Serenading the Kolkata crowd with their soulful music for almost eight years now, fusion band The Miliputs has come up with their latest release, Kotha Hey. An evergreen song from Lalan Fakir’s repertoire, this number sees the band collaborating with various musicians including Sugata Palodhi in bass, and Debmalya with Debojyoti on guitars. Mixed and mastered in Bangladesh by Niloy, the song’s video features dancer Aritraa Sengupta. We had a chat with vocalist Sharoni Poddar about the song and the way forward for the indigenous band in the post-pandemic times. Excerpts:
How did you come up with the song?
The lockdown was initially being very difficult for me as I have always been an outgoing person and involved with a lot of projects at a time. My mental health took a toll and this song, Kotha Hey, a Lalan geeti was a great relief during this pandemic. So I thought of recording the song and recreating the music so that more people can listen to it. This song is very relevant in this current situation and exudes a lot of positivity.
Was it difficult to collaborate, record and shoot during the pandemic?
We have set up our own home studio where we recorded the song. The musicians recorded their parts at their home and we collaborated online.
How does the live gig scenario look like?
Looks like the live gig scenario will get back to its pace soon, but personally I feel it’s absolutely not safe to be in any gathering for the next few months. It’s weird for me to say this because we are a live-performing band, but it’s important for the sake of health and safety.
How are you coping with this pandemic as a band?
It has hit us really bad. We are mentally very down. But we have never stopped working on our songs. We are collaborating online. I am writing new songs and creating new music with the band. We have also done a few online concerts, but the feeling of being on the stage and performing live will never match up to the stay-at-home concert vibe.
What are you working on currently?
Any EP coming up? Currently, we are working on originals only. I have written and composed quite a number of songs during this pandemic. We are experimenting a lot with our sound. Kotha Hey is one such example. We have more songs like Buno Swopno queued up for release. Some of our originals have already been released in Bangladesh by Aajob Records, including Sahajiya and Boye Jaay. Audio streaming on all platforms.
sharmishtha.g@newindianexpress.com
@sharmidas