BENGALURU: Famed singer Palash Sen, who has recently collaborated with city-based dancer-actor Rukmini Vijayakumar for a new song Khwaamkhaa, gets candid with CE about the indie music scene, and what makes their ’98 album, Dhoom, timeless
If you are a ’90s kid in India – when indie music was at its peak – the tune of the song Dhoom Pichak Dhoom by Euphoria will be etched in your memory. The team is now out with the new music video Khwaamkhaa from the album, Sale.
Palash Sen, the lead vocalist of the band says the response from music enthusiasts, ‘Euphorians’ and music lovers have been phenomenal. “But at the same time, it is a number game. We still don’t have those numbers. We are independent artists who are not backed by any music labels. In that perspective, the kind response and respect we have got because of Khwaamkhaa is heartening,” says Sen.
Sen, who has sung some unforgettable tunes, finds that the music industry has changed dramatically since the time he started. “There is too much clutter. Firstly, this much music didn’t release at that time, and most of the music that came out had to be really, really good for it to reach people. There was nothing like a digital presence and Bollywood was not making that much music.
In the last 10 years, music has been destroyed by Bollywood,” says Sen, adding that because of digital platforms like YouTube coming in, making music has become very easy. “It has become much easier than what it was in the ’90s or early 2000s. Now, you can reach your audience through marketing strategies and with money. It is very difficult to get an organic reach,” he sighs.
However, he believes there is still talent and music but because of monetisation, it has become very difficult. “If Euphoria had come up now instead of ’98, it would have been way more difficult for us to make our mark. If I had made Maaeri today, it probably would not have worked,” says Sen.
Euphoria’s first album Dhoom came out in the year 1998, which is still fresh in people’s memory. “We have hardly made money out of the music we have made. We signed the wrong contracts and we didn’t care about the money back then. Whether it was Lucky (Ali) that's music or KK’s music, it came from a place of honesty,” says Sen, who was last in Bengaluru for a gig in 2020 before the pandemic hit.