The Anahad team recording local folk musicians with Gael Hedding’s Backpack Studio
The Anahad team recording local folk musicians with Gael Hedding’s Backpack Studio

Symphonic stroke of folk

What inspired him was his training in music—Agrawal is a classical vocalist and tabla player—along with a love to explore diverse music styles, sounds, and instruments.

“When I was in college in Bhopal, I would catch a train every weekend only to deboard at random stations so as to explore the folk music of the place,” says Abhinav Agrawal, founder and director of Anahad Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Greater Noida. What inspired him was his training in music—Agrawal is a classical vocalist and tabla player—along with a love to explore diverse music styles, sounds, and instruments.

Creating an identity
Aimed at empowering folk music communities across rural India, Agrawal registered Ahanad as an NGO in 2012. Later, he earned a management degree in Music Business from Berklee College of Music, Valencia, Agrawal first opened a recording studio in Greater Noida in the hopes of calling folk musicians from across the country to record with Anahad. Initially he found that, although interested in the idea, the musicians were unwilling to leave their hometowns to travel to the recording studio in Delhi. Keeping this in mind, the Anahad team began travelling to the artists.

The Anahad team brings production technology to the doorstep of folk musicians by recording music, shooting videos, and creating a digital presence for them. The revenue received from monetising these recordings is given in entirety to the musicians. The foundation, which started as a zero-budget volunteer project, now secures fundings from corporate giants such as Infosys and Google. They use the Backpack Studio—a unique portable recording equipment designed by Latin Grammy-winning producer and sound engineer Gael Hedding—to record the artists in their villages. Anahad also takes into account every element of a musician’s life, be it approaching event promoters or even providing them legal tutorials. 

Of diverse cultures
While curating the artists, the team starts by cultural mapping of the villages. The selection process criteria include the artist’s economic status, community, rarity of instrument, authenticity of art, and originality of music.  Anahad’s website now hosts over 1,000 folk artists and groups from Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Punjab, and Rajasthan. They also have an app, which aids in promoting folk musicians.

Of the many artists who have recorded with Anahad, the Des Raj Lachkani and Group from Lachkani village in Patiala, Punjab, is a group headed by brothers Arman Ali and Iqbal Khan. Their song, recorded in October this year, is inspired by traditional love stories of Punjab. Ali has mastered instruments such as Dhad, Sarangi, Algoze, Tumbi, Dhola, and Bugdu. Khan, who is the songwriter, concludes, “We were excited about the recording. The team was helpful with the process. We feel Anahad’s project will inspire the younger generation to stay connected to their roots through music.” 

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