The moment your office work winds up, the tired yet fanciful mind starts to swirl, thinking about the tumultuous ride to your home through the boisterous traffic. The exact need of those weary hours are cups of tea in a nearby stall with some music that acts like magic for the soul.
It was one such day, I sat in my cab and a new Assamese song ‘Aarohi’, by the hauntingly beautiful voice of Shankuraj Konwar started playing in the vehicle. A thoughtful concept, that leads my curious mind to a musical realm that I was determined to explore. With each passing ride and the songs that played in the backdrop, my intrigued mind wished to know all about those people who are responsible for this surge of fantastic music in the air. What goes behind the captivating songs?
It’s the perfect blend of a mesmerizing voice, the fascinating lyrics and also some people on the rear side, the soothing percussion.
Joy Das, a professional drummer who is actively associated with the Mumbai-based alternative rock band ‘Sleeping Satellite’ remembers his childhood days when he would take the containers and create music out of them. Now he has to catch a 5 am flight to Mumbai from his hometown Guwahati to be a part of an exciting musical tour for an upcoming album. He learned the tabla at the age of 3, completed his Visharad and later got fascinated by the drums. He started his live performances in 2011 and is now a known percussionist for his electrifying contributions to ‘Project Bartalaap’ and another Guwahati-based rock band ‘Voodoo Child’.
Inspired by his father, the most precious moments for him are the appreciation and applauds received after a gig. A special moment in his life is when he played the drums and later came to know it was for a song sung by the heartthrob of Assam, Zubeen Garg.
A young guitarist, Bhaskar Saikia, hailing from the cultural capital of Assam, Jorhat, has his eyes set on all the finer things of new-age music. He started learning the guitar in 2010 and his continuous effort finally made things happen when he started his journey in the year 2013, playing with the local musicians. Saikia is one of the background souls of most of the soothing songs from ‘Project Bartalaap’. One of his most ecstatic moments in this musical journey is attending the Mongeet Soul Song Festival in Majuli, where he was suddenly called up to the stage by none other than Angaraag Mahanta (Papon).
Reminiscing his golden days of learning the guitar, he has started giving guitar lessons to students residing both in Guwahati and his hometown, Jorhat. Travelling pave the way to meet so many like-minded people and if you travel for the work you love, that is even more soul satisfying.
One such person who believes in travel therapy is a wonderful music producer, composer and singer, Pallab Talukdar. He was surrounded by music since childhood. Music was instilled in him by his mother, who was an Indian classical singer. Accompanying his mother to singing shows and competitions became a routine thing. He received awards and accolades at a very young age and also completed his Visharad in tabla as well as vocals. Amid all these, the inner desire to make music did not appear until he was in Delhi to study engineering. And then there was no stopping where he formed a band with his friends. Humanity inspires him a lot to arrange the kind of music he creates. One of his best moments is receiving the Prag Cine Award, for his score in the Assamese movie ‘Bulu film’. His songs ‘Awjana’ with Maitrayee Patar and ‘Gungun’ with Deeplina Deka from his debut album ‘Abhakh’ created ripples in the musical stream.
Another captivating voice in the scene is that of the lyricist, composer and singer, Pranab Priyankush Baruah. He started his professional journey with his album ‘Ek Jug Ek’ (One Plus One) and the first song of his first album is named ‘Xekh’ (The End). The depth of the song ‘Xekh’ will take you to a different realm altogether and instantly make you hit the replay button. He takes active participation in Bihu functions and expresses that excitement and challenge; both are a part of live shows.
The song ‘Jipaal’ plays inside the car and I go back to 2020 when we were just survivors and passed the lockdown phase with the fantastic music of Tonmoy Krypton and the ethereal voice Sannidhya Bhuyan.
The Rainforest Records-fame Abhi Saikia gave us a tour to the beauty of cascading nature through songs like ‘Joloprobat’ and ‘Nakhyatra’.
And now nostalgia, romanticism and the one song that heals, ‘Upohaar’ by Bishrut Saikia, plays in the midst of heavy traffic. This one, which is on the verge of becoming a cult song, was co-produced by Sumit Baruah, the proprietor of The Sound Zone Studio. Sumit Baruah is a professional guitarist, mixing engineer and music producer. Music is a hereditary thing for him, as he spent most of his time with his father and uncle, who followed western music. He started learning the guitar from his uncle, Ambar Das. Sound Zone Studio is one of the foremost recording studios in Assam with state-of-the-art infrastructure and Sumit Baruah is more than happy to take the helm of it after his father founded the studio back in 2001.
With a screeching halt, the car stood near my gate and also the audio playing inside the car came to a stop and it is then when I realized I was home. So, which one from this noteworthy ensemble are you adding to your playlist today?
