l Subramaniam’s kids have come of age, says Team Viva
Ambi and Bindu seldom make use of their more famous surnames. But they are reinterpreting the legacy of our most feted violionist and instrumentalist lakshminarayana Subramaniam through their new fusion band called SubraMania, giving it a twist and a currency of their own. More importantly, they feel the need to create a distinct sound to proclaim their own identity.
Said Bindu, one of the founders, “Our parents are recognised and they have their own sound which we respect a lot. It’s necessary for us to rise above that. The music we create is a creative voice that solely belongs to SubraMania.” The band was formed by singer/songwriter Bindu and violinist/composer Ambi in 2013. “The idea was to create a space where we could experiment with various styles of music. Ambi has studied Indian and Western classical music and I have learnt Indian classical music and also pop, rock and jazz — a perfect amalgamation. So we could draw on each other’s expertise and experiment with all genres of music,” added Bindu. The band performs with skilled musicians — Alwyn Fernandes on guitar, Frijo Francis on keyboard, Keith Peters on bass guitar and Karthik Mani on drums and percussion.
Ambi said that the journey had been enjoyable and enriching so far as they have collaborated with renowned musicians and performed in seven countries across Europe. As part of the lakshminarayana Global Music Festival, they spread their wings with American flutist and saxophonist Hubert laws in 2013-2014; Norwegian tuba soloist and chamber musician Øystein Baadsvik, American musician Corky Siegel and jazz pianist Jon Weber in 2014-2015. Bindu said that they had fun exploring different avenues. “In one song it could be about exploring Western classical music, flamenco, gypsy music, African music et al. This part of the journey has been valuable for us.”
Ambi joined in: “Our fusion is about understanding different structures of music. It’s crucial for us to study and understand the styles we play with. If we are playing with a flamenco artist from Spain, then we study about it first. Only when we are sure do we add Indian elements and different instruments to make it SubraMania sound.”
Apart from their parents, they are also inspired by musicians like M S Subbulakshmi, Coldplay, Frank Sinatra, George Duke and Maxim Vengerov. Bindu took us through her songwriting style which starts with either lyrics, melody or any inspiration. “When we were in Spain, we were inspired by flamenco music, we took a characteristic of that and related it to the pop song structure. Then worked around it to create our music.”
Said Ambi, “All six of us come from diverse backgrounds and each person has contributed their share in the band’s music. The addition of jazz element is there because both of us have learnt it.”
They said that a gig can be memorable due to various reasons such as the audience, venue and onstage vibe. They shared an interesting incident which happened during a concert in Russia where their opening lines were translated into Russian but once the performance began (they were singing in English) no translation was needed. Everybody swayed to their beats.
Even in Delhi, they had the youth on their feet at the just-concluded Rhythm and Blues Festival. The crowd was uproarious about songs like Days in the Sun, let There Be, Tillana, Black as Night, Make it Count, 7 Song, Peacock and Bhamma Bhamma. “It was great to have such a lively audience. Stage performances always have an exchange of energy from both sides and the kind of response we got was overwhelming,” shared Bindu.