From their first band in school, back in Chennai, to becoming one of the renowned faces in the independent music scene of India, Sanam has had quite a journey. With the aim to bring more original music to the table, this year will be all about original content and big elaborate renditions for the band. Sanam Puri, the lead vocalist says, “Being an independent band in India is hard. We have so many challenges to overcome! We deal with them one by one and we do it patiently.
But our main aim was always to put out original music. We had to start small and we had to first build an audience.” “Through the guidance of our manager, Ben Thomas, and his artist management company, KNC Talent, we have managed to build a small but strong audience that is now asking for original music. This year, we have decided to take an extra step forward and bring out something new and exciting. We have a lot more original content and some surprises as well as some big renditions,” he adds.
Throughout their school and college years, all four – Sanam (lead vocals), Samar Puri (lead guitar and lyrics), Venky S (bass and backing vocals), and Keshav Dhanraj (percussion and programming) – of them enjoyed listening to bands, both local and international but over the years the industry has changed a great deal. “As the years went by, music channels on TV stopped playing music altogether and started playing serials and reality shows. Eventually, the only music we could hear was film music.
This killed the band culture and independent music in India. However, in this digital age, new avenues to promote independent music have come up and now, after many years, we are starting to see some amazing music coming up. India has incredible talent; it just hasn’t been nurtured enough. And one of our aims as a band is to bring back independent music and band culture into India. Things are changing slowly! We can see the change, we can feel the change,” says Puri.
With over five million subscribers on YouTube channel, the band has people following them from countries like Suriname and Brazil. Highlighting the changes digital mediums has brought, Venky S says, “Earlier, the only way to get your music to reach out was through music labels. Depending on your relationship with the decision makers and their likes and dislikes, you could end up with a contract. Today, sitting in the comfort of our own homes, we can compose record and upload our music on the Internet through multiple apps and websites and reach out to a global audience.”
He adds, “This has obviously helped change the music industry globally. But with film music eating up the entire Indian music industry, these changes are about to open up a wave of new music from Indian artists and creators. It is only a matter of time.”
The Indian pop-rock band has also been pushing boundaries in terms of language. From Bengali to Spanish and Italian, they have them all under their belt. Talking about the various flavours, Puri says, “I love to sing in different languages. In school, I enjoyed singing Italian and Spanish songs as well. Singing in different languages opens you up creatively to a whole new world. The words and pronunciations are so different; you end up learning new ways to use your voice. The idea behind doing regional music was to reach out to a larger audience.”