The alternative path in music

When it comes to promoting arts and culture, the one industry that seems to be finding it rather lucrative is hospitality. Five-star hotels, across India, are known to patronise art, theatre, dance and of course music. Take the Urbanfolk concept that’s being launched in the city with a concert by Hamsika Iyer and the Vivek Rajagopalan Quartet on November 3. The project is being promoted by Vivanta by Taj, Whitefield.

The Vivek Rajagopalan Quartet has been around for three to four years now and comprises a mridangam player, a drummer, a bass guitarist and a flute artist. The quartet will be performing music that Vivek Rajagopalan has been working on for a couple of years now, which is influenced by his experience of collaborating with various international artists, bringing in a modern approach to his deep Indian classical roots. “The kind of music we play combines Carnatic, Hindustani, jazz, folk, electronica, and drum and bass; and creates a very international sound while firmly being rooted in Indian music,” Vivek explains.

Hamsika is excited about the project too. “I’ve known Vivek Rajagopalan for a very long time now,” she says, adding, “And I’m very comfortable working with his music. I would say world music is really my forte. It’s a very interesting blend of traditional music with rock elements in it. Vivek made me listen to this track he had created and I absolutely loved it. The exciting part is we’re going to be experimenting with poetry as well, and this is the first time I will be doing something like that.”

Speaking of his music, Vivek says: “We’ve got great responses every time we’ve performed. But having said that, music like this isn’t exactly commercially popular and opportunities to perform are far from plenty. This concept is appreciated more in the West, but it is gradually gaining popularity in the Indian music scene as well and acts like ours are constantly looking to promote this.”
In fact, that’s the very thought behind Urbanfolk, which will provide alternative artistes a platform. “At the end of it, it all boils down to whether someone will like our music or not. The ideal effect we are going for is a seamless blend of both Indian and Western elements, so that the audience cannot distinguish where one element starts and where the other ends,” says Vivek.