Musician Anirudh Varma: Indian Classical should reach audiences to the extent that film music has

Anirudh Varma during a live show to promote the Collective's second album Homecoming. (Screengrab/YouTube/AnirudhVarmaOfficial)

Drums, guitars, keyboard, flute, violins, saxophone, tabla, sarod, sarangi, sitar and Indian Classical vocals are some mainstays of performances by The Anirudh Varma Collective - an ensemble of 150 musicians from India, US and Canada. The Collective's songs typically are explorations of an Indian Classical bandish or raga, Western instruments and influences blended in.

Indian musicians often talk about making Indian Classical accessible to younger audiences. Anirudh Varma, who initially started The Anirudh Varma Collective as academic pursuit in 2016, takes it a step further: Varma wants the Collective's music to become a point of entry for listeners to become interested in Indian Classical. Varma hopes it can also become a vehicle through which Indian Classical "reaches audiences to the extent that film music has".

In an email interview ahead of the Collective's virtual show for HCL Soundscapes, organized by HCL Concerts on April 28, Varma spoke about the Collective's creative process, albums and the upcoming concert. Edited excerpts:

You make Indian Classical music with Western influences and instruments blended in – tell us a bit about your process. What comes first – the bandish, the set of musicians, the composition?

Our process is usually fluid, but when the Collective initially began, we would first explore the bandish and the Raga that it is based in, and then start sketching an arrangement around that. The idea was to explore traditional compositions from a contemporary perspective, at the same time not moving away from the ‘Raga’ and its emotional quality.

For example – our track in Raga Shankara was originally an impromptu piano and vocal jam, and then we started constructing the soundscape around that. We felt the arrangement needed to be driven by a Carnatic rhythm section and brought in the choir to bring in the grandeur in the arrangement. The western section of the ensemble is playing in half time whereas the Indian section is playing in double time, so that was an interesting contrast in the arrangement, for the musicians and the listeners.

You work with 150 musicians. How much of a role do they play in bringing the compositions together?

I think with each collaborator; the exciting part is that they bring in their own energy to the project and to the compositions. We tend to do a lot of sessions specifically for arrangement or songwriting or just expanding on the essence of the Raga. I think this process helps to build the group’s on-stage chemistry as well.

Who is your target audience? What do you hope they take away from every concert and album you do?

Our target audience has been an interesting mix of students in school and college and mainstream listeners who might not be very familiar with traditional Indian music. Our goal has been to make Indian classical music more accessible to listeners of all age groups. We hope that after listening to our albums and concerts, the listener would be curious to hear the traditional version of the compositions that we are presenting.

Speaking of albums, tell us a bit about Homecoming.

This album was in the works for almost four years - we began working on it in August 2018, and started recording it in 2019 January. My first thought towards this album was to try and diversify further and explore new artists and ideas whose contribution could help the sound of the Collective and the album to grow. We finalized the entire album around January 2022, with a set of 10 new songs. The album features more than 100 musicians across India and USA. We have been fortunate to collaborate with musicians such as Darshan Doshi, Kamran Mannu Zafar from Coke Studio, Rohith Jayaraman, Shubh Saran and Nikhil Rao from the band Indian Ocean.

What are you working on now?

We are currently working on our third album, and will be recording the singles of that this summer. We have recorded a few singles, which are set to release in a month or so.

The HCL Soundscapes concert is a virtual concert. What can audiences expect to see and hear?

We are performing on the HCL Concerts platform after five years, and it is always a very exciting experience! Soundscapes will feature songs from our upcoming third album, and some re-arranged versions of our older songs.

You’ve said in an earlier interview that you want people to listen to Indian Classical like they listen to Bollywood music. Could you elaborate?

We feel that if traditional Indian music is made accessible to listeners of all age groups, they will be able to appreciate it the way film music is. If the traditional ‘bandish’ is heard like a regular piece of music or like a song, they wouldn’t be afraid to explore it further. Our attempt is to create a starting point for listeners who haven’t been exposed to Indian classical music, in the hope that it reaches audiences to the extent that film music has.

HCL Concerts Soundscapes Ep: 19 – Anirudh Varma Collective will stream live at 7pm on April 28, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsMLhmOmM10