6 Things Marking Independence Day in India’s Music Circuit
24-hour radio broadcasts, new music, livestream performances and more for indie artists
Chennai beatboxer Raka Vee, Mumbai-based Ajinkya Sathe and Bengaluru's Shivraj Natraj (clockwise from top left) recreate A.R. Rahman's "Maa Tujhe Salaam."
Maed in India’s Our Neighbours
Long-running indie music podcast Maed In India looks at the larger region and neighboring countries to spotlight for a special block of episodes. Musicians from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal are featured with a mixtape series. A full episode featuring Canadian-Sri Lankan hip-hop artist Shan Vincent de Paul and producer-singer Yanchan (recorded pre-pandemic, when the duo were on their debut India tour early this year) began airing on August 10th, spotlighting the duo’s “Mrithangam Raps” series of jams and Tamil-leaning material.
Follow the podcast here.
BBX, The Konnakol Beatboxer, Ajinkya Sathe – “Maa Tujhe Salaam”
Amongst India’s most unforgettable songs for national fervor, A.R. Rahman’s “Maa Tujhe Saalam,” off his 1997 album Vande Mataram. To mark Independence Day, MTV India commissioned three versatile beatboxers to come up with a vocal-only, effect-free version of the track that breaks it into intricate beats and rhythmic patterns. Featured with the beats are Bengaluru-based Shivraj Natraj aka The Konnakol Beatboxer (from prog-fusion band Project MishraM), Mumbai-based Ajinkya Sathe and Chennai-based Raka Vee, the founder of BBX India. Raka will also interview beatboxers across four weeks from MTV Hustle’s Instagram page.
Boxout.fm’s Indie As Fuck
Presenting their longest billing of programming fully Indian independent music — 24 hours — Boxout.fm calls on labels, promoters, producers and their own radio hosts for a diverse showcase of Indian music that kicked off at midnight and runs until midnight tonight. From metal and hardcore (blogger and podcast host Trendcrusher with post-hardcore band Pacifist’s vocalist Sidharth Raveendran and guitarist-producer Apurv Agrawal) to electronic (Bengaluru producer Oceantied, Mumbai’s Kumail and Sandunes), alternative (crowdfunded festival Control ALT Delete’s co-founders Himanshu Vaswani and Nikhil Udupa) and more, there’s guaranteed to be something for everyone.
Samar Monsoon – “Jawan Khoon”
The riff heavy “Jawan Khoon” by singer Samar Monsoon from the musical web series The Socho Project, has been launched in the spirit of Independence Day with the aim to empower India’s youth.The track highlights Gen Z’s struggles to become a part of the rat race, while propelling them to beat the mundane by challenging the shortcomings along the journey; igniting in them the desire to chase their dreams with all their might and break the glass ceiling to achieve the unimaginable.
Falgun Mopkar’s fusion percussion performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bo9gyP_bAs
Goa percussionist Falgun Mopkar has released a captivating tabla and drum fusion cover of popular songs “Ae Watan” and “Vande Mataram.” The dynamic Mopkar showcases his percussion flair and versatility with both instruments as he celebrated Independence Day with music.
Meet The Music with Folk Masti
Mumbai group Folk Masti is all set to give you a fun online performance. Learn more about the band while you groove to their tunes as they will open up about inside stories, their likes and dislikes and more as part of Meet The Music by Songdew Experiences.
Buy tickets here.
