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We are a tight community of musicians, we collaborate with each other all the time: Pradeep Kumar of Kulam
Updated on: 22 February, 2017 12:07 PM IST |
Chennai-folk rock collective Kulam is a brimming bunch of talented musicians with zest and vigour to reach for the stars. The band is redefining the perception of independent music in the city with their fresh compositions and earthy influences.
Team Radio City caught up with vocalist and guitarist Pradeep Kumar of the band, ahead of the Radio City Freedom Concert in Chennai.
For the independent music enthusiasts who aren’t aware, what do you mean by calling yourself as a Post Rock outfit?
Well, we&39;re actually a folk rock outfit, not sure how people got that idea.
Bassist Jhanu had a major breakthrough last year, when he strummed for Rajnikanth’s ‘Kabali’. Was he given the creative freedom to do his thing?
Jhanu and Tapass were on that track actually. And I did the arrangements for the entire score and sang on a couple of songs. To answer your question, yes, we all had the creative freedom to do our thing. The music director took the parts he liked the best and morphed it into what you hear in the cinemas.
Besides being a member of Kulam, Jhanu is also a member of his self-titled act Jhanu heavy metal, Oorka Rock ‘n’ Roll and Area Dwgz Electonic Dance Music. Similarly, drummer Tapas Naresh performs for Skrat and Oorka. How does one maintain their own ground while dabbling across different genres?
In the same way that listening to different genres of music can influence your particular style, each style of music we play informs the other. What makes this setup interesting is that we&39;re a tight community of musicians, we collaborate with each other all the time. We are all free to try different things, and we are better for it.
South India is a melting pot of diversity. How does one ensure that performing in their language can be relevant to an audience?
I don&39;t think there is a way to &39;ensure&39; anything, you write the best music you can in the best way you know how and hope that people will be moved by it. We know we have an audience in Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai. The real test would be to see if our music translates to every other part of the country, then the world.
Do you think mainstream culture needs a serious influx of freshness and creativity and that the independent music scene can help in restoring some sanity?
Well, there is certainly a lot of freshness in the independent music scene perhaps because we&39;re not beholden to some big producer or director who is looking for a tried and tested product that he or she can sell to the mass market. We are free to do what feels right in the moment, so that will always be fresh, creative and relevant.
Contemporary indie bands that you love to listen to?
We do, unanimously, love Avial, Sean Roldan & Friends does it count if we&39;re one of the &39;friends’ and Skrat. Besides that Thermal and a Quarter, Escher&39;s Knot and Chaos.
Finally, what’s on the cards for Kulam?
We&39;re working on an album that we hope to release later this year, with everything else that goes with that - music videos, album tour etc. We&39;re working on something that, as far as we know, no Indian band has done yet. Keep them wanting more right?
Kulam will be performing at Bay 146, Chennai from 8 pm onwards on Feb 23rd, 2017. For more details, click here
To know about everything that’s happening at the Radio City Freedom Awards 4.0, visit our official website.