In 1996, US-based Indian a capella band, Penn Masala came forth to overreach cultural boundaries and eventually, fuse Western and Eastern musical charisma in full-length studio albums such as Awaaz, 11 PM, Soundcheck, Brown Album, and Midnight Oil to name a few. The art form is technically defined as singing without instrumental complement. The 13-member collective creates pleasant medleys in the unity of mashups ingraining Carnatic, Telugu, Hindi and Western popular genres. Ahead of their forthcoming performance in the city, we catch up with Riju Datta and Rohit Rajagopalan from the ensemble who let us in on their choral momentum.
As Riju puts it, be prepared for a high-energy performance made for listeners to sing along. It will deliver their classics such as Viva La Vida-Jashn-e-Bahara coupled with their recent hits including Lakshya and Hazy from the newly-released album, Midnight Oil. “We will also give you a preview of our upcoming and soon-to-release pieces,” he adds. Although he wanted to save the surprise until they are out, the artiste assures that the songs will be a part of their most spirited set.
It was a big moment for the band back in 2015 when they performed for then-President Obama at the White House, later at the Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards and appeared in the Hollywood musical, Pitch Perfect 2 wherein they turned the American rock band, Journey’s Any Way You Want It — round in a Carnatic cover. They sang in the Indian language as they symbolised the country. No wonder, it was the Best Soundtrack Winner at the then-American Music Awards. “We love bringing desi music to America and presenting it to the most important people in the Western world that spread our Indian roots and develop an awareness of our culture. Our group is diverse within itself. Some of us are Tamil, while others are Telugu speakers. We are fortunate enough to represent India and South Asia as a whole,” Rohit tells us.
₹499 upwards. May 25. 8 pm. At Artistry, Novotel Hyderabad Convention, Kondapur.