‘The audience for Indian classical and traditional Western music is growing’

BHUMIKA KHATRI

Karan Mahajan ( 21) and Sonal Ajwani (26), members of the popular Delhi band Everyday People, recently performed at the Piano Man Jazz Club in the national capital. They spoke to Guardian 20 about their experience of the city’s music scenario, presence of English music in India and much more. Q. Could you describe your early experience with music and your forte? Karan: In a family of no musical background, I had music program in school that was basically Indian classical music, so I studied tabla for three-four years when I was six. I chose guitar rather unconsciously, as I just wanted to play. I did take a few lessons in the beginning, but I didn’t pursue them, and ended up learning it. I would just play the music and practice the beats on the guitar. I am a big fan of Indian classical music, and I also play cello. I am more into blues, Qawwali, folk music, RnB etc. Sonal: My family had no musical history, so even though I used to sing in school, I couldn’t take it along with me. It was after I was doing theatre in college where I got encouraged by my peers and professors, so I started taking it seriously. After that I started looking at Hindustani as well as Western music. I worked for corporate industry for 7.5 years, but when I realised I was missing out on music, I decided if I want to do it I have to give my all to it, so I decided to jump in. Q. Tell us about your music career. Karan: I studied at Global Music Institute for two years, where I learned harmony, ear training etc. I started playing with a lot of people, as earlier I was restricted only to my room. I have been collaborating with various artists as well. Last year I played at annual Music Matters Festival in Colombo, where I played most of the sets with Tarun Balani collective. It was a great experience of playing with great musicians. With Ipshita Roy, I recorded for the first time and it was a great time in studio. I have played with many others like Isaac Smith, Rythem Bansal etc. Sonal: I studied at Swarnabhoomi for a semester and also at Delhi School of Music where they had more of an opera interest, which wasn’t what I wanted. I joined Global Music Institute where I got to follow my interests. Karan and I have been playing together since then, as teachers also appreciated our collabs. Earlier, I did a song Reach Out with my Swarnabhoomi friend, Jukka Packalen, who had melody for me and wanted me to write lyrics. It was a long shot, but we succeeded. However, I had issues with my voice so I had to take a break and rebuild my strength and my voice. And now I am collaborating with Karan for various gigs. Q. Is there any particular place which inspires you to write/ Karan and Sonal performing at the Piano Man Jazz Club in Delhi. sing/compose? Karan: Environment helps, but most of the times nothing matters. For me, it’s just spontaneous to compose or write. Sonal: Not really actually, I get inspired from the story inside the song itself. So, when I like a song a lot, I go and find why this lyricist wrote this and when, what was happening in their life then, because I really want to know. But you do get something to take as an anchor, to understand the significance of the song as well. Q. What do you think about the presence of English music in India? Karan: It’s growing a lot actually. Especially the contemporary popular music, commercial English music has a lot of presence. However, folk, classical genres, traditional jazz and blues seem growing but not much. There is a lot of commercial and popular music in Delhi and other cities, but Indian classical music or traditional western music is very small, but definitely the audience is growing. Sonal: In last few years, the mar- ket of Indie music or English music has many people coming into it. In comparison to the time when I was trying for it when I was 21/22, the market has now opened up. Q. Who is your role model in music? Karan: Ali Akbar Khan, cello artist ; John Coltrane, Jazz saxophone player; BB King, blues guitarist; Eddie James “Son” House, blues guitarist; Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Sonal: In terms of style, my most influential vocalist is Mavis “The most important part about music is that it’s a form of expression, I can express the way I feel. I found from experience that it has more impact than talking.” Staples. The more I listen to her, the more I get engrossed with her. She’s been around forever, she is around 70. I am totally enthralled by her. However, you always like certain things about certain artists which you want to imbibe in yourself. Q. What are your hobbies? Karan: I love reading books, playing football, and music cover the day. Sonal: I love to write, sing, read and swim. Q. How’s working with each other? Karan: It’s working great, we are working hard, and now we are even performing gigs. It’s small and we are towards building a band in future. The best thing about Sonal is she takes music seriously and has the same level of commitment that I want in music. Sonal: It’s great, Karan is the one who brought me into blues. At institute, we had been mostly concentrating on Jazz tunes in class, so apart from that he brought blues tunes. Initially, it was new for me, I wasn’t sure if this was my direction, but once I started listening to it, I started feeling that I could go ahead in it, so we started playing more and more together. However, it was Howlin Wolf who inspired me to give an honest try to blues. Q. Do you have any plans to go commercial? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Karan: Commercial is not something I can do, I never listen to it, I am never interested in it. In the future, I just want to be playing as many gigs as possible, touring at different venues, different countries, playing music we love, playing with people I enjoy with. Sonal: Commercial isn’t something I want to do. In future, I just want to sing, and if there are more partnerships, I want to do it, while continuing my old ones as well. Q. What is music to you? Karan: The most important part about music is that it’s a form of expression, I can express the way I feel. I found from experience that it has more impact than talking. A lot of times people don’t want to hear about some issues, but if you put all of it in tune, all of your energy and thought into it, then everybody wants to hear it. Sonal: If I say music is everything, it is cheesy. But music, for me, is the one way of expressing myself without any fear. It’s easier for me to say through the song or music, than in conversation.