BENGALURU : Hari-Sukhmani, a popular Punjabi band comprising Hari Singh and Sukhmani Malik as the leads, has been creating fresh beats by fusing traditional Punjabi folk beats and songs with pop music.
Sukhmani is a trained Hindustani classical vocalist and performer while Hari is a producer, vocalist and audio engineer. The duo has been collaborating since 2009.
They work on music that highlights social issues such as racial discrimination as well as universal themes such as love for humanity, among other things. For the band, music is a way to bridge the gap between different cultures and languages.At present, they are working on a collaboration with an Australian band, The Coconut Kids. Hari met the band, influenced by French music and known for powerful vocals, a year ago in Australia.
The two bands are working to come up with a song that blends the Indian music sensibilities with Australian influences. “Currently Hari is in Australia meeting the band. It’s an exciting and challenging project,” says Sukhmani. She promises that the song is going to be ‘different from their other compositions’ as there will be more live instruments and vocals than their earlier works. Sukhmani adds, “Usually we compose songs with our electronic guitars and other local instruments that are mostly used in India. But the Australian band mostly concentrates on instruments such as the Ukulele, bass and the violin. It will be a treat for our fans.”
In the midst of all this, the band is also working on a video for their song ‘Chaan’. It is expected to release on YouTube by the end of this month. They are also collaborating with Raoul Amaar Abbas, a filmmaker from Delhi on this video. Hari-Sukhmani compose sand produce their own songs. “The main challenge is writing lyrics. It’s really difficult for me to put my thoughts into words because the main purpose of the song is to stay true to the real meaning of what we want to convey,” says Sukhmani.Hari-Sukhmani is also working on an off-beat song of a genre termed “electro-kawali” which is yet to be completed. All going well, the band will exclusively launch the song for the first time in Bengaluru soon.
(Inputs by Madheshpriya K, Neetimoni Gogoi, Pragya Dwivedi)