In the period of 18 years, the Bengaluru act have actually changed India’s valued standard music into grand tunes with an appeal throughout ages, now heard on their brand-new album ‘Arrival of The Ethereal’
In July 2011, I stood in a serpentine line outside Hard Rock Café on Bengaluru’s M.G. Road. Inside, there was hardly any area to move, as the crowd pressed and pushed through the space to discover an inch to stand. As lofty secrets developed anticipation and Carnatic singing tunes made method for the very first guitar riffs to cut through the air, everybody started craning their neck towards the raised phase with enthralled focus. We had actually all scrambled to view Agam release their take on conventional South Indian tunes, a set instilled with tips of Sufi and a homage to master author A.R. Rahman, an early fan of the band. It was the very first time I got to experience the full blast of the band that has actually been gradually developing their tradition considering that 2003– taking the familiarity of Carnatic structures and Malayalam folk tunes and protecting their spiritual essence while likewise knocking on percussive power, towering prog guitars, superb vocals and even violins.
At the time, Carnatic progressive rock– a combination that Agam continue to promote even today– did not truly exist. Even the band was still looking for their footing and justify the tag. Sure, the similarity Motherjane’s Baiju Dharmajan were blazing a trail, however Agam leaned into it entirely– translating ragas and structures by poet-saint Thyagaraja, while likewise nodding to prog greats like Dream Theater, and peppering it with a little bit of South Indian folk. 
” I believe our habits as a band was likewise formed by how the scene formed us, “singer Harish Sivaramakrishnan states when we speak over a video call.” Like, if the scene stayed as awkwardly disjointed as what it utilized to be, then it would have been an extremely various story. I believe the entire function of playing music got strengthened due to the fact that we got a fantastic audience. “
From then to now, if there’s anything that’s continuous, it’s that Agam have actually drawn audiences from throughout demographics, from ages 8 to 80. From the unbiased Carnatic music fans who count thalams on their fingers to prog rock and metal fans who wish to headbang and witness the elaborate and heavy balanced shifts– you’ll see them all at Agam’s programs.
Formed in Bengaluru in between 2003 and 2007, simply as they were transitioning from college to work life, singer( and at that time, violinist) Harish Sivaramakrishnan and drummer Ganesh Ram Nagarajan had actually simply started tasks in the city’s software application market( naturally). Keyboardist Swamy Seetharaman had a couple of more years of work experience (” He was the only one that had cash,” Sivaramakrishnan jokes) and guitar player T. Praveen Kumar had actually simply landed a tech internship. Seetharaman was not simply a band supervisor and driver for Agam (Sivaramakrishnan compares him to the supervisor and confidante character of Mangalam in the 2003 coming-of-age Tamil movie Young boysessayed by the late fantastic Tamil comic Vivek), however likewise stays a crucial songwriter in the band to this day.
Seetharaman remembers lucidly how, in May 2005 in Bengaluru, they satisfied at a South Indian dining establishment in Indiranagar’s 12th Main.” I still bear in mind that I crossed the signal, I satisfied Harish and we went to a studio, “he states. A digital audio workstation called Paris was at their disposal and Agam initially started tape-recording music through “analog recording” and jamming. “I would state I’m a company follower in energies and how you sort of resonate with individuals. When I satisfied Harish and Ganesh, it was simply that energy that was continuing,” he includes.
With a lineup that consisted of bassist Vignesh Lakshminarayanan and percussionist Sivakumar Nagarajan at the time, they taped tunes like” Lakshiya Paadhai “and” Mystical Aabheri.” Seetharaman states that it was around then that they chose to go “all in.” It caused them winning the 2007 telecasted music competitors Ooh Lawhere they were found by A.R. Rahman. In a retrospective to mark the release of Arrival of the EtherealRahman stated in a video message, “Very couple of bands have a belief in an identity, which too from India. I discover Agam among those– an extremely strong identity […] They make their noise an experience.”
