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Hear Maqta’s Folksy New Single ‘Jaane Bhi De’

The track is the Mumbai musician’s second release this year, following his debut offering ‘Dor’

Aug 18, 2020

Mumbai musician Sarthak Karkare aka Maqta. Photo: Simone Gandhi

Earlier this year, Mumbai musician Sarthak Karkare – who fronts alt-rockers Unohu – announced that he was going to be releasing solo material under the moniker Maqta. He says, “Maqta refers to the tradition in ghazal writing in which the poet reveals his or her name to the audience in the last couplet.” After dropping his debut single “Dor” recently, Karkare is now out with a follow-up with the folksy “Jaane Bhi De.”

As Maqta, Karkare has unlocked a creative side in him which leans more towards Bollywood music, Hindustani classical, ghazals and folk. While he’s been churning out English tunes with Unohu, the musician explains that at home and elsewhere he’s spoken Hindi naturally and organically. “I’ve always found that different languages have the power to communicate experiences differently, and Hindi speaks to me before I speak in it,” he says.

According to the artist, the new track is an ode to Bollywood music of the Fifties and is in the vein of composers O.P. Nayyar and S.D. Burman. “One of the things I realized while writing the song was that it would be difficult to listen to when heard immediately, because we don’t write or listen to this kind of music anymore,” says Karkare. The track incorporates old school sounds and melds them in with modern production giving the song a certain charm and vibrancy. “Thematically, the song is more in keeping with my temperament to make light of tough situations,” says the musician.

Karkare recorded “Jaane Bhi De” at his home studio and felt a sense of independence that came with it as it was a body of work away from Unohu. He says, “The experience was sublime.” The singer-songwriter recorded all the instruments on the song on his own including the harmonium. He says, “It is an instrument that I’ve never used before, but its dragging sense of melancholia seemed like the perfect tool for the song.” The track was mixed by alt-rockers Blek’s frontman Rishi Bradoo and mastered by sound engineer Ayan De.

Karkare has more Maqta music in the pipeline and is also readying singles with Unohu to be released soon. On top of that, the musician has also involved himself in composing for background scores and teaching music too. Speaking about Maqta, Karkare says, “The approach will always be experimental in order to inspire the listener to embrace Hindi and Urdu in all genres and forms of music, and not just in the singer-songwriter role.”

Stream “Jaane Bhi De” on Spotify below:

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