The Score Magazine - Archive January 2015 issue! | Page 27

Manisha Bhat
Going back, how did The Raghu Dixit Project happen?
I wanted to put together a collaborative set up where people that I
wanted to perform on stage with and collaborate with on different
projects would be able to come together and make music and have a
great time doing it.
when we went out and did our show, the love and appreciation was
quite overwhelming!
Is there any particular reason why the band makes folk
music? 

That made me look and invite all the musicians I wanted to work with
and start 'The Raghu Dixit Project' No. I try not to add genres to the music I make. I believe we make
Good, and Happy Music!
How hard/easy was it during the initial stages of the
band, considering the fact that Raghu Dixit was well
known in the country? 
 Where do you draw your inspiration from? Lyric and
music wise?
Raghu Dixit was not well known around
the country. In fact, Raghu Dixit was not
known at all! It was a really difficult phase
that I had to go through. I owe a lot of my
initial success to Vishal and Shekhar
and also Vijay and Bobby from OML who
"discovered" me in a sense and got the ball
rolling on my indie music career.
How does it make you feel for having the privilege
of making people listen to Kannada music, even
Kannadigas for that matter?

I don't see it as a privilege. I speak Kannada at home, it's what I am
comfortable in. And I love singing in that language. I'm glad people
love the music I make and that the language I sing in is not a big
barrier. I'm overwhelmed by the amazing love I receive for my
music wherever in the world I perform and whether or not people
understand the Kannada lyrics.
I prefer taking inspiration from our land and our culture. So my
melodies are very earthy and rooted and the words I sing are from our
ancient poets of our land. I believe those words have great meaning
and are very interesting to listen to. Poets like Santh Shishunala
Shareif and Da Ra Bendre etc have influenced me greatly and I am
working on their poetry for my music currently.
Most of your songs are either in Kannada or in Hindi.
We even saw you experiment on Dewarists last season,
in a very progressive rock meets TRDP manner. Must
say, it was amazing! 
Is there any particular reason
why you haven’t done English songs much?
Like I said earlier, I am comfortable speaking in English but when I
sing, the regional dialects have a much nicer sound and I love singing
in them. I have released a Tamil song on Jag Changa and have even
sung for a Malayalam movie. So it's not only Hindi and Kannada.
I do however, make it a point to explain what I am singing about, so
there is some familiarity. I remember you saying, in one of your concerts, that the
crowds at musical festivals are kind of hard to reach
to because half the people are drunk. So, where do you
guys enjoy playing the most? 

You’re a well travelled band, any particular tour or a
concert that’s memorable? 
 I don't know if that is what I said. We love music festivals, they have a
fantastic vibe and the crowd is just there to have a great time. Half our
battle is won.
With us, every single tour is a brand new experience and a unique
story. Take the most recent tour for example, we played in 8 different
cities, in 12 days including a shoot for a TV show, and at one point,
traveled from Pune to Kathmandu to Hyderabad on consequtive
days. And finally, when we did reach Hyderabad, it was after a flight
that was delayed by 6 hours so we barely even made it to the concert,
and only after landing did we find that the airline had misplaced
our equipment, so we had to go on stage without our most imp