These bands are giving out a strong message in music

It takes a revolution, to create a solution.’ Kerala’s black metal band Willuwandi couldn’t agree more with Bob Marley’s words as this famous quote is one of the reasons for them to protest against casteism through their music. 

Likewise, Buddhist rock band, Dhamma Wings, has been singing against the oppression of Dalits. Then, there’s rock band JJI Exile Brothers from McLeod Ganj who croon about Tibetan freedom while Imphal Talkies has been belting out songs on insurgency and violence in North East India. And who doesn’t know about Aisi Taisi Democracy’s scathing political satire? Spoken word feminist party SXonomics use satire, improv, poetry, music and audience-inclusive performance to project feminism as a fun and relevant way of life, while sparring with “patriarchy, toxic gender roles, relationship politics and mental monsters”, like founders Dr Ishmeet Nagpal and Ramya Pandyan tell us. 

After Hrs finds out why music bands are now taking up causes close to their hearts.

RAISING A VOICE

Initially, topics such as peace and harmony, which Buddha preached after he lived as a monk in Bodh Gaya, featured in Dhamma Wings’ tracks. Later, Kabeer Shakya, vocalist and founder of the band, moved on to making music about casteism. “I realised that this social evil has existed since the time of Buddha. Even 2,500 years later, we still face it,” he states. As an Indian youth, Kabeer believes it’s a cancer to the nation, which is leading to several killings in smaller towns and villages. Through his songs, the musician wants to make his listeners understand that it should stop immediately before more innocent people lose their lives. Sethu Sangeeth, lead guitarist and vocalist of Willuwandi, echoes Kabeer’s sentiment and says, “We want to protest against the caste system and start a revolution through our music,” he says. Tenzin Jigme (one of the three brothers Jigme, Jamyang and Ingsel) of JJI Exile Brothers, adds, “We believe in Dalai Lama’s teachings of life, freedom and discovering yourself. But through our compositions, we want to remind everyone that we still don’t have a country and there are so many lost people out there.”

SXonomics, on its part, is alarmed by the things that have been passed off as culture, romance and poetry. “Problematic messages in Bollywood where a woman’s consent is not respected — like, ‘Tu haan kar ya na kar’ and many other such things are a matter of concern. Films are a huge influence on the common man’s way of thinking,” says Ramya.

SEEING A POSITIVE CHANGE

Since almost everyone listens to music, it proves to be a great way to send the message across. Jigme says, “There are more young bands that are singing our songs. We are happy that the message is finally getting across.” 
For SXonomics, the goal of their caricatures, poetry and collaborations is to prompt people to think about the current state of affairs in the country. “We want to create reference points in our listeners’ heads and make them realise when something wrong happens. Many of them have come up to us and said that our pieces like Shaadi Ka Laddu and Chaar Log (a satire on chaar log kya kahenge?/ what will people say) keep coming up in their daily lives,” says Ishmeet. Ramya adds that many of their listeners (including men and women) have told them how their performance has been an eye-opener to many aspects that existed in their lives but they were unmindful of.

MORE ATTENTION TO THE CAUSE

Musicians feel that by referring to social causes in their music, they are performing their duties as artistes. Kabeer corroborates, “Artistes have the biggest responsibility on their shoulders. They can start a movement or even simply inspire to change one’s mentality. Michael Jackson and Bob Marley sang about racism to end atrocities.” 

Sethu says, “Our songs are not connected with any religion. Our theme is: Be yourself, you’re the god. We selected this cause because it’s a wake-up call for Dalits and backward castes.” Ishmeet says that when a message is propagated through music or any other art form, it is likelier to stay longer with people and make an impact.

CROSSING BORDERS

Kabeer believes that as music cuts across borders, it is an effective tool. “Not just in India, people abroad have been appreciating our songs. So, whether it brings about a change or not, the message is at least reaching them,” he says. Sethu agrees, “We are interested in spreading ideas through art because music has the power to cross borders.”