BENGALURU: Representing India at the Festivals of India in New Zealand, is Bengaluru-based band, Dwi. The band, which was formed back in 2010 by three friends – Puneet Joshi, Saumya Shanker and Malvika Nirajan – will perform in Wellington as part of a series of concerts organised by the High Commission of India for Independence Day.
“When you see the kind of artistes that represent India in foreign countries, you usually find those that are very deeply rooted in Indian culture. And we play popular music, so it’s a fresh change to see how a band like ours is being invited to represent the country – it gives us a sense of validation,” says Saumya, who is originally from Kanpur. The band mainly does covers of popular songs,such as Yun Hi Chala Chal Rahi from Swades and the popular Kishore Kumar number, Ek Ajnabi Haseena.
However, they do tweak them around significantly to put their own unique feel into the track. They hope to start composing more, as now, only 10-15% of their stage shows comprise their own compositions. Talking about their music, Puneet says, “We’ve actually come up with our own genre, we call our music Hindustani popular. We’re not fully Bollywood, nor are we fully Classical.” Into their seventh year now, Saumya says that he dislikes mentioning this because he has been warned about the seven year itch. The trio had met long before they formed the band, as they’ve all jammed together before going their separate ways for a few years. “When we met again, we started to jam and brought our unique sounds together to find a common place,” says Saumya, who works with Wipro, but has considered taking up music full-time several times.
The trio say that Bengaluru has a great music scene as compared to other cities, as there are platforms for different kinds of genres, and indie musicians can thrive in a city like this. “Bengaluru is like a kaleidoscope, the music scene is constantly evolving,” says Saumya, adding that Hindustani popular music is picking up now and how. The band manages to meet a few times a month, as they all have their day jobs as well. “If you’re very passionate about something, you can always make time for it,” says Saumya. The band does a lot of corporate gigs, and Freedom Park is their favourite place to perform. Their audience comprises mainly people over the age of 40, but they’ve recently started performing for children as well.