‘Unconventional’ could be composer Prashant Pillai’s middle name, for he says it best with his brand of music. He had bargained for quirk and experimental with the Malayalam music industry, and won it fair and square with the likes of Amen, Double Barrel and City of God. The musician has now come up with a one-of-its-kind interesting try-out - a series of live videos on Facebook, ‘Let’s Talk Music’, that celebrates the music, creativity and thoughts of over 20 artists.
This is how it has been working; from the start of December, Prashant has been catching up with one musician a day on Facebook Live at 7 pm every day. The talks are fun, informative, engaging and punctuated with, what else, but music! He is through with 17 artists and we’re still counting. The series conclude on December 21st.
Going back to the genesis of the series, Prashant says, “I think I’m perceived as being ‘uncustomary’ and ‘experimental’, and I’m treading on the same turf with these live video sessions. The idea is to set up a single platform for all the musicians to interact.”
“I’ve worked with many of these artists, but never got to know them outside our working space. They all have interesting stories. I wanted to draw it out of them because it can help the current generation to approach music the right way,” he said.
The artists that Prashant has been talking to range from singers and rappers to music bloggers; Karthik Srinivasan (of milliblog), singer Mathangi Jagdish, Arun Kamath, rapper Gubbi were among the chosen artists. They inconspicuously wear the tag of being ‘offbeat’ in their approach to music.
“They are not cut-out for the demands of mainstream music. They are non-conformists who are not associated with anything commercial as they don’t want to get stuck in a rut,” Prashant said. “We’re all alike that way. The artists I spoke to don’t look at success as hitting a mark with a brand new song on social platforms. They’re no moneymakers; they invest in time and creativity to build a legacy bit by bit.”
And all the action is taking place at ‘Hive’, a collaborative space in Bangalore, where people from diverse fields meet, talk and work together.
“One has to be smart with technology today and use the social media to one’s benefit. While I started off making these videos, I wasn’t expecting too many people to take notice of it.
However, we now have a dedicated crowd of 700 people who have registered and have been listening in. For us, this inclusivity matters more than clicks,” he shares.
When appreciation comes from unexpected quarters, it makes the effort worthwhile, says Prashant.
“A kindergarten teacher wrote to us saying she enjoyed the videos, and a 65-year-old wanted to revive her career as a Carnatic singer. A native of Dubai flying down just to attend a workshop by singer Mathangi Jagdish. Now these are the changes we look forward to.”