Trichur Brothers bring a fresh, rooted sound to Nada Sambhrama 2025

Srikrishna Mohan: Over the years, we have grown up listening to greats like Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, GN Balasubramaniam and Maharajapuram Santhanam. We believe that while a concert is a personal expression for the artiste, every listener should take something back home. Our set will include a mix of interesting compositions, rare ragas and popular kritis that audiences look forward to. We prefer to keep the list a surprise, but you can expect meditative pieces, a few rare kritis and a ten-minute segment where the audience joins us in singing — something we have been doing for over four years now.

Ramkumar Mohan: Tradition, we feel, is subjective and always evolving. Traditional does not mean inaccessible to young people — just as cricket remains traditional yet widely enjoyed. Carnatic music can stay within its boundaries and still feel fresh. Our use of harmonisation, inspired by school choirs, bhajan groups and collaborations with Western and hindustani musicians, is one example. We believe boundaries need not be broken; they can simply expand, keeping the music contemporary yet rooted.

Srikrishna: As siblings, singing together feels natural and our personal and professional bond shows on stage. At the same time, unison singing requires effort, as even small variations stand out. With carnatic music being largely improvisational, no performance can be fully rehearsed. Practice prepares the voice and mind, but what happens on stage is always spontaneous.

Ramkumar: We come from a business family, with our father as the first-generation musician and our grandfather a keen rasika, so music was always around us. Much of what we absorbed came from listening rather than formal learning. Both of us are Chartered Accountants and balanced music with corporate jobs until 2014, practising in the mornings. After taking up music full-time, it has become a complete physical and mental discipline.