You are blessed with a unique tonal quality which can cut through the clutter. Yet with the advancement in vocal-tuning technology, do you think it’ s become a daily challenge for every other singer to retain his / her individuality in the crowd of too many playback artistes in popular Bollywood music?
I am truly thankful to be blessed with such a distinctive voice. And that’ s a piece of advice I always part with my younger singers i. e. to keenly focus on our voice. See your tonal texture is God’ s gift. So nurture it with much care. Of course, riyaaz( training) and practice is necessary but it can’ t change the internal vocal cords you are born with. You either have a different voice or you don’ t. How you use your voice depends on your perspective and the backdrop of a given song. One must learn this craft and manner of working out one’ s voice to his / her advantage.
What prompted you to form a folk-fusion band?
I have been initially groomed by my father Khagen Mahanta and have imbibed his key influences in me. Hence my association with the traditions of folk music started with watching my father closely from a very tender age. See folk music can really rock a stage and I have always wanted to do something with the folk melodies. As a genre, folk melodies are centuries-old stories and tales which still talk to us with an unfailing appeal. They exude emotions and relationships, relevant to today’ s times, connecting with the youth. I wanted to see how we could slowly transform it into something which is more current and contemporary. It was a big step when we had actually floated the band Papon and The East India Company( Guwahati) a decade ago in 2007. But touchwood, we have got a tremendous response over the years and I couldn’ t be happier for sure.
Is it difficult to straddle between a mainstream career and a parallel part-time band-music pursuit?
I think I have been fortunate enough to grab a string of plum tracks from Bollywood. I live in Mumbai, so whenever I get time to venture out of my own creative comfort zone, Bollywood is right there to shelter me. And that was the sole reason behind my plan to shift base to Mumbai as well— to be able to toil on some interesting film projects. The‘ city of dreams’ has so many great musicians. And honestly speaking, Bollywood was a conscious move that has worked for me because now a larger audience knows me.
By virtue of being a native of Guwahati and the son to your reputed folk-musician parents Khagen Mahanta and Archana Mahanta, you have inherited a strong tradition of folk culture and the regional Bihu melody is firmly ingrained in your blood and genes. Tell us something about your training in music ever since you were a child.
My musical journey had begun in my mother’ s womb, that is, before I was even born. My mother was pregnant while she was teaching and learning Indian classical music. So I started listening to music since then! My father is a folk legend of Assam. He had been performing folk music and popularizing the regional form for years. He was a very well-respected figure in Assamese folk music.
The fact that I was born into a musical family and was bred in a similar kind of milieu had itself commenced my voyage along the course of sounds-n-beats. But I didn’ t immediately take a plunge into the musical field as a professional till much later in life, for it took me a while to realize that am pretty good at it myself and not because my parents are musicians. So the progression was naturally gradual.
Hailing from Assam, one can’ t deny the musical impact of the bard of Brahmaputra Dr. Bhupen Hazarika and his remarkable contribution to the fathomless ocean of music. How has his music inspired you?
Dr. Hazarika was a luminous personality with a charismatic, unique voice. Like you rightly put in, he has made an immense contribution to India’ s musical trove.
How was your tryst with the distinguished English film composer Benjamin Wallfisch for the criticallyacclaimed international project, Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain?
Well, it was a fascinating project to be aboard of. It had other great musicians like Sting on it. As a matter of fact, the cause was extremely important and everyone had laboured for free to do their bit to promote the issue of Bhopal gas tragedy that took thousands of innocent lives thirty-two winters ago in 1984.
Is music production a heavy-duty job, given the fact that you have been a producer on season four of MTV Unplugged and has even participated as a vocalist in both Coke Studio and the Unpluggedshows?
Yes, but a lot of it depends upon the person at the helm. I like giving my best shots all the time. I am a perfectionist. Therefore all these projects have had extracted a lot out of me. Imagine, I didn’ t sleep well for four months! I would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and make notes— maybe this track doesn’ t need a flute, maybe a shehnai would work better here, maybe another voice will sound apt here. So, these kind of ideas and thoughts would non-stop bug me. Point is that producing music is time-consuming and six songs could at times consume a full year, if you really want to produce well.
Are live sounds-n-beats and unmastered recordings the future of Indian music as often film producers and music directors retain the scratch versions of a particular song and unplugged programmes are gaining acceptance in the audience court too?
I can’ t predict the future, but one thing is for certain that people are embracing new things and different concepts. And that makes for a holistic experience for music to evolve and for kids to grow up with. Film music isn’ t also just one type any more. It has different flavours coming together now. At the same time, unplugged, jazz, alternative, pop, folk, fusion should get played across radio stations as much as the monopoly of film music still rules.
You are also widely known for your associated acts with the accomplished front-runners in music. Do these side gigs bring you a different taste to enlightening your knowledge on music? Explain …
Absolutely! I get to learn a lot from these side ventures. I absorb a lot from working in different spaces and synergising with different people. That’ s how collaborations fall in place. You see, it’ s undoubtedly quite exciting for a singer, composer and musicians to work on various, diverse assignments. Hence I’ m lucky enough to coordinate with a bulk of talented musicians to spin around new ideas on varied platforms.
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