There’s something irrefutably charismatic about retro Hindi hits. Ask any true blue Bollywood music lover about the magic weaved through the music that they listened to while growing up, and the answer remains the same. SANAM, a young Indian pop rock band, aims to re-create the magic when they go live on-stage. Currently, these 20 somethings from Mumbai are making inroads into the city’s music scene. The band also has a fast growing YouTube channel. And now, they are all set to perform live on December 8 in the city. In a freewheeling chat, we get the inside track...
“While the majority of the gig is planned, we also go by how the audiences react. There’s going to be a revival of popular Hindi classics, of course. But, we would like to add a bit of a suprise element after gauging the vibe of the crowd,” begins Sanam Puri, lead vocalist of the band. The band, which started out in the year 2013, and has emerged as one of the country’s biggest music artists on digital platforms. The band features Sanam Puri (lead vocalist), Samar Puri (lead guitarist), Venky S (bassist) and Keshav Dhanraj (drums) Speaking about how consistency has helped them in reaching out to a broad spectrum of followers, Venky, the bassist adds, “Putting out our music in the digital forums has really helped. We realised consistency has been working in our favour, and it’s been a lot easier to reach out to a larger audience through digital streaming platforms. Be it folk and regional renditons or originals, the arrangement has offered us with the scope to reach out to music lovers from countries we have never been to. So, yes, YouTube as a platform is very important to us.”
With pop rock being the band’s genre, SANAM caters largely to the new age listeners, who’d love a twist in the retro - hits from the ‘60s and 70s. While the four members have myriad influences, there’s always a union when it comes to releasing tracks. “We have different inspirations. For instance, Sanam listens to a lot of background scores, Venky is into jazz and blues, Saman listens to a lot of U2, Arabic music and the like. But, when we work together, and sit dow to create music we ensure there’s a release of a track only if all of us are truly happy,” opines Keshav, the drummer.
While the band has played at corporate events and private gigs in namma ooru, this upcoming gig happens to be their first big gig in Bengaluru. “We’ve always believed that Bengaluru has a very warm audience. It was very healthy and encouraging. But, now, with the tech boom and stuff, there are a lot more people in the city. So, we’re expecting a bigger audience. We don’t calculate much, and there isn’t any micro-planning here. We would like to go with the flow, create some nice music, be authentic and spread some good vibes when we go live,” concludes Venky.
— Sanam will be performing live at the Opus Club on December 8 at 9 pm.
