Light, music, ‘AKS’ion!
It is time for fusion music fans of Bengaluru to rejoice as they will witness a music extravaganza on January 18 at Counter Culture. Two of the best fusion rock acts from the city, Agam and AKS are coming together for a scintillating performance. Harish Sivaramakrishnan, Vocalist of Agam and Raveesh Tirkey, Bassist of AKS got candid with us about the special show.
“This show is special for us as we will be playing a few songs from our upcoming debut album. We are also doing a crowd funding project through a platform developed by Bengaluru-based musicians and we will be the pilot project,” says Raveesh. Since its inception in 2011, AKS has evolved into a technically sound band which is appreciated for its original music. Their new sound, is an ethnic mix of Hindustani classical ragas, progressive rock, blues and funk and was developed after the change in their line-up a year ago.
“Our new sound is reflected best with the song Bawra. The song depicts the story of a person who is crazy about music. For this song, we have incorporated alternative rock with the basic style of bhangra. So, it has a very Punjabi feel to it which goes to the heavy alternative space in the later half,” says Raveesh.
Agam has taken their sound into the progressive metal space with Carnatic music since their show at Coke Studio in 2012. Their new song, Seventh Ocean is proof of this fact. “Seventh Ocean is a bit towards the classic progressive metal style with a cleaner sound. It best describes the direction we are taking while moving forward as a band. Also, for this show, we have tried to rework our old songs into this new sound and the result has been phenomenal. So, we are excited because this is the first time we will be playing it to our fans,” says Harish.
Since both the bands make fusion music through progressive rock space, there might be a possibility of an impromptu jam session at the show, says Harish. He adds, “Yadhunanadan Nagaraj of AKS and I have been trying to figure out something for a jam session. We still don’t know what its going to be but I feel it will be interesting. Yadhu has played with us in the past and AKS also has a flautist, so we might pull something on that line.”