Here’s a classical twist
Pune-based band, Aanavya all set to open for Indian Ocean this weekend and have something exciting in store for Pokemon fans
They believe in creating music that mesmerizes the audience. Experimenting by fusing genres like Jazz, Blues and Rock, the seven-piece band Aanavya was started by rhythm guitarist Kaushik Agnihotri and drummer Saurabh Thakker. With a goal to enter the Mood Indigo competition hosted by IIT Bombay, the two decided to come together and form a band. They then approached a few musicians from their own college and formed Aanavya in November 2013. Once the band was formed, they chose Hindustani Classical Fusion as their genre as it was something that they were all interested in. Even though they lost the competition, the fact that they reached the semi-finals considering how little they had jammed, it was inspiration enough for them to continue with the band.
Apart from Saurabh and Kaushik, other band members include Mandar Chimurkar on the bass guitar, Tejas Joshi on vocals, Neel Pandit on tabla, Sphurti Kachare on violin and Vitthalsingh Hajeri on the lead guitar. Opening the act for Indian Ocean this weekend, TGS spoke to the super fun and energetic band to get a vibe of what their performance will be about and what inspires their music.
“Our jam sessions are the best part of my day. They are fun, chilled out and mainly focus on experimenting with different genres,” shares Saurabh, who has been playing the drums for five years now. He is a BBM-IB from BMCC College and is currently preparing for MBA entrance exams. At the event, they will be performing a mixed set of originals and covers that they have altered with a twist of their own. The audience can definitely expect a fun-filled night. Also, there’s a special surprise for Pokémon fans, he adds.
Growing as an Indie Fusion act in India where music listeners are largely biased towards Bollywood music is what the band finds the most challenging. Most of the younger Indian audience tends to not be interested in the music as soon as the word classical is associated with it. The struggle begins with trying to bring about a change in this ideology.
For the band, their inspiration has often come from shows like Coke Studio, MTV Unplugged and Kappa TV that promote fusion music in their very own way. Agam, Advaita, The Raghu Dixit Project and many other Indie acts inspire them too. As far as their originals are concerned, their first song Raat Mori was inspired from a bandish based on Raag Bageshree.
“Inspiration lies in everything, be it any other form of art, real life incidents or Illusions. People can relate to the melody in a much better way when it is accompanied by lyrics. So noting thoughts that share a mutual feeling between us and the audience is what we do,” says Vitthalsingh, who has been penning down lyrics for the band’s next few original numbers. He is currently pursuing graduation in BBM-IB from Sinhagad College and is in his second year. He is the youngest member of the band and has been performing for about three years now.
Mandar is in his final year pursuing a graduation in BBA from MITSOM College and has been performing for six years as a vocalist, guitarist and a bassist. Tejas is an engineering student in his third year and hopes to someday become a playback singer. Neel too is an engineering student from VIT College. Being the son of a music director, rhythm has pretty much been a part of his life since he was born. Sphurti is in her second year of engineering and is from a family of classical musicians. The young group hopes to someday grow up and become musicians and have already begun working hard towards their end goal as they take out time from their busy schedules to jam and create music.
When: August 19, 7 pm onwards
Where: blueFrog, Yerawada
salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
Originally published on The Golden Sparrow
