spend time in appreciating the lyrical and musical aspects of a song. Sometimes, karaoke tracks keep company or music instruments are played by some of the members.
Notes from the homeland
Roshni Chandran and Iyyappan Santhanam, a couple from Los Angeles formed a group DesiTunes with the primary goal to unite the Indian/desi musicians in Los Angeles. DesiTunes also welcomes musicians of other nationalities who are interested in performing Indian/desi music. Roshni says that though there were many musicans of Indian origin in Los Angeles, there is no common platform for all of them to meet or socialise and this is what DesiTunes is striving to provide.
They meet twice a month to jam with other musicians. “Usually they have to wait for once-ayear community events organised by Indian regional communities where they hardly get a chance to sing a song due to the time constraints. We thought it would be helpful to create a consistent opportunity to perform where it could benefit the existing and the new musicians who relocate to Los Angeles to get the exposure they deserve,” Roshni says.
Back in Thrissur, Kerala, another group of people organises a monthly music meet-up called paaTTarangu. The event takes place every month in Thrissur town, at any convenient location. The songs are mostly unplugged versions without any karaoke or instrumental tracks to support the vocals. They welcome everyone to join them and invite a celebrity guest singer for every meet-up. The response, they say, is heartening.
So what goals do these groups achieve with these meet-ups? Priya and Venkat say the aspirations of participants are on different levels. “What happens is, they better their own performances the next time. Each one takes time to select songs, learn them, procure karaokes somehow, practice well and when they render at the music meets, it is sheer happiness to see the contentment on their faces,” Priya notes. She says it has also helped people, especially the kids, to get over the stage fear and the fear of holding microphones and singing in front of a group of people. paaTTarangu also has a similar success story to tell about singers from the city of Thrissur in Kerala. For DesiTunes, it is all about meeting, socialising and jamming with fellow musicians. “And for others, it is a consistent opportunity to perform which in turn gives them a chance to display their talent. There are a few music bands which are part of DesiTunes and some of these bands have been able to select singers/musicians based on their performance during our past meet-ups.”
In the early days, people were happy and content with singing along the karaoke tracks in their private spaces. They called themselves ‘bathroom singers’ and were hesitant to express their appreciation towards music by singing in public spaces. But with many of these groups encouraging people to sing before the others and help them get better and better with each new meetup, south India could witness a new trend of grooming musicians through impromptu music sessions and meetups. Not to mention allowing all those bathroom singers to be able to sing their heart out!