Trio on a musical trip

FIRST THERE were the three Parasuram brothers - Viswanath, Narayan and Sriram. And then Sriram's white midi zeta violin joined them in the credits and photo-ops. Thus was born, `3 brothers & a violin.'

Though two of the three brothers are based in Chennai and are fairly popular in the city's December classical circuit, it was for the first time that the `3 brothers....' were on stage together. On December 31, at the Kids Carnival at Vijaya Vauhini studios. The Carnival goes on for two more days, but saw the brothers for a short while just before ushering in the new millennium.

``We have been performing for almost 25 years. Together we would have been on stage more than a thousand times both here and abroad. But the idea of 3 brothers & a violin is a fairly recent one,'' says Sriram, a VJTI alumnus is also management graduate from IIM, Calcutta. The youngest of the brothers, Narayan, graduated from IIT, Mumbai, before securing a Masters from Clemson University, U.S. They are also behind the popular music for children, the Karadi Tale tracks.

Their first venture at Indi-pop, `Savariya,' (once upon a time), seeks to define its own idiom. ``The music comes from our deep understanding of classical music. The compositions and the singing seek to blend the fresh with the familiar,'' says Viswanath, the eldest, who is a vocalist and a classical mridangam percussionist.

``We worked at our own pace on the Savariya project. for about one-and-a-half years,'' says Sriram. ``We were not looking at deadlines or waiting for a launch. Yes, there seems to be a certain shift in people's interest in music. It is not possible any longer to sell a CD or cassette just on glamour,'' adds Viswanath. But both hasten to add that Indi-pop as a genre is not on the wane. ``As a genre, this kind of music is still evolving. It will take some time to stabilise. And when it does you will have both the glamour and the serious performers,'' says Sriram.

A parallel: Madonna exists and thrives; so does Elton John. The demand is there and the capacity to buy too. ``Pretty much the same way as in the world of Western music,'' says Viswanath.

Many of the present attempts at fusion, seen around is either `layering' of music or plain `jamming'. ``I was disillusioned with my first experience at fusion too,'' says Sriram. ``This is because there is no attempt to learn the other's idiom or music. These attempts will only end up with the performers playing simultaneously. This is not fusion,'' he adds.

Music, they feel should bring joy to the listener and those who create it. ``That is the main cause behind the idea of music. Make everyone who listens happy. That is the ultimate test,'' they add.

(By R. K. Radhakrishnan)

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Section  : Entertainment