‘Glad that listeners of all backgrounds like our music’
It’s been nearly 25 years since the students from the South East Asian community, especially Indians, studying in Pennsylvania, US, formed the a cappella group, Penn Masala. Over the years, with changing members, the group has now become a big name in the music industry, and apart from their originals, is probably more known for the mash ups of popular English and South Asian songs.
“When we make mash ups or originals, we do consider what our audience is looking for, but we ultimately realise that if we continue to record and perform songs that we’re all personally passionate about, our music will organically continue to improve,” the 15- member group tells us in an email interview.
And their latest mash up of Kanye West’s Stronger, DNCE’s Cake By The Ocean and Arijit Singh’s Ghungroo, the video of which was released in January on YouTube, received over 100,000 views and was even shared by actor Hrithik Roshan on Twitter.
“It is encouraging for us to see that our music is being appreciated by listeners of all backgrounds. After nearly 25 years of Masala, our music and the message behind it, still resonates with people of all ages, regions, and lifestyles,” they say, adding, “We have not received any word from Kanye. Hopefully we will hear his thoughts on our spin of Stronger soon.”
The group is currently set to release their studio album, Musafir, where “everything from the melody to the lyrics is thought of by members of the group.”
And while they understand their original tracks do not get the same attention as the mash ups, it helps them express their own perspectives creatively.
“It is even more gratifying when we see people enjoying our original music because they are appreciating a musical message created solely by us. Making original music also allows us the freedom of injecting our own perspectives,” they say.
However, despite the fact that they have contributed to two Indian English films, the group is yet to contribute to Bollywood. And it is a challenge that they can’t wait to take up.
“We have taken on film projects based in the US, but we have not yet contributed to a Bollywood film. We would absolutely love to, in the future!” the group signs off.