While many of us grappled to make sense of lockdown life by taking up new interests such as cooking, painting or learning an instrument, the process of creating art while being stuck within four walls affected many of the artists of the world. For Delhi-based band Kitanu, which was formed in 2017, the pandemic became a bane to their existence. Struggling to produce their debut EP, this five-piece band—Rohan Prasanna on sarod, Omkar Raghupatruni on guitar, Arman Handa on bass guitar, Guru Ganapathi on drums, and Siddhant Sarkar on vocals—that blends folk sounds with conventional Western instruments, was almost on the verge of breaking up even before they could establish themselves. However, luck was on their side; with patience and perseverance, the band managed to launch their eponymous EP in August this year. Their EP is a combination of individual influences of each band member.
In this edition of Soundscape, we speak to Kitanu’s vocalist Sarkar to discuss their music, the unique band name, and more. Excerpts:
Where did the idea of merging the sound of the sarod with Western instruments germinate?
I had always been fascinated by how certain folk instruments had this trippy sound; I was curious how they would sound paired with electronic sounds from conventional Western instruments. I view music as an amalgamation of different sounds and what comes out as one unit. This idea was further cemented when, in some of my travels, I came across native folk instruments. The sheer uniqueness of these instruments inspired me to incorporate them in my own music. In a funny chain of events, I had seen a video of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy being played on the sarod and by sheer luck, I found a video of Rohan playing the sarod online the next day. I asked him to jam with a few of us; and Kitanu was born.
What’s the story behind the name ‘Kitanu’?
There is definitely a story behind the name (laughs). This happened back in 2017—I was unwell and being pre-Covid, it wasn’t frowned upon to show up to work when ill. I thought my bandmates would be impressed by how dedicated I was, but I was coughing a lot and the jam room was full of phlegm, and the others started making jokes about me. Then at one point, they took their instruments to another room and started playing there. Later, the guitarist at that time changed our WhatsApp group name to ‘Kitanu’, which we loved and decided to stick with.
What’s the theme of your three-track EP?
To be honest, there’s no theme as such. The songs are complete to themselves. If you notice, each one differs from the other quite a bit, but at the same time, we have our ‘sound’, which keeps them all together making it natural. We don’t confine ourselves to a single genre and our songs were spontaneously improvised during jam sessions. Lyrically, each song has its own individual story.
Was your music-making process different during the lockdown?
Most of our songs were written before the pandemic. The pandemic involved trying to record Pebbles since it was the only one left, and then we mixed, mastered, and remixed the three songs for the entirety of the pandemic.
The process was frustrating. We were on the verge of breaking up because of how long the journey was taking, and at one point we even decided to release the music and then part ways... but here we are now.
What are you planning next for the band?
We have a lot of unreleased songs/ideas that we intend to work on and release in the coming months and even plan to tour the entire country. We are all super excited about what lies ahead.
Kitanu’s debut EP is available on all major streaming platforms