Amidst the usual peace, Bengaluru-based Carnatic progressive rock band, Agam’s studio crackles with an unprecedented frenzy of activity and enthusiasm. Instruments are strewn about, musicians dart from one corner to another, and a palpable excitement hangs in the air ahead of their most anticipated live performance. Lyrics become more poetic, technology gets harnessed for new sounds, music approaches the condition of art, and the studio, rather than the stage, becomes the focus of musical activity. It often involves creating music which is to be felt at first before being heard. Framed posters and concert tickets, neatly arranged along the studio walls, tell the story of the ensemble’s transition from humble beginnings to stardom. A display of memorabilia catches the eye coupled with tokens of affection collected lovingly from various shows. Our chat with the band sheds light on a different perspective — one that draws a beautiful parallel between Carnatic music and unity. The line-up features Harish Sivaramakrishnan (vocals), T Praveen Kumar (guitars), Swamy Seetharaman (keyboards), Shiva Nagarajan (multi-percussionist), Aditya Kasyap (bass), Jagadis Natarajan (rhythm guitars) and Yadhunandan Nagaraj (drums).
How do you incorporate Carnatic influence into your music? Can you talk about the challenges faced and the creative leaps taken?
Harish: Carnatic music is such a vast ocean when it comes to improvisation. It is like a concept across ragas and talas. Agam entirely incorporates this idea in its progressive rock interpretations of Carnatic music. Across songs and albums, our signature style is one of multiple beat patterns, and poly-rhythm structures — all while holding the essence and soul of Carnatic music intact. We don’t see it as a challenge, we see it as a natural interpretation of the varied styles of music that we imbibe.
How do you preserve traditional Carnatic elements while also revising the same?
Aditya: Our purpose is to contemporise Carnatic music. A humble validation of this is when parents tell us that our songs are now their kids’ indoctrination into it! The soul of our music is Carnatic — it’s the spine of every Agam composition. Our music is a combination of multiple ragas in single compositions that sound different but, at the same time, have a unifying sound. We dip heavily into our influences in progressive, metal and heavy metal to give our music a striking appeal that traverses these genres.
Be it lyrics or improvisation, progressive rock is quite complex as a genre. Despite this, you connect to your listeners…
Aditya: The accessibility towards our listeners comes from our storytelling. At concerts, we rekindle our purpose and vision of modernising Carnatic music; we are evangelists in breaking the myth that Carnatic music needs to be complex to be understood. We take the audience with us to understand and appreciate the art form. In every concert, we have the entire crowd singing along with us — in tune and across rhythm patterns.
The band’s name, Agam, meaning soul in Sanskrit, suggests a deeper philosophical connection. Why did you choose this name?
Swamy: ‘Agam’ means the inner self. Through our music, we put ourselves out there — the knowledge we have in our classical art form and the influences from Western music that have also shaped us. We highlight our happiness, pathos, and victory and drill these sentiments into our music and compositions.
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