For Sivaramakrishnan, becoming part of Ooh La — the job that introduced Agam into local praise in South India, and even captured some nationwide attention thanks to Rahman– was practically like getting the entire 9 lawns treatment that independent bands seldom got. “There would be a backline that you might rig your equipment to, appropriate amps and a good P.A. That was a huge premium at that point in time,” the singer states. And, they got to play their own tunes, a restricted chance at a time when independent music celebrations and platforms were far and couple of.” An included worth was that possibly, A.R. Rahman would come and listen to you, “he mentions. For Seetharaman, it was a watershed minute to think he might make music, particularly strengthened by the similarity Rahman, who valued his lyrics. He states mentally,”[It was about] making individuals think in themselves and considering that little push, stating,’ Hey, I see something in you.'”
Agam went on to cinch larger wins and get broader direct exposure. And, although their day tasks took much of their focus for a couple of years, they likewise started trying what would become their critical launching album The Inner Self Awakenswhich came out in 2012.
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There’s no band rather like Agam. Their story is sewn together with minutes that show Indian independent music history’s withstanding determination to adjust. Guitar Player T. Praveen Kumar, for instance, was initially a keyboardist throughout the Ooh La stage. Throughout a 2008 gig in Chennai, he chose up the guitar, motivated by bassist, college senior and music club routine Aditya Kasyap. Before Kasyap was playing in the band, bassist Vignesh Lakshminarayanan had a guitar that he provided to Kumar prior to this Chennai gig, and their then-drummer Nagarajan asked him to “fill the noise” on phase.
” I believe I was discovering the guitar even as the band was playing live,” Kumar confesses, recalling.” If you return and take a look at a few of the early videos, [there are] a great deal of bottom notes on the Carnatic scale of playing. I believe the whole band was client. I need to state I selected up the guitar with the band and continue to [grow] as much as possible throughout the journey.” From prog riffs to Carnatic guitar decoration, Kumar and Kasyap on bass now make up the riff device that you can hear on tunes like” Over The Horizon, “” The Silence That Remains,”” The Celestial Nymph” and more, a noise they developed together with 
then-guitarist Jagadish Natarajan.
Over a video call, all 6 members recall at minutes that are both valued and disorderly– like the time the band played a four-hour set at Kasyap’s wedding party or when percussionist Nagarajan got all the members to assist him carry 13 instruments up a number of stairs to a recording studio. The sense of friendship, small talk, and leg-pulling that stresses their stories is a sign of the deeply cultivated bond that drives them.” Thanks for bringing the unite at 10 remain in the early morning on a working day, an unusual task that really couple of individuals have actually accomplished,” Sivaramakrishnan states with a smile at the start of the call. He and Seetharaman now collaborate at financing business Cred, where Kumar is likewise an expert. Kasyap, who works for an international, is on call from Lakmé Fashion Week in New Delhi.
Agam went from playing programs at pillar places like Kyra in Bengaluru (Sivaramakrishnan calls the place’s creator Dipali Sikand a “specifying individual” in the band’s journey) to launching The Inner Self Awakens in 2012. That exact same year, they played celebrations like NH7 Weekender in Pune and put out “Malhar Jam” as part of Coke StudioPeers like the Raghu Dixit Project and Swarathma in Bengaluru were likewise pressing forward the combination motion, as were the similarity Thaikkudam Bridge, Paradigm Shift, and Advaita, to name a few.
Those years assisted them develop a fanbase that, Agam states, artists would not have the ability to make in today’s environment. “There are a great deal of views, there’s a great deal of ambiance and buzz. Constructing a fanbase, having individuals that truly think in your music and will come once again and once again, no matter what, I believe that’s what we developed with the very first album,” he states. By 2014, the band’s establishing member and drummer Ganesh Ram Nagarajan transferred to the U.S. for work, and Agam got new members with Yadhunandan Nagaraj.
