Percussionist and tabla player Bickram Ghosh is all set to bring back Indie rock with his Bangla music album, Pheromon, produced by Melting Pot productions and Gaana, which will be released tomorrow.
Pheromon is a unique Bangla music album with ten songs in varied flavours composed by Ghosh with its lyrics being written by renowned adman Sugata Guha. The album feature singers including Rupankar Bagchi, Iman Chakraborty, Ujjaini Mukherjee, Timir Biswas and Monomoy Bhattacharya. “With simple, heartfelt lyrics and soulfully rendered music, the album intends to take the audience back to the golden period of modern Bengali songs that was not overshadowed by film music,” says Ghosh. The videos accompanying the songs has performances by actor-danseuse Jaya Seal Ghosh and Anindita Banerjee Roy.
As we meet on an autumn afternoon at his sprawling residence in south Kolkata, the 51-year-old man with a charming smile, opened up about Pheromon and other future plans. Excerpts.
Pheromon is an Indie album. Do you think such independent albums works anymore?
Of course there is a demand, it’s a fallacy to think otherwise. In fact, we are doing quite a lot of them in Hindi and instrumental apart from Pheromon, which is a Bengali album. People do want to hear good music but now they either download or stream songs. If there was no demand then a massive company like Gaana, who we are collaborating with, wouldn’t have a 74 million base. Also, the first song from Pheromon, Mon Pakhi Timir E, that we released a couple of days back, is now among the first two songs in the chart. We have also done ten videos for the album.
What’s special about Pheromon?
The songs are melodious with good lyrics and various genres of music have been included, such as, folk, fusion, classical based fusion, Tagore gharana music and modern songs.
We are not in the wannabe space. We want to do good music with good lyrics since people still crave for good melodies.
Arindam Sil’s Byomkesh Gotro, whose music you have composed is also releasing this week. How has the music been received?
Already one song from Byomkesh Gotro, Rock and Roll Cabaret sung by Ujjaini is getting good reviews and another fusion song,Balamwa, by Piu will release in another two days.
What are the next projects you are working at?
I am working on four –five films right now including two Hindi films, Band of Maharajas and Phulmani. There is Arindam Sil’s next, Balighar, Suman Ghosh’s Basu Poribar and another untitled film. Besides, I am also working on six albums and collaborating with Sonu Nigam for an Indie album, too.
You were away from the classical music circuit for quite a while. Was there any particular reason for that?
Good question. I had started my career in 1985 with classical music and continued to do so till 2002. Then for six years at a stretch I took a conscious break in order to reinvent myself, not musically but as a whole. I observed that a tabla player often gets a second class citizen treatment and tabla as an instrument, too, never got its due credit. I resolved to make table the centrepiece of performance. Hence Rythmscape was born.
Your fusion band Rythmscape has garnered praise and is equally popular with classical and western music lovers. But as an artiste of Hindustani classical gharana, do you feel such fusion has enough gravity?
Of course, my kind of fusion music is totally rooted in classical music. Also, in my kind of fusion raag has always taken a big role and the taal (rhythm) is always maintained, though the format may be different. For example, Tani Avartanam (the extended solo that a percussionist plays to show off his skills) becomes drum jam, when I play in a college concert. Classical musicians should shake off all their seriousness and become affable to the current generation.
Are your training your sons, too?
Yes, the elder one practises regularly, but I am also hopeful of the younger one (His four-year-old son). He just loves tabla and I seriously hope he takes up tabla some day.
Trivia
Sun Sign: Libra
Favourite pass time: Reading Books
Latest read: Deepak Chopra’s God
Favourite food: Japanese
The song you love humming: Anewala pal janewala hai
Favourite singer: Kishore Kumar
Favourite composer: R.D. Burman
Biggest fear: Not living life to the potential
Most scared of: Only of fear
Love most: Music, friends and family, and not necessarily in that order