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With the folk flow
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Bangalore band Aurko wants to redefine Indian folk music in its debut album Nadiyaa
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TUNING IN Aurko likes to play music that appeals to the masses, even at the risk of being branded populist
After spending six years doing stage shows, Aurko has released its first album, Nadiyaa. The band has acquired quite a big fan following over the years and it is evident from the number of Internet chat rooms devoted to them.
Composed of Supratik and Souvik on the lead vocals, Saumya on the rhythm guitar, Aakash on the keyboard, Jeet on the lead guitar, Yathi on the drums and Dev on the bass guitar, the band members say the album happened when a record company executive saw them perform live and realised they might be a hit. Now MetLife, the insurance company, backs them and their gigs are being organised by DNA Networks.
The members of Aurko say their music is all about redefining Indian folk music and the album tries to do the same. It features hit numbers "Yaadein", "Kaho Na" and the title track "Nadiyaa". The numbers are Bollywood-ish and feature a lot of instruments and intricate vocals. But the band has also been accused of sounding too much like another band which plays a similar brand of music, Euphoria.
"It all started with a dream — a dream to make it big. And now we have hit the charts and we are causing debate. Yes, we are very Bollywood-ish. Bollywood, after all, is 90 per cent of Indian music today. That is because we all come from the TVS Saregama background and that makes you sing anything. We have been dubbed `Euphoria Part Two' but Euphoria is not Indian music," one of the members says.
Though they have formed a band and have released an album, the band members haven't taken to music as a full time career option. They still work in the advertising industry, the insurance sector and in IT. But they say music will occupy more of their time from now on.
"We like to play music that will appeal to the masses, you can even call us populist. We are a melody-based band and our forte is our vocals and our instruments. We can't scream. We kind of identify with music from the likes of Cutting Crew and Pink Floyd, but we don't want to stick to just one genre. We would like to call our album a compilation. It has so many varieties and styles Bollywood to tribal to semi-classical. We are confident in our music."
The title track's video is on air right now and the band has changed the tune a little bit from the original version to "give the video a little more energy." "Nadiyaa is all about changing rhythms and making people dance. If you see the video you will know it says that even a rickshawallah can have his day. That is the philosophy of our music, we want to make people feel better."
When asked about future plans, the band says that they are "definitely not a one album wonder."
"Our album has eight numbers and we believe that we have to give five to six good numbers in one album. Other bands give a maximum of two numbers. We know it is difficult to sustain popularity but we want to be known for a long time."
Nadiyaa has been brought out by Times Music. The CD is priced at Rs. 195.
ANAND SANKAR
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