She was born in Delhi, but grew up in Chandigarh. He, on the other hand, was born in Chandigarh but never spent time in the city. The two, however, love Delhi and music. Just that it took a while for them get together and rock the world.
It has been close to a decade that Sukhmani Malik and Hari Singh gave their maiden performance as a duo – in December 2008 at Chandigarh. And in these 10 years, they have given us songs that expertly blend folk music and ambient electronica. Be it Promises, Boohey Bariyan, Kangi, Madhaniyan or Challa, the two have struck a chord with the audiences with every new song and performance.
Talking about the early part of her life, Sukhmani says, “My family moved to Chandigarh due to the riots in Delhi when I was four. I did my Bachelors in Music and Psychology, and a Masters in Hindustani Classical Vocal Music from Chandigarh, and for the next four year (2003-07), I trained under a guru. Then, in January 2008, I moved to Delhi to audition for a musical group, got selected and started travelling with them to Europe for performances.”
On returning from one such tour, someone told her that a musician-producer was looking for an artist to collaborate with.
“Hari had just moved to Delhi. We met in November 2008 and the rest, as they say, is history,” she says.
On the other hand, Hari decided to follow his passion for music after completing his graduation in Mathematics from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
“After graduation, I did my audio engineering from Chennai, worked in Delhi for a year and thereafter went to Manchester to specialise in electronic music production,” says Hari.
Reinventing the old
Quite early in their collaboration, they realised folk music is something their fans wanted. “While working on a classical electrofusion in one of our eight-song sets, we threw in some folk music. The audience response was overwhelming. People told us that we reminded them of happy times spent with their grandparents. So we thought of working more on this,” says Hari, adding they also wanted to pull in those who had started moving towards Western music. The two then started producing folk music, giving it a special touch of their own.
But is it okay to tamper with old compositions?
“These folk songs belong to the people of Punjab and we all have the right to take a piece of our culture and present it in our own way,” says a confident Sukhmani. “Even in classical music, we are given boundaries but encouraged to come up with as many possible permutations and combinations within these limitations. It’s challenging and extremely satisfying,” she adds.
Talking about the progress Indie music has made, Hari says he finds it amazing to see more and more avenues popping up for musicians such as Ibis Music, Coke Studio, Blue Frog and The Piano Man Jazz Bar. “All these have a huge contribution towards the advancement of music. Although Indie music is not yet an industry, there are many performers whom the audiences support,” he avers.
New age jugalbandi
“The soul of music remains the same though the mediums change with time. With the world shrinking, accessibility to and collaboration with other artists has become a lot easier. One learns so much through collaborations. This is the right time to make its full use,” says Hari. Little wonder then, that the duo has collaborated with artists from across the world – be it Noori from Pakistan, esraj player Arshad Khan or Vietnamese Western guitarist Thu Le.
“It is about being comfortable and respecting each other’s work. We met Noori on a US tour. We loved their songs in Coke Studio. And when we met, we got along really well which manifested into us working together,” says Sukhmani.
When: 15 November
Where: Ibis, New Delhi Aerocity