Music on the Move

When vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani,two popular Indian composers,got together with Grammy award-winning British singer-composer-producer Imogen Heap in the luxurious Samode Palace in Rajasthan,the only thing on their minds was to push the boundaries of music as they are familiar with,further.

When vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani,two popular Indian composers,got together with Grammy award-winning British singer-composer-producer Imogen Heap in the luxurious Samode Palace in Rajasthan,the only thing on their minds was to push the boundaries of music as they are familiar with,further. So the trio worked on a composition based on Rabindranath Tagore’s Where The Mind is Without Fear,in which Heap introduced the audience to a variety of instruments,(some of which were played and recorded in a shop for musical instruments in Samode),and a group of schoolchildren sung the chorus. There were also distinct influences of a village band and local nagara players.

It was the kind of experimentation that Samira Kanwar,founder of Mumbai-based production house Babble Fish Productions,was hoping to achieve when she conceptualised the programme,The Dewarists,along with event management firm Only Much Louder and Dewar’s. The series,a music documentary-meets-travelogue,was launched a fortnight back on Star World. It takes artists out of the studio,to destinations that form a fitting backdrop to the kind of music they produce,and gives them complete creative freedom and full rights to the music they create on the show.

About a year ago,Kanwar was working with Bacardi on a series of live performances featuring collaborations between leading Indian musicians from different genres. These shows,documented for the internet,were so well received that it made sense to convert them into a full-fledged television show. It was then that the concept of The Dewarists (pronounced the doer-ists) germinated,but the producers wanted it to be different from the popular Coke Studio and MTV Unplugged. We decided to take the artists to different places because we didnt want to limit the influences on their music, says Kanwar. Its a great idea,because when you travel,you are open to so many new things, says Subir Malik of Parikrama. The band has jammed with fellow band Agnee and singer Shilpa Rao.

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So for one jamming session,Monica Dogra,one half of the the Mumbai-based electro-rock duo Shaa’ir + Func,Humble the Poet,a Toronto-based MC/spoken word/hip-hop artist,and Delhi-based band Midival Punditz got together in Goa,the hub of techno-music in India. Their collaboration was supposed to result in one song. As they worked together,that one song eventually became three. We had an easy chemistry between us, says Humble the Poet,also known as Kanwer Singh. The first track,No ID Required,will go on air in the sixth episode of the series.

The series,which comprises 10 episodes,will feature singer-composer duo Zeb and Haniya from Pakistan,lyricist and playback singer Swanand Kirkire,composer Shantanu Moitra and Swarathma,a Bangalore-based folk rock band. There is also Shri,a UK-based multi-instrumentalist,and Rajasthan Roots,a collective of folk musicians from around the world that creates contemporary music fused with traditional Rajasthani folk elements. “We wanted to select artists who have stories to tell,who have changed music and been successful despite odds. It was also important to choose artists who are open to working with others,” says Kanwar. Likewise,the choice of destinations,done in consultation with the artists,is meant to reflect something of their genre and background. For instance,Parikrama and Rao shot an episode in Pune where home band Agnee hosted them. Only occasionally,the venue is impromptu. When Indian Ocean and Mohit Chauhan decided to jam in the hills,bad weather forced them to cancel their trip and shoot in Delhi instead.

To provide context to the show,Dogra has also been roped in as anchor,introducing the audience to the musicians and their back stories. In the first episode featuring Vishal-Shekhar and Heap,it was she who introduced the audience to the unusual instruments that Heap plays,including the Array mbira,the keytar and the nail violin. I am the ears and eyes of the show in some ways,and in other ways,just a member of the audience,” says Dogra.