Hindustani classical vocalist, playback singer and composer Avanti Patel is back with her second original classical track, Nadiya that fuses the thumri mellifluously with modern electronic music production, making it equally appealing for the pop-loving youth.
“Nadiya could be a starting point for the uninitiated youth to appreciate a traditional thumri. Musically speaking it’s not easy to recreate a thumri, but I hope to create a more contemporary space for genres such as thumri and ghazal through my work,” shares Mumbaibased Avanti.
Nadiya Bairi Bhayi is a traditional thumri performed by Hindustani Classical stalwarts including Girija Devi and Ustaad Rashid Khan. And now, Avanti has collaborated with music producer and flautist Gandhaar Amin to create Nadiya that eloquently melds the traditional and modern notes.
Tell us the idea behind Nadiya?
Nadiya is supposed to create the soundscape of a river — flowing and ever-changing. Gandhaar Amin, the music producer and flautist of this track, approached me with a basic framework and before we knew it, everything started falling into place. We both worked really hard to keep the flowy and silky texture throughout.
How was it working with Gandhaar for the first time?
I connected with Gandhaar on Instagram a few months ago and I absolutely love his work. Amazingly, a few months later, he approached me with this track! I think this is one of the most seamless remote-working experiences I’ve ever had.
Has the pandemic made indie classical singers like you come up with innovations to survive?
Definitely! For me, I’ve had to seriously upskill and not that I wasn’t planning to earlier, but the pandemic sped up the process. I now have a little home studio set-up; in fact, Nadiya’s vocals were recorded there.
Tell us about your next track. Any EP or album on the anvil?
There’s a lot of new music on the horizon. Currently, I am working on a few tracks with a bunch of really talented artistes, we’ll have to wait and watch which one releases first.
Nadiya releases today on YouTube.
sharmishtha.g@newindian express.com
Twitter: @sharmidas