Sanam: We are not limiting ourselves to one kind of music

This four member pop rock band likes to keep things simple. With Venky S on bass, Samar Puri on guitars, Keshav Dhanraj on drums and Bollywood playback singer Sanam Puri (of Dhat Teri Ki and Lucky Tonight fame) as their frontman, the boy band is set to be the One Direction of India.
Their original single Main Hoon was featured in the India release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Now, Sanam is visiting Maldives for an official performance at their campaign launch on July 25. Sanam was invited by Maldivian tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor thanks to popular demand by the local youth.
On their a-ha moment: “The band derives its name from the universal word for love in languages like Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit, across the Eastern Europe to the Indian sub-continent,” says frontman Sanam. “We’re really looking forward to this as it is our first visit and hope to put on a power-packed show,” adds Samar. Samar, Venky and Sanam studied in the same school in Muscat, where they formed a band with their friends and jammed to alternative rock and pop hits while learning how to play their instruments. Many years later, when Samar and Sanam moved to Mumbai to pursue a music career, Venky introduced them to drummer Keshav (his bandmate in Chennai-based The Previous Band) who had also moved to Mumbai. They hit it off at his garage and started making music together, calling themselves SQS Project. Their first gig was at a nationwide contest. Venky travelled from Bangalore to play with them at the finals where they won and bagged the title, which led to an album release and the music videos for their songs Hawa Hawa and Behka.
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On their brand of music: The boy band describes its sound as contemporary pop rock. “We try to make sure that the melody of a song shines through in our arrangements and like to use layered vocal harmonies,” says Venky. Says Sanam, “We are not limiting ourselves to one kind of music. We do renditions of classics like Lag Ja Gale, handpicked for the younger generation, some of whom haven’t really heard the songs from back then. We have given the songs our own sound, so that people can understand new kind of music while connecting to that melody.”
On their influences: Samar digs British rock bands like U2, Radiohead and Muse because of their unique sound. Keshav takes his inspiration from Carter Beauford and Travis Barker for their innovative playing. Venky is influenced by bass stalwarts such as James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius, John Paul Jones and Louis Johnson. Sanam likes orchestral music because of its melodic content. On their way forward: Their immediate plan is to consistently release singles online and hopefully broaden their reach within India and elsewhere. “We’re working on different kinds of songs this year. In the pipeline is a Bengali song based on Rabindrasangeet and a peppy Punjabi tune. Says Keshav, “We are shooting the video for the Bengali number. In the future, we hope to put out good music and keep our listeners happy.”
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