Musicians explore tech workarounds

They are using the Internet to collaborate and connect with listeners. A World Music Day feature

The last few months have been a testing time for all artistes, especially those in the city’s music circuit. While many figured out a way to keep the spirits high, some still wonder about what lies ahead.

The reality remains, even if entertainment spaces open up to gigs, it will take a while for people to step out to attend them, and for musicians to conduct concerts.

Metrolife spoke to fraternity members about how they see the music scene going ahead.

‘Collaborations have opened up’

Indian composer, producer and Grammy award winner Ricky Kej, says that the lockdown has brought about a shift in the lifestyles of musicians, who usually depend on live concerts, reaching out to audiences for their income.

“It is a thing of the past now. A lot of material will move online, but unfortunately technology for beaming performances will have to be worked with, as lags during a gig can be hugely detrimental for a musician.”

Ricky did two live concerts in April and June, the viewership of both concerts together crossed over 150 million views on OTT platforms, multiple TV channels across the world and social media. “This was encouraging as the reach is unbelievable. There are factors like one not getting instant feedback from fans like when on a stage,” he says.

Ricky feels lack of logistics like air tickets and travel help one to explore
international collaborations. “The future is for musicians who know how to record themselves, use equipment, have a home setup as a studio. Musicians will have to remotely record, and artistes will need to live stream and be well versed with technology to survive the storm,” he says.

‘Technology is the only way out’

Music composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Ohileshwari observes that music has moved from offline to online.

She says, “It happened in a very short time, we had the technology around but now it is the only way out. Online is going to be the way for a while. Recordings will happen on remote mode, which is easy to work with. Most musicians have their own recording equipment and studio which enables us to work from home and work on quality music.”

She has been able to research more during this time. “Recording from home has helped me improve my technical and musical skills.”

Ohileshwari also did some online live sessions of cover songs with students of Ohileshwari Art Foundation, one being a mashup of ‘Cheap Thrills’ and ‘Shape of You’.

Though many musical shows were hosted online, she isn’t sure how monetisation of shows can be figured out. “The future will need us to evolve with technology, and understanding how people want us to perform for them,” she says.

‘Live videos salute supporters’

Sangeeta Katti, playback singer and Hindustani classical vocalist, used the lockdown period to indulge in music and was more active on social media with regular posts about music, her experiences and journey.

She did many live videos as tributes and videos answering questions by viewers about music.

“For now, till events steadily commense, both the artistes and the public will stick to online sessions and performances. This phase is temporary and an artist’s self image shouldn’t come in between connecting with their own supporters,” she says.

Sangeeta worries that most artistes have a hard life, and that they overcome hardships with public support and encouragement and it is important to be back on the stage soon.

She believes that evolution happens across artforms. “My live videos will be on and are a salute and thanks to the audience and music lovers who are supportive. I enjoyed everyday posts and going live on different social media pages, but I missed my musicians.”

‘A platform to monetise shows was important’

Debjeet Basu, guitarist with band ‘Perfect Strangers’, feels that musicians will keep evolving and adapt according to the situation. “Though initially the Covid-19 situation hit most musicians, things were better after many online performances happened. A good platform to perform is the need of the hour,” he says.

Debjeet, co-founder of Streamphony, a recently launched venue in Fraser Town, says the platform gives one access to state-of-the-art light, sound and other equipment thats equate to a stage, from where the performance is streamed to a ticketing and viewing platform called Skillbox.

“We performed the first ticketed online gig in India last week. The biggest concern in online shows was how to monetise it as we didn’t want to perform for free,” he says.

He says that the band is not creating new music currently. “But, staying relevant is important so we want to continue performing and release good videos. We released the song ‘Stay’, where we recorded our individual instruments at home and passed around a zoom mike through Dunzo to record individual vocal parts. It was received well on social media,” he says.

‘Picking up new skills is important’

Karthik Sundar Gubbi, known by stage name ‘Gubbi’, used the time at home to explore new music, and has been learning the keyboard and mixing music.

“Picking up new skills is important as we will need to be more self-sufficient for the future. It was clear that to put out more music, I needed to know more about music,” he says.

Gubbi says that the times demand good quality home recording equipments. “I worked on some advertisments and have started working on music for some films also slowly,” he says.

He has a series called ‘Rap Tales’, which brings out stories of different artistes who are on the show and their journey. “I used to rap in the beginning and at the end of sessions. I have decided to put out more music now to discover different sources of income,” he says. Gubbi is working on an album, which he plans to release by end of the year.