The Sanam band talks to Ramya Palisetty about how they discovered their individuality amid the chaos of bonding together
The Sanam band is living the dream every 90s kid who watched FRIENDS had. They all live in the same building, each of the artists has a different setup in their apartment. Samar Puri, the lead guitarist and a jack of many trades, is fond of programming, editing and directing videos. While Keshav Dhanraj, the drummer takes inspirations from Carter Beauford and Travis Baker. Sanam Puri, a vegan whose immense love for all animals and and life experiences drove him to produce melodies is the lead vocalist. Jazz artists like Charles Mingus, Mel Torme and Tony Bennett ignite the fire and intensity in the bass guitarist, Venkat Subramaniyam. With the sole purpose of spreading love and happiness with their music, the journey to get this far wasn’t easy. Regarded as India’s One Direction, what many fail to understand is that the band members are not just singers but can play an entire gig without any instrumental backup support.
The success story of the band began when their manager, Ben Thomas came up with the idea of posting their videos on YouTube. With a setup comprising of a few bulbs, Chinese lanterns and thermocol for reflecting light, the band shot their first video Teri Aankhon se. Following which they came across numerous offers, including the internationally acclaimed, The Amazing Spiderman track, Main Hoon and a promotional Hindi music video released by Sony Pictures, which was composed in two days where sleep was out of the picture.
What most people are unaware about is how each one of them started playing their respective instruments. At a very young age, Keshav wanted to play the guitar because he idolised his elder brother. But as is the case with most sibling rivalries, his brother wanted him to choose an instrument different from him. He settled on violin but after driving his dorm mates nuts with his amateurish tunes, he stopped playing. But as luck would have it, after his boarding school, his brother wanted a drummer for his band and hence, the drummer Keshav Dhanraj was born.
For Samar, the story unfolded at the age of 15 when he saw all the girls swooning over a guitarist in school. That very day, he resolved he needed to play the instrument and learnt it over the years all by himself.
The tale for Venky began in Muscat where he used to play the electric guitar. During his education in Bangalore, he joined a band. Since they had two guitarists, he was asked to play bass guitar and so it began.
During the initial stage of Keshav’s career, he worked at an instrument installation company where he used to work till 8pm, drive to Malad and record all night with the band. With an hour of sleep, he used to drive back all the way to work in the early hours. The journey wasn’t easy for Venkat either, with an academic background ventured into the unknown. His parents were skeptical of his career choices and even today at family gatherings, he is asked about the IT company he works for.
Making music is not easy, among 100 melodies and ideas they work on, only one pans out. Says the vocalist, “we give our song time to take it to the highest potential possible.” But all have memories to cherish. For Samar it was the very formation of the band and winning the Times Music competition 6 years ago. Keshav still remembers the time when they got 100 likes for their first video and an unexpected cheque from Google. Says the drummer, “the most interesting aspect is the constant growth which has been slow yet steady. We didn’t become famous overnight.” But it was only after Venky made a commitment to the band that they decided to move to Mumbai. Thrown into the vortex of dreamers in a city that never sleeps, he wanted to give his best to music.
But for the curious kid, Sanam who never really enjoyed singing but was forced into it, the real change came with time. “Humans keep on changing and so did I. Over the year I evolved as a person as I wasn’t always comfortable being taught anything. I always wanted to find my own answers.” But he was touched by an emotional feedback from one of his beloved fan who expressed how their renditions of old songs have reunited families.
To become a master of a particular genre, one must have the knowledge. To keep his mind sharp, Venky listens to all genres of music and is attracted to all bass lines. “To be a pop musician, you need to understand and learn where music comes from. You need to familiarise yourself with all the art forms as a musician.” While Samar, a Beatles aficionado, focuses more on the musical elements of a tune than lyrics.
Having grown together as a family and constantly evolving, the band is excited about their forthcoming songs which are peppy, romantic and groovy. After a lot of experimenting, these originals will knock you off your feet with the heartfelt vocals and amazing compositions. Their music is becoming a medium for communication and bridging barriers among family members who have lost touch, becoming a part of the rat race.
