In a city where temple bells echo through traffic and vendors announce breakfast, musicians and bands are reimagining these sounds. One such ensemble that brings out streaks of contemporary and traditional mix is A Carnatic Quartet (ACQ), which debuted their album on Sunday.
For Praveen Sparsh, co-curator of ACQ, the quartet represents a interpretation of how Carnatic music can be experienced. “A Carnatic Quartet is an ensemble of violin, nagaswaram, mridangam and thavil. We have been playing music together for the past six years,” he says. “Usually, sticking together as a group, playing music together, rehearsing, writing new music together, and travelling as a group is kind of new in Carnatic music.”
The many lives of music
The word ‘band’ itself feels like an incantation from another world, rarely uttered in the guarded corridors of the Carnatic realm. Praveen says, “The unique thing about this band is that nagaswaram and thavil are sub-genres in Carnatic music, like violin and mridangam. Though we are all playing the same kind of music, culturally, you find nagaswaram and thavil more in weddings, temples, and so on, while you find the violin and mridangam more in concert halls and similar settings.” That cultural meeting point is where ACQ plants its roots. The album, he says, “captures our raw, live sound — to establish our acoustic identity.”
But this is just one face of the multi-hyphenate musician. Praveen is also part of Band Cooum, an experimental music collective named after the river that bisects Chennai — and in some ways, its social fabric. “Band Cooum is a slightly more experimental sound. There’s a very clear South Chennai and North Chennai divide in terms of dialect, food, music, character, landscape, everything,” he says.
With Band Cooum, Praveen brings together Gaana artistes, paraisai performers, Carnatic musicians, and more to craft original compositions that refuse to play by the rules of genre or geography. “It is a slightly wild idea to bring all of these forms together on one stage. It is more experimental, and about human interest, society, understanding different people — their backgrounds, cultures, even their food habits and everything else.”
Then there’s The Blue Trio, a group more comfortable in the realms of film music, fusion, and the occasional wedding stage. “This one is a fusion music group that plays classical, semi-classical and film music drawing some inspiration from the west,” says Praveen. “This is great for a breezy evening whether it’s for a public show, a wedding or a corporate event.”
The throughline across these projects? A refusal to stay still. “As a musician, I think it is such a blessing for us to have different avatars, to live so many different lives just by playing different kinds of music. That’s the true spirit of being an independent musician,” he says.
With Band Cooum, Praveen brings together Gaana artistes, paraisai performers, Carnatic musicians, and more to craft original compositions that refuse to play by the rules of genre or geography. “It is a slightly wild idea to bring all of these forms together on one stage. It is more experimental, and about human interest, society, understanding different people — their backgrounds, cultures, even their food habits and everything else.”
Then there’s The Blue Trio, a group more comfortable in the realms of film music, fusion, and the occasional wedding stage. “This one is a fusion music group that plays classical, semi-classical and film music drawing some inspiration from the west,” says Praveen. “This is great for a breezy evening whether it’s for a public show, a wedding or a corporate event.”
The throughline across these projects? A refusal to stay still. “As a musician, I think it is such a blessing for us to have different avatars, to live so many different lives just by playing different kinds of music. That’s the true spirit of being an independent musician,” he says.
That spirit is deeply grounded in his roots as a mridangist, trained from the age of five by the legendary Guruvayur Dorai. It’s a lineage and discipline he honours both in practice and tribute — most notably in his recent work honouring the late Karaikudi Mani. “With respect to Mani Sir, I did go through a void when he passed away. I took some time to even process that. He is an incredible legend with an amazing vision for this instrument. He took Mridangam to the world stage,” he says.
His 2022 album Unreserved was one such experiment, blending field recordings from Chennai’s railway stations, international airports and Himalayan treks. " Producing tracks taught me to structure mridangam pieces like songs — building tension, climax, release — especially for new listeners," he says.
Whether playing in sabhas or taking music to the streets of Korukkupet, Praveen is acutely aware of audience and context. “Sabhas have informed audiences; you refine craft. Elsewhere, unpredictability reigns. Our second Band Cooum show in Chennai was a street show in Korukkupet and it was daunting—would locals reject it? Their warmth affirmed music’s universal power,” he says.
Labels like ‘fusion’ or ‘experimental’ don’t interest him much. “Curiosity drives me. Carnatic roots remain my safe space,” he says. The challenge lies more in logistics than in language: “Balancing teaching, freelancing, and bands thrives on structured scheduling with my partner, Shreya Devnath (ACQ’s founder).”
Is Chennai nurturing for such cross-genre work? He’s cautiously optimistic. “Digitally, yes — social media bypasses gatekeepers. Physically, mainstream dominance persists. Yet, persistence attracts the right audiences,” he says.
As ACQ launches its album, the spirit of collective imagination feels as crucial as the sound itself. “The idea of coming together, sharing music, and making music together is the driving force,” he shares.