They began with Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Sri Rangapura Vihara,’ and then moved on to another classic, Tyagaraja’s ‘Bantureethi kolu,’ accompanied by melodic riff-work, intense drum beats and hysterical cheers from a teeming mosh pit. And when the lead singer Harish Sivaramakrishnan offered his tribute to the legendary M.S. Subbulakshmi, hundreds of hand-horns went up in the air. Carnatic sounded as cool as the evening sea breeze at Agam’s concert recently at Phoenix MarketCity.
Among the frontrunners of the nouveau Indian classical-meets-metal-meets-rock genre, bands like Agam reiterate the abiding influence of our root sounds. Sample their ‘Boat Song,’ ‘Over the Horizon,’ ‘Malhar Jam’ or ‘Dhanashree Tillana.’
That evening Agam’s musical oeuvre also included some expansive alapanas, swara-play and languidly-paced ghazals. All fitted amazingly into the East-West sonic blend.
Even as the boys were busy with audio check, crowds gathered to watch them in action. Not just the young, there were even those who seemed like traditional kutcheri-goers. According to the sari-clad and mallipoo-sporting Brinda Gopalan, who was accompanied by her three cousins, “It’s nice to combine mall walking with live music. This band has got its basics right.”
“That was the premise — to come up with a hybrid that sounds inspired, not insipid,” says Harish, in a pre-concert conversation. Though he looks a typical rockstar with his bandana, goatee and thick sideburns, Harish is a trained Carnatic musician. A graduate from BITS Pilani, he is currently the design head at Snapdeal.
Agam, which in Tamil means the ‘inner self’, was born out of a casual discussion among music-loving friends. “Some of us went to college together. So the camaraderie seeped into our music when we decided to form a band. And fun had to be the dominant note. All of us now have our day jobs. Agam is a way to express the art in us,” he says, trying to make himself audible with the drums pounding behind.
But being a classical musician didn’t he feel he was stepping into an unsafe zone with the huge diversity in the practices and possibilities of the genres involved?
“Through my learning years I realised our classical arts are well-enriched. They are more inclusive than what people perceive. And I wanted to demonstrate this inclusivity and the democratic nature of the form. I am now at peace with what we are doing,” smiles Harish.
He owes it to those scores of Carnatic stalwarts who have contributed to make this idiom such a creatively exciting sphere. “I cannot say we are making any difference. The works of the many seniors have given us the courage to structure our music differently. In this respect, sharing the stage with someone of Aruna Sairam’s stature was a huge validation. The concert was held in Chennai, a city that knows its music well. Some people may be open to our experiments, others may not. Art and criticism go together. I am euphoric as long as the core remains intact and Agam finds some resonance with people across age groups,” he explains.
The band’s ability to convey in a contemporary way the evocative and emotional power of familiar classical compositions seems to have endeared it to the young. “We wanted our music to be bracingly communicative; to tell the new generation that the classical repertoire is far from restrictive. It has space for everything. And more than anything, its improvisational quality allows your imaginations to run wild,” he laughs, waving delightedly to the crowd around.
