Live music scene demolished, it has to rise from the ashes, asserts Shreya Ghoshal

Much like many other sectors and industries, the music industry, too, has been adversely impacted by the ongoing pandemic. And singer Shreya Ghoshal notes that the effect of the situation will be felt for some time more.

“The live scene – which had many musicians surviving on gigs and concerts – that whole industry got affected very badly. And it has still not resumed. So, singers, musicians and the whole system which was thriving on it have been completely demolished. It has to rise from the ashes,” she shares. However, Ghoshal is optimistic that it will bounce back soon, because the very nature of music is to be out there, for it to be enjoyed by one and all.

“I believe that music cannot happen in isolation. You can think, ideate, write in isolation, but music needs human connections. When we get together, the energies and ideas flow, and it all falls into place and a great song happens. So, it’s much more effortless when people are together in a studio — singers, writers, composers. That has been missed badly. Now that film work has resumed, projects have resumed too and we’re on the right track,” she elaborates. Indeed, one positive outcome of the whole scenario was the resurgence of the indie music scene, observes Ghoshal. She adds, “The whole of 2020 was a test for the music industry especially because Indian music is very heavily dependent on the films... And we needed a time like this to test this out. This period actually created a huge emerging parallel industry of independent music. A lot of music happened during this time, and I hope that this trend develops more platforms, and the ecosystem in place for indie musicians goes into a much bigger scale. This challenge was needed for it to happen.”

The 36-year-old singer, too, made the most of the whole situation and teamed up with her brother, Soumyadeep Ghoshal, to create a song, titled Angana More. It is an evocative electronic pop offering created virtually, with the entire team working independently from their homes, during the pandemic.

“Things happen when you want them to happen,” Ghoshal opines, and goes on to say, “The lockdown and quarantine last year made me go into an introspective mode and think what I really want to do musically. This idea stemmed from there. I wanted to do something which would make me foray into my roots in classical music. I wanted to take it forward to the generation that follows me. I didn’t want to make it sound like a clichéd classical piece, but a new age experience.”

PHOTO: FACEBOOK/ SHREYAGHOSHAL