CHENNAI: A few years ago, when the concept of open mics began surfacing the city, the world of storytelling, personal narratives, poetry and stand-up comedy had a new dimension. The open-mic explosion led to the discovery of skills and talents of several hidden gems — they came to light, and a variety of viewpoints and voices started getting heard.
While we have open-mic forums that are poetry-exclusive, stand-up comedy exclusive, and even music-exclusive, city-based Carnatic music enthusiast Balaji Vijayaraghavan felt a dearth in the number of platforms that gave an opportunity for budding Carnatic music artistes. In an attempt to bridge the gap, to honour the city’s legacy of being the capital of Carnatic music — a melting pot for performing artistes and to uphold the reverence of this genre of music, Balaji along with Prithvi Kannan (co-producer) and Vaishnavi Soundararajan (curator) decided to facilitate the Carnatic musicians their much-needed stage time by conducting a first of its kind Carnatic Open Mic. The event is curated in association with Backyard.
Balaji walks us through the events that led to the ideation of the unique open mic concept. “In mid-December, between hectic work schedules, I was looking for a Carnatic music concert to attend. I made it to the concert of an artiste who had come all the way from the US to perform during the Margazhi season, ” he narrates.
Unfortunately, the artiste had a bad day and couldn’t perform well. “A few people were enraged that ‘someone like him’ had a chance to perform on stage while several other artistes didn’t. That incident led to a spiral of other events and it made me think — does one bad performance mean that he isn’t talented?” he says.
Balaji, who is also a budding stand-up comedy artist draws a comparison. “Stand-up comedy open mics, are a platform for us to better ourselves before the real show. Open mics give the feel of a real show and allow us to experiment and improvise. I thought the same would work for Carnatic music as well, ” he says.
It’s common knowledge that getting a sabha stage for a debut performance is a struggle. “We wanted to provide a place for artistes to practice before their actual arangetram, without inhibitions,” he shares. The two-hour event will not have rules/constraints. “Unlike a conventional Carnatic performance, the performers can start with a mangalam and the last performer may even try two varnams. This is a ground just like net practice for cricketers. It’s okay to deviate from the shruthi, it’s fine if you slip a note from a raaga, and it is absolutely fine if you can’t manage your higher/lower octet pitch. This is a stage to do mistakes,” he shares.
The event has created quite a buzz and news of the open mic is even being shared on social media platforms by well-known names in the Carnatic music circle.“We are planning to make the Carnatic open mic a monthly/bi-monthly, depending on the traction, ” he says.
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The two-hour event will not have rules/constraints. Every performer will get 15-18 minutes of stage time to perform. There will be six to eight individuals/groups performing in every open mic.
Carnatic open mic will take place on April 7, 7 pm at Backyard, Adyar. For details, visit www.facebook.com/events/279315076293658