It's time to listen to the 'raag' of these immensely talented ensemble!

For Raag, music has been the biggest driving factor. As we stepped into a soundproof location in the basement of a building in the heart of a noise-polluted area in Chennai, we found the members of RAAG jamming away to glory — practising, mixing, experimenting, and rediscovering their niche with every track. Indulge sat down with the members — Pratap (lead vocals), Soorya (keyboard, music producing/composing), Bhairab - (guitar), Shoaib (bass), Bishwanth (drums), Ruban (percussions) — to have a chat about their humble beginnings, music and what can people expect from their performance at the Phoenix Marketcity today.

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As Pratap opens up about the band’s beginnings, he reminisces about a card he had designed and printed out. Sharing it with the hope to get a gig, this perseverance led them to garner an immense following on social media and sky-rocketing their songs into widespread recognition on YouTube. Their cover of the Arijit Singh hit, Kesariya, featuring Reshma Shyam has garnered over two million views on the platform. But it has not been easy for the band as the lineups changed regularly and the founders of the band — Pratap and Soorya — had their patience tested quite often. “To have a healthy relationship in any band, it’s important that we have patience and we respect each other. It’s not always the success that we experience. There are also bad times when all we need is patience and belief,” expresses Pratap. “Conviction is equally important for any artiste for his or her growth,” he adds. 

The band has also expressed that it is the feeling of music (Raag) that they identify themselves with and hence they try to avoid restricting themselves to one specific genre. Just like their lineup, they consider their music to be diverse. “Each one of us has a different sound, so we try to put everything together. So if you were to listen to our playlist, it would have the mix of everyone’s colour,” explains Soorya. The Band’s history could also be traced back to their experiences at A.R.Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory. Although they formed the band outside the institute they still express great gratitude for their experience there. 

As we discussed further their music, we attempted to understand why experimenting with cover tracks has helped the band discover their passion for music. “By making covers, we have gained a good amount of listeners and followers over the years,” said Pratap. “It also helped us explore more about music genres. We make our own musical arrangements for all our covers yet keep the original flavour of the song,” he said. Additionally, the band was also expressive about the unique touch they have brought to these cover songs, highlighting the "Raag" spin that they’ve brought about. “Over the years we have understood the fact of being true to ourselves and our ideas. Having an understanding of what you’re good at, is really important,” says Pratap. “Also we are exploring and learning every day,” he adds with each of the band members echoing the same notion in the conversation. 

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Although known for their covers, Raag also has a unique single out called Tu, which is a beautiful song that’ll nudge you to hum along with it. The band also promises that there are more such original projects in their reserves along with other exciting news for their fans that’ll be shared in due time. As for their playlist for their performance today, Pratap has this to say about their song lineup, “People will get to listen to their favourite songs. We will perform a few recent hits, some AR Rahman hits, Arijit Singh, KK, and some Tamil and Telugu hits as well.” 

6:30 pm
At Phoenix Marketcity, Velachery