On the occasion of Women’s Day, we got chatting with Bengaluru’s lady larks and got them to spill on what it is that they love about the music scene in India and what they would change, if they could.
Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy
“What I love most is that there is place for all kinds of music here in India. There’s space for everyone, as long as they want to engage with it,” says the Carnatic and Hindustani classical musician. “It would however be wonderful if it could be a little easier on us to make a living out of – it’s not like a corporate job where everything is set and on point,” adds Bindhu.
Kavya Lakshminarayanan
“The diversity of the Indian music scene – everything from Bollywood to alternate music, is something that I love the most. Bengaluru is a fine representation of that,” says Kavya, who herself jumps from funk to folk from time-to-time with Clown With A Frown and The Raghu Dixit Project. “The industry however needs some streamlining and organisation – in terms of payment, for instance. Artistes need to be paid and it sometimes gets messy due to lack of standardisation. That’s one thing I’d change,” she says.
Neethusha Cherckal
“I think this goes for the music industry worldwide – the best thing is the availability of a plethora of online platforms to promote your music and the digitisation of tracks, which works to the advantage of unsigned/independent artistes,” says Neethusha, the lead vocalist of Stereogrind. “I’d like to revive pop music. Unfortunately, for most, Indian music is a subset of the film industry. I wish indie artistes and bands had better platforms and labels to promote their work,” she adds.
Hannah Elizabeth Matthews
“It’s fascinating to see the number of young kids, prodigies in the music scene. There’s so much young talent in the industry that sometimes I wonder what it is that their parents feed them!” quips Hannah, who aside of being the vocalist at the Riverman Band also spruces up the city with her solo acoustic sets. “It would be great if there was more inclusion of western music in the scene. We are slowly growing and getting there, but the market for Bollywood music is always greater,” she adds.
