Talk to the blues
Talk to the blues
Now if only they’d allow fat, bindi-wearing, kohl-sporting women in handloom saris entry into those snazzy clubs and lounges where you have bands belting it out every other night, I might have stood some chance of earning a place as a groupie. Indeed, that’s the thought that crossed my mind when I first heard Tipriti Kharbangar, lead vocalist of the popular Shillong-based band Soulmate, earlier this year. She stood on stage, very petite, strumming a guitar under the open skies in Pune. I had heard the band on YouTube earlier, but nothing quite prepared me for the gut-wrenching and intensely tuneful voice that suddenly seemed to emerge from the slip of a young woman who stood on stage.
I then moved on to ask Tipriti if they had written other songs in Khasi, and learnt that barring Shillong, meant to be a tribute to their hometown, Soulmate prefer to do their songwriting in English. “We want to reach the world, so writing only in our language will not get us anywhere...,” she said, as she justified her preference. I do not argue because I meekly accept that fat, bindi-wearing, kohl-sporting women in handloom saris have no idea of blues or blues-rock, or soul or rock ‘n roll music, or of the subtle and not-so-subtle pressures that shape such decisions.
But I continue to believe, perhaps a little naively, that music speaks to its listeners in a language all its own. After all, I didn’t understand the Khasi language, and yet the music conveyed the sense of grief to me with utmost clarity. I am also curious to know how a blues band from India is received by audiences in the West. If one were to go by the general condescension of classical Indian performers towards their non-Indian counterparts who have spent decades studying Indian music and acquired admirable skills, Soulmate and other bands could well face a fair bit of discrimination when performing outside India. I ask hesitatingly, afraid to offend, if they are taken seriously when performing abroad, and am comforted by Tipriti’s reply that they have gained acceptance as a blues band, even though initially people are always sceptical and even expect that they would include sitars, tablas and other Indian elements. But once they give the band a hearing, they are left with no doubt about the band’s commitment to blues.
No doubt, Tipriti’s voice, with its howl and rasp, contributes in good measure to the band’s success.
Write to Shubha at musicmatters@livemint.com
Also Read |Shubha Mudgal’s previous Lounge columns
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First Published:15 Jun 2012, 09:14 PM IST
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