‘Indie music, not Bollywood music, is the future of music in India’

Taruna Sharma

Nawazishein, an indie rock band hailing from Pune, seamlessly blends Hindi and Urdu lyrics to create a captivating musical experience. Known for its different fusion styles, it recently came out with an interesting music video, Naina. The USP of this song is that it brings out art and music together – features world-renowned artist Vijender Sharma who has made a painting on the song.
Interestingly the band members, hailing from different parts of the country, met at an audio college in Pune, which later became its birth place.
The Nawazishein songs are in Hindi & Braj with an embellishment of Urdu & folk as well, while their music is a blend of different styles like folk, Indian, international, expected as they all come from different musical backgrounds. The band members include Siddhartha Sarkar (Vocals), who hails from Kolkata (West Bengal) and has his roots in Indian classical and Rabindra Sangeet; Lakshay Sharma (Guitars) comes from Jodhpur (Rajasthan) bringing with him folk and rustic colours; Abhishek Noel (Keys) hails from Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) and comes with a significant amount of Western music approach and gospel music; Sidharth Sagar (Bass) comes from Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and has always been influenced by heavy metal and rock texture and Akash Gupta (Drums) comes from Bhopal  (Madhya Pradesh) carries so much versatility in grooves and influence of progressive music. Excerpts from an interview:

How many performances have you given so and where all. Please share details. Which one has been more satisfying?
Sarkar:  We are fairly new in the music scene, since we started two years got lost during COVID, Our most satisfying performance has been when we performed live at MG Outlet at the eve of MG Motor and Songdew announcing the results of MG Taal season 2. The fact we were selected amongst the two most promising talent and we believe that excitement reflected in our performance also.

What’s the worst show or tour you’ve ever played and what made it so terrible?
Noel: We won’t say that any performance has been bad. The way we see is that every performance is a learning experience and provides us the opportunity to connect with our fans.

Do you think Indie bands fare well professionally and commercially considering we Indians are basically obsessed with Bollywood.
Sharma: India was obsessed with Bollywood but no more. Things are changing fast. Today youth are exploring different kind of genres and music platforms like Songdew are providing tremendous opportunities to indie musicians to realise their potential.
Sarkar: We believe future of music in India is indie music and not Bollywood music, the main reason being that Bollywood has become more experimental and music is no more the mode to narrate story line like earlier.

How challenging is it to make your mark in the music world, as also win the hearts of audiences?
Sagar: Yes, it is very challenging as there are so many outstanding talent and also that media today is fragmented. Hence, it is quite challenging.  But good thing is that programmes like MG Taal and platforms like Songdew are blessing for indie musicians . They are providing opportunities to talented musician to reach millions with their network and efforts.

Tell us about your albums released so far.
Gupta: Saajan was our first track which got a lot of traction. However, Naina, our latest release is special. Thanks to Songdew and Mg Motor we could collaborate with world-renowned artist Vijender Sharma. In a first of its kind initiative, he has created the painting in his inimitable style inspired by the music and lyrics of Naina.
We are very excited about this as this is a unique initiative to bring two forms of art together and we feel humbled that artist of the stature Vijender Sharma is part of this project,

What are some of the challenges you face as a band?
Sharma: We are at different places, that’s the biggest challenge for us. We are working to find a solution to the same.

How do you balance maintaining your creative vision with making commercial compromises?
Sarkar: We have started making music because we wanted to express what we believe in. Hence, when we create music, the same is not created keeping in mind the commercial angle at all. We do hope that our kind of music is liked by fans. Once they do so, commercial success will follow we believe,

Any plans to enter Bollywood?
Sarkar: We do not see ourselves composing tracks based on any need of story line, hence, that’s not the space we would operate. However, in case there is a place where our kind of music can fit into, we would be happy to work for such projects.