Avanti Patel Traverses Indian Classical and Rock Alike in Comforting ‘Sandesa’ Video

Artist Avanti Patel leans into her Indian classical roots and love for rock music on her new song “Sandesa,” which comes with a calming, monsoon-themed music video, with a story of urban living by Shubhi Rao.

Patel, who has released a range of tunes that are strongly classical vocal-led but at other times, a buoyant fusion of her influences, worked with guitarist and producer Abhay Nayampally on “Sandesa.” Based on raag Bhimpalasi, Patel says the track can be considered a bandish, with sarod from Sarang Kulkarni. On the non-classical side of things, there’s a bit of prog rock, Pink Floyd-esque guitar and rock rhythms.

In the video, we see Patel sets up her own sanctuary as she moves into a new home, making a bed and placing her personal effects around a modest space. She even sets up a gramophone, all the while without able to catch up with a significant other. In an interview with Rolling Stone India, she talks about her influences, the making of “Sandesa” and what’s next.

As someone who grew up with classical music as well as rock, how has your understanding of both styles/genres changed over the years? 

As artists we are first students of music. I believe musical ideas keep evolving and changing with time. That’s true of my understanding of styles and genres as well.

I think it’s important to understand how these influences entered my life. I was learning classical music from the age of five – clearly before I could make any decisions for myself, but that greatly strengthened my approach and musicality.

 Like everyone does at 12-13 years of age, I started listening to English music, voluntarily. This included a wide spectrum from Hannah Montana, High School Musical to bands like the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Iron Maiden, RHCP and more.

I’ve always had Hindustani classical music as a core musical foundation that has grounded me. As a teen, I was fascinated by the concept of harmonies, something I didn’t hear in Hindustani music. Bands like Lady Antebellum, Patrick Watson, Bon Iver and The Staves use vocals so beautifully to convey an idea. It’s fairly evident how influenced I am by them in the way I arrange and produce my tracks. 

With a song like “Sandesa,” your ability to balance these styles as a composer gets pushed each time. What did you want to do differently on this one? 

As a composer, it’s easy for me to actually write a song and a melody. I usually hear the song in my head as it starts to take shape, and everything that happens in the studio thereafter is my way of trying to match the sound of the final mix to the sound in my head. This is where things get challenging.

For ‘Sandesa’ I worked with Abhay Nayampally, who has produced the track. His background in Carnatic classical and the wide range of styles he plays has hugely impacted the directions we took with the production. It never actually felt like a balancing act for us. The music flowed very organically.

I really enjoy the sound and texture of acoustic instruments and I knew I wanted the song to feel like a band jamming and building on to the melody gradually.

This was the first track where I’ve tracked live drums! It’s been such an enormous learning experience. I know exactly what I don’t want to do the next time I’m tracking drums, but that’s more for me as a composer. I’m very happy with the final outcome. Sanchit, my drummer has done a stellar job!

Production wise as well as instrumentation wise, can you tell me a bit about the people you worked with, or was it all DIY? 

Abhay Nayampally is the producer on this track. I was very clear with what I wanted in terms of sonic elements. The sarod, played by Sarang Kulkarni, acts as a deep, earthy texture which breathes emotions into the track. The vocals and the sarod are the only two ‘Hindustani classical’ elements in the song.

Sanchit Mhatre has played the drums while all the guitars (distortion, electric, acoustic, Carnatic) have been tracked by Abhay himself. We recorded the drums at Joshua and Inc and vocals and melody instruments at Buss In Studio. Saurabh Kajarekar has mixed and mastered the track.

What else is coming up through 2023?

Two more original tracks are on their way this year! I’m excited and nervous to put out work that has so much of ‘me’ in it. All of these tracks have been written, composed and sung by me. My vocal style is influenced by my love for thumris and two years ago, this led to me writing a theater concert piece called ‘O Gaanewali,’ talking about Tawaifs/Courtesans and the music they popularized, forms like thumri, dadra, ghazal and so on.

We recently completed 25 shows and have been performing all over India in prestigious venues and festivals like the NCPA, BIC, Jashn-e-rekhta, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Prithvi Theatre and so on. We hope to bring back these forms and shine light on everything that the Gaanewalis have given us, that often gets lost in our narration of history.

Watch the video for “Sandesa” below.