A part of Bengaluru’s metal scene, he started completing at a couple of gigs and officially signed up with the band in 2014, despite the fact that he had actually transferred to Mumbai to pursue drumming in expert, business acts. “I got a call from Harish when I was taking a trip to a celebration. I asked, ‘How do we practice?’ He’s like,’ We’ll figure it out. Simply state yes and we’ll work it out.'” In time, Nagaraj softened a little bit of his metal eagerness for Agam’s prog rock and combination mix. When the time came to compose on A Dream to bear in mind and Arrival of The Etherealthose impulses sat back in, including a weight and strength which can be heard on brand-new tunes like” Between Doubt and Destiny.” Among Agam’s heaviest tunes yet, Seetharaman states it was initially slated to be part of a Tamil film soundtrack, today complete the very first part of their album task. It likewise includes singer Munz from folk-metallers The Down Troddence. His grumbles match Sivaramakrishnan’s loudest, most extreme singing consistencies ever heard. Kumar states, “If you pay very close attention, I believe he [Sivaramakrishnan] was nearly grumbling in Carnatic without losing the tune of it.”
Even 3 albums in, Agam is sharper than ever and still pressing their limits. Arrival of the Ethereal has actually had to do with 8 years in the making. Kumar credits part of that to their equipment. “D’Addario guitar strings have actually been the go-to for Agam in getting those crisp metal riffs to cut through on top of heavy Carnatic vocals,” he explains. Kasyap includes, “The large range of strings and choices that D’Addario has in its portfolio assists us cover a broad sonic spectrum in our structures and makes our instrumentalization cut through the method we mean it to.”
Amongst the fresh product,” Walk of the Bride “becomes the most engaging offering. The band changes a traditional Telugu/Tamil wedding event tune “Sita Kalyana Vaibhogame,” layering it with energetic percussion patterns similar to brilliant prog while likewise transferring listeners to a jubilant marital relationship routine. “You seem like you’re in a wedding event. It has more Indian components like thavil chenda… you hear those standard noises and all the grooves and progressive rock,” percussionist Nagarajan states.
It’s likewise rapidly end up being a popular choice from the album, discovering its method into wedding event aftermovies and other celebratory events. Kasyap admire how this tune discovered an audience regardless of being a relatively complicated track,” The band’s on a 4 [time signature]Harish is singing on a 5 [time signature]It keeps the tune continuously on the edge, and crowd participation is remarkable to discover the’ on ‘count.”
The enthusiastic” The Silence That Remains “takes motivation from the Carnatic work” Mokshamu Galada, “a structure that concerns whether freedom can genuinely be obtained without self-realization. Another emphasize came through “Flight To The Summer Sky,” provided as an approaching collaboration with Grammy-winning artist Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. This piece– an innovative reworking of Saint Thyagaraja’s structure honoring the goddess Saraswati– threads together vibrant brass flourishes, keyboard passages, and components of Carnatic jazz combination.
At auditoriums and huge phases that Agam now command, it’s typical to see about 2,000 individuals singing along to” Walk of the Bride “and even leading” Rangapura Vihara,” their 2018 single part of A Dream to bear in mindSivaramakrishnan states about “Walk of the Bride,” which came out in July this year: “We went to Dubai … really varied audience. It’s insane. Individuals from all strolls of life, the cumulative voice is singing that tune together. Individuals have actually discovered the lyrics.”
Aspirations are still riding high in Agam, and you can hear more of that on their upcoming title track “Arrival of The Ethereal,” which includes an 80-piece orchestra making up the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. After concluding a U.S. trip in August, they’re heading to the U.K. in November, and going back to carry out at Mahindra Kabira Festival in Varanasi in December. They’ve even sent Arrival of the Ethereal for Grammy factors to consider in the very best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance classifications.
Sivaramakrishnan summarize their international vision and enduring aspiration: “In all humbleness, I believe our company believe that our music should have to be listened to […] We desire more individuals to listen to the sonic spectrum that we are attempting to develop, which our company believe we have actually worked extremely hard for.” All feedback, brickbats and arrangements alike are welcome, the singer notes. Real to their long-honed point of view as an independent band, Agam are “incredibly delighted and happy” to have actually stuck and produced music. “We’ll continue to strive till our ears work and till the point we have some craft left in us. All we are attempting today is to get the world to a minimum of provide us a listen,” he states.
Credits:
Author: Anurag Tagat
Art Director and Motion Cover Design: Rahil Koshti
Managing Editor: Shamani Joshi