Faridkot, Ricky Kej, Warsi Brothers and More Join EQUALS Series

The second season of collaborative music series EQUALS by music non-profit Anahad Foundation premieres on January 25th on JioCinema, with seven episodes that feature folk artists and Indian indie favorites together.

The follow-up to the first season from 2019, EQUALS will include artists like Ricky Kej, The Yellow Diary, Faridkot, Swarathma, Shadow and Light, aswekeepsearching and Rasika Shekar collaborating with folk heroes including Warsi Brothers, Prahlad Tipaniya, Des Raj Lachkani, Sucharita Gupta, Dulal Manki, Rina Das and Jumma Jogi. All episodes will be out on January 25th via JioCinema, followed by the videos going up on Anahad Foundation’s YouTube page.

While the first season spawned hits like “Nasha” by Faridkot and Amar Jalal Group and “Karam” by When Chai Met Toast and Rangle Sardar, this new season has different things in store. The Warsi Brothers tell Rolling Stone India about being part of the series in a statement, “We were very happy. Ricky Kej, us and the whole team have done incredible work together. This collaboration has been amazing.” The pair worked with Kej on the song “Kaunsa Ghar.”

Elsewhere, The Yellow Diary say in a joint statement that working with vocalist Sucharita Gupta on “Raasta Sapnon Ka” was “mentally nourishing” for them. The collaboration spanned just about three days, with the band meeting Gupta, working on the song and then filming the music video. “Our biggest aim from a collaboration is to explore something new. Explore new sonic ideas and also experience another artist’s expression of the same emotion. Also, as a result, both artists will have the opportunity to have each other’s audiences listen to their music, which means more people will hear the music,” the band says.

Singer-composer Rina Das’ “Shakti” with post-rock band aswekeepsearching explores gender bias. The act’s bassist Robert Alex says they could have just been drawn by the success of EQUALS in the past to hop on the project, but were more focused on “the experience of going out into a world you don’t know with the aim to create something.” He adds, “Rina ji is an abundant resource of knowledge, not only for musical understanding but also for the stories she has to share with the world, we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of creating music with her and all the wonderful Baul musicians who accompanied her.”

Flautist, singer and composer Rasika Shekar, who has collaborated with veteran vocalist Prahlad Tipaniya on “Muniya,” calls being part of EQUALS as a “special opportunity” to work with folk music. She adds, “The sensitivity it required to approach the form through collaboration was exciting to me. I remember post the shoot of the song, I rushed out because I had tears of deep joy. I experienced an overwhelming moment of the purest form of love and honest music in that room with all the artists.”

Bengaluru’s Swarathma are no strangers to folk-fusion collaborations, most recently performing with collectives like Rhythms of the Earth. For EQUALS, they pair up with the group Jumma Jogi on a socio-politically-conscious song called “Haalaat Gazab.” Swarathma’s Vasu Dixit and Jumma Jogi’s Jumma Khan lead the charge on the song. The artists spent about four days together to make the song, performing the song together at the Global Music Institute campus in Noida. The band says jointly, “Such collaborations feel as if a window has been opened in our minds about the kind of music that lives outside our world. It is a way of learning about different musical styles and embracing them to the best of our ability – and in the process make a song that we all love. All of this has already happened. Any joy it brings to audiences, or resonance it has with listeners, or success the series has… is a bonus!”

Watch the trailer for EQUALS below. Find all upcoming videos from the series here.