HYDERABAD: “Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you” but with Eka, the three musketeers come from miles to enthrall the audience in the city. The band who was in the city recently for a gig gets chatting with the City Express about their experiences.
Philosophy of Eka
Eka means being one. And the band maintains that in order to be perfect, one needs to be in a state of Eka. “It is awesome to be Eka with so much support and love. Eka has a philosophy which means being one. Basically it means first being one with yourself then being one with your team members, and then being one with the audience. You can always try to be a better person for you can never be the best person,” opines Hitesh ‘Rikki’ Madan.
Eka as One
Following their fall out from Euphoria, band members Benjamine ‘Benny’ Pinto and Hitesh ‘Rikki’ Madan decided to join hands and start their own band. “Once Hitesh and I were out of Euphoria, we had a mutual understanding to perform with each other. Hitesh and Lokesh Madan happen to be cousins and music being our first love, we came together and Eka happened,” shares Benjamine ‘Benny’ Pinto.
Swatantra Rock
“In terms of music genre, we don’t really have a specific genre. For example, when I grew up there was a clear distinction of what was pop, rock, jazz and so on. But once we started performing as Eka, we perform Bollywood, originals, Sufi, we do Punjabi, Telangana Folk. That drove us to coin a term for our genre ‘Swatantra Rock’ which basically means freedom from any kind of boundary,” adds Lokesh.
Shows and Performance
Hitesh ‘Rikki’ Madan says, “Eka does all kinds of shows. We do corporate shows, college and music fests and even weddings. The first wedding we performed at was also in Hyderabad and the city is more than welcoming and each time, it is a new experience for us. We were contemplating the thought of doing a Telugu song but once we started, we really enjoyed the local and Telangana folk music and our attempts were quite appreciated.”
Songwriting
Lokesh says, “Today, Eka has over 30 original songs. We have been focusing more on live shows but soon we will start releasing our music through various platforms like Bollywood or Tollywood.” As they give their own twist to the music, do all three lend their inputs in the songwriting process? “In terms of writing a song, the three of us have had varied influences. Having said that, you know how to work with rock, rap and traditional music and this is how we are flexible and let our music go in all directions,” feels Hitesh.
Varied Platforms
Benny shares, “We have been quite excited to perform Telugu songs, so much so that it is time for Telugu Industry to get Eka. Eka has performed on international platform as well. Bhutan was one of our best experiences. We got to perform at the clock tower in Timphu where the entire population of that town had come down to see our show. We were in fact told that it was the biggest get together in Timphu ever; more than that of the coronation of Timphu’s new king.”