Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash: ‘We all have to come out of our comfort zones to grow’

Ayaan Ali Bangash (left) and Amaan Ali Bangash. (Photo: Suvo Das)

Sarod players and brothers Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash's their third EP We for Love features Karan Johar, Amjad Ali Khan, Karsh Kale, Malini Awasthi, Mahesh Kale and Shubha Mudgal. And artist Paresh Maity has done the cover design for the album.

This EP was made in support of the Justice For Every Child campaign against child sexual abuse by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s Children’s Foundation.

Edited excerpts from an interview with Amaan and Ayaan:

How did the idea of We for Love come about?

Ayaan: We were very fortunate to have performed on stage when Kailash Satyarthiji received the Nobel Peace Prize. Ever since then, my brother and I have been quite keen to do something for his foundation. His campaign Justice for Every Child resonates deeply with us. Rest of it happened quite organically.

We had recently worked with Karsh Kale and asked him to collaborate with us on a track. It dawned on us to collaborate with more artists because it’s a cause that needs more awareness. We reached out to others like Shubha Mudgal, Mahesh Kale, Malini Awasthi, and everyone agreed almost immediately to be a part of it. We had done a show with Paresh Maityji where he had painted as we played music, and we reached out to him as well and he donated his painting for the cover of the EP.

Karan Johar has done a voiceover about the cause. And if it’s a cause such as this, how could we not include our father? We have this family of artists who got together and all that we are saying is that we are here for love and we must create awareness about child sexual abuse. Music is the language we speak and the air we breathe and we are happy to use our craft to communicate a message that’s close to our hearts.

How did you curate this list of collaborators?

Amaan: It happened quite organically. Initially, Abhishek Bachchan, who is our friend, was supposed to do one of the tracks but it didn’t happen for some reason. Then we spoke to Shubhaji and she came on board. Nobody is charging a penny. I think it’s divine intervention that everything fell in place.

Ayaan: In a way, you can say that this was something we manifested. These are all artists we have been meaning to work with, and somehow, this EP and this cause led to these collaborations.

Your father always supports such endeavours. Is the energy and the comfort level different when you work with him?

Ayaan: We are very fortunate that our father is one of those great icons who still wants to be a learner. He never looks down upon any genre or any kind of music or any kind of art form. Being the traditionalist that he is, he recently collaborated with musician Joe Walsh which is as close as you can get to rock and roll.

Amaan: Age is just a number. Look at Mr Bachchan! People like him and our father believe in redefining and rediscovering themselves. They are working with younger people. I keep telling abba that I don’t want him to be archival but to be the present and future, and for that, he has to work with the present and the future. As artistes, we all have to come out of our comfort zones to grow.

What is your comfort zone and how are you breaking out of it?

Amaan: Our comfort zone is wearing the typical kurta pajama and playing classical music. More than our comfort zone, it is our strength but it is also very important to overcome your weaknesses. Having said that, we are very selective about our work. In the next few months, there will be two or three more EPs in different genres.

You have collaborated with so many artists. What has been one of your most memorable collaborations till date?

Ayaan: So many! If I have to talk about more recent ones, then I would have to say being part of my father’s collaboration with Joe Walsh was an honour. Just to be in the same studio and hear these two greats interact and then to play music with them was a ‘pinch me’ moment! (laughs) Then our recent collaboration with Sharon Isbin who is one of the finest classical guitarists in the world was extremely memorable.