“Carnatic music is for everyone and we try to compose fusion songs to foster its virtues” - that's what Mahesh Raghvan says about his passion for giving fresh twists to the classical genre.
The 28-year-old Carnatic singer who recently hit 506.2k streams on Spotify, has been collaborating with artistes like Aruna Sairam and Hindustani Classical musician Nandini Shankar. On the 12th of this month, he released 'Kapi Dance' along with Nandini. “It was fun to collaborate with Nandini, the granddaughter of the renowned Padmabhusan Dr. N. Rajam”, said Mahesh.
Asked about his experience of working with noted vocalist Aruna Sairam, he says “Aruna Ma'am is a wonderful person to work with, who always supports young artistes”.
Before starting his music career, Mahesh pursued a B.A degree in Audio Production and did his postgraduation in Music Technology. He studied Carnatic and Western music for more than 15 years
Mahesh's band, Carnatic 2.0 Reloaded, recently released a fusion hip-hop number called 'Mylapore Rap'. Tamil playback singer Sharanya Srinivas, violinist Shravan Sridhar, and mridhangam artisteAkshayAnantapadmanabhan are the other members of the band.
“Carnatic 2.0 is a project that we continuously aim to promote through the new media like our YouTube Channel”, says Mahesh. “A combination of contemporary versions of traditional Carnatic pieces and Indian style covers for popular western music songs like Hello by Adele and Hotline Bling by Drake are the two types of themes that I produce on YouTube,” he adds.
By infusing Carnatic music with elements of Dubstep, Drum, Brass and Electronic dance music, the classical genre is invested with a hint of modernity.
Mahesh is also a part of another fusion band called the 'ThayirSadham Project', a blend of Indian classical, electronic and world music. Formed in 2018, the ThayirSadham Project has an interest in social causes. The talented musicians of the band are currently working with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to create a social impact.
