Dastaan Live, a musical collective established by composer and bass player Anirban Ghosh and vocalist-guitarist Sumant Balakrishnan in 2018, attempts to mirror society through their rock music. Deriving the name from the Urdu word 'dastaan', which means a story, they aim to tell "the story that is unfolding in our lives and around us".
Their single Kaun Bataye?, a passionate rock anthem challenges the status quo and brings forth societal issues. The composition features Jagtinder Singh Sidhu (vocals), Shubhanshu Singh (guitar/backing vocals), Pinak Mokashi (backing vocals), Sudheer Rikhari (backing vocals), Nikhil Vasudevan (drums), Varun Gupta (percussions), and Rahul Jigyasu (additional percussions) along with Ghosh and Balakrishnan. In this week’s Soundscape, we speak to co-founder Ghosh about their collective and more.
Excerpts...
What was the inspiration behind forming this collective?
The inspiration stems from the need to bring together "reflective practitioners of live arts" under one umbrella, and create work that’s transformative and motivating (for us and then the world).
Tell us about the lyrics...
Kaun Bataye? poses an important question - 'aaj bhi kalke jaisa kyun hai?' - why is it the same today, as yesterday? "The song is about pausing and looking around to see where we have come [as a society], and how we are moving forward. It is a celebration of questions asked by people. The core message is: “power of the people; to the people!"
Why did you crowdsource the music video of the song?
Initially, we wanted to shoot a music video. But we realised that since the song celebrates questions, it was best to involve people in the video-making process. Amid the pandemic, the only way to reach out to the crowd was through social media. We got an overwhelming response and that gave us the much needed impetus to work on the video and release it.
('Kaun Bataye?' by Dastaan LIVE is available on all streaming platforms)