Chennai-based band Raag releases a new single, 'Tum Ho'

Chennai’s very own Hindi-language band, Raag, known to mesmerise audiences with covers of many popular Hindi and Tamil songs, has strong connections to the city. Rooting out from AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory as alumni, the band has evolved having overcome many hurdles. It has now released its third fabulous original. Tum Ho is a melodious take on the expression of love. We rope in band member, keyboard player and composer Soorya to discuss the making of the music video, navigating the music scene in Chennai and the theme of love explored!

What is the new song, Tum Ho, about?
Tum Ho is a song about praising, appreciating and expressing the love that a lover has for his/her partner. It explores the comfort and warmth that he feels due to her presence. The story is an inspiration for the purest form of love.

Also Read: As Chennai braces for the return of the One People Festival, founder Prashanth Amir reveals more

What was the shooting process for the music video like?
We had to design a storyline that would go well with the lyrics and the feel of the song. We also had to form a production team that would do justice to the idea we had for the video.

We wanted our first music video to be rich, expressive and authentic. We looked around for many filmmakers and finally, we reached out to the very talented director Mohit Kapil. He was very professional and quick about his craft. He sent us a draft of the entire screenplay. After a few Zoom calls, we finalised the entire plan. We also connected with the brilliant actor and model, Aastha Sharan, to feature in our video. She was quite supportive and incredibly collaborative. We were singing, jamming and laughing a lot between takes. It is an experience we will not forget.

How important is it to experiment in today's times?
The present crowd is a mixture of three to four generations, who have varied perspectives about good music. There is a lot more effort needed to fulfil the psychological, spiritual, hope, love & trust that they have towards the choice of music they prefer. Besides, it’s always good to experiment because there’s a lot of music coming up in general and all the genres and different styles of music have their own set of audiences. Hence we might not know the reaction that a song might garner until we produce and release it. 

As a band our process is never the same or sometimes there is no process at all when it comes to writing music. We have been evolving over the years & try to be organic. We, however, are very picky when it comes to melody & the sound of the song.  We believe that the simplest of melodies produced with a great sound touches people. 

Will you venture into or explore the realm of Tamil music more?
Back in the day, we covered a couple of Tamil songs which are still available to stream on YouTube. But primarily, we think in Hindi when writing our music. However, we are open to any collaboration, be it in any language.  Creativity shouldn't be limited to a box.  

What is your vision for the indie music scene in Chennai?
The indie music scene in Chennai is growing immensely with a lot of upcoming artistes with their original music. Be it Tamil or any other language. I believe it's a great time for live music not just in Chennai but across India—with several music festivals happening across the country, bringing together both local & international artistes and singers, and audiences showing up in large numbers to listen to them.

Live performance is blooming hugely.  I think we are lucky that we have been always encouraged by the people in Chennai irrespective of the language of our music. This is our first home when it comes to music. This year we will be releasing many more originals which include a lot of interesting collaborations across the country, and that’s what we are incredibly excited about.  Nothing happens overnight, It's a long journey.


What is it like making Hindi music in a city where it is not spoken widely?
It’s been immensely challenging for us being in Chennai and producing songs with Hindi lyrics as all of us are from different parts of the country. We, however, enjoy being here as we all met in Chennai and we have listeners and an audience here.

Also Read: Justin Bieber shares footage from recording studio, hints at new music

We believe every artiste connects with a set of audiences or a region initially, before evolving in recognition to a wider range of people, and Chennai is a welcoming place when it comes to new talents. Every good artiste, be it performing in any language, gets a fair amount of appreciation here.

Tum Ho music video is streaming on YouTube.