Zoya got a little bit more interested in
knowing who these boys were and that’s
how it started. She got to know their
stories and then spoke to Ritesh and
me and we were exceedingly thrilled
to do it. And that’s how it happened!
What according to you is the best
part about being a musician?
What it does is that, it almost compels
you to be as honest as you possibly can.
There is one thing of making music
for public consumption and other is if
you have something to say. So, I think
there are different kinds of musicians
who do different kinds of work. I feel
The second was the Delhi incident that
happened on the bus followed by a rape
of a three or four year old girl by her
neighbour and again was completely
brutalised. There was a serious
amount of anger in me. For the lack of
anything, I had to find some way to be
able to channelize it and do something
about it opposed to just vent it out.
For me, it was important to do
something more sustainable and reach
out to find out what is wrong with
these guys. What is it that they are
trying to prove to themselves or to the
world? What kind of a joy and high
does it give you? I wanted to prove a
point that being masculine doesn’t
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self-expression is important. Somehow,
through my writing and music, I feel
it’s giving me a great outlet to express.
It’s probably because I’m from a
world where you always have a bit
of a spotlight on you, so your guards
are always up and you are always on
the defence when somebody asks you
a question because you might be mis
quoted or taken out of context. Music
has helped me speak openly and say
things the way I want to say it.
You’ve talked a lot about redefining
male attitude in the country via your
initiative ‘MARD’. Could you walk us
mean this and doesn’t mean you have
to show your aggression or be in power
or charge. Masculine things also
include empathy, sympathy and care!
Could you tell us about the gear
you use for your music and
how you include technology
into your music making
I use a very simple thing, a guitar
(laughs). I have a couple of acoustic
guitars, Gibson, Hummingbird,
Taylor. All the composing I do are
on one of these guitars. It’s usually
me with my iPad with a little mic,
guitar, and I record it and put it as
a scratch. That’s the first step I do
through the events that inspired the
idea of launching such a campaign?
The three things that I remember
very clearly that actually happened.
It close on the heels of each other that
really got under my skin to an extent
where I felt that I had to do something.
The first one was, a harassment case
that happened in Guwahati outside
a bar where somebody dragged a girl
around, tearing her clothes off etc. It
came on news and later we figured
that the guy who broke the news was
actually involved in the incident
because he wanted some publicity.
while I‘m writing so I keep tweaking
lyrics and stuff while doing that.
And then, a very dear friend who has
been a part of my band Farhan Live
for five years now, Sarosh Izedyar, and
I, go to the studio and put down the
song a little bit more professionally
but with just guitars and vocals. Then
a sound engineer would come in to get
us the final output that we desire.
If there is something you would
like to change in the music
industry, what would it be?
I do wish we had more robust
independent music scene at least for
people who have careers out of it. A lot