Karnataka Progressive Rock Band Agam talked about its new album, ‘arrival of ether’.

“This is the most personal thing we have created.” How the Agam, the band that makes the Karnataka Music Rock, defines Ether arrival, His third studio album. “This involves our journey,” says Harish Shivaramakrishnan, the lead singer of Bangalore -based band.

The bands formed in 2003, and active on a live show circuit since 2007, have taken about eight years to bring out this album. However, work on this started after the release of his second studio album, Dream of remembering (2017), epidemics harassed their plans. “The plan was to release it in 2020. But when Kovid -19 was killed, there was no show, zero income and total uncertainty. We came back from a situation where we had no self -confidence. That is why we consider the album the most personal thing.”

T Praveen Kumar, the leading guitarist, says, “We all went into a hole; there was a creative shutdown because we were not able to meet and jam each other. It took us one and two years to bring back our attention, energy and souls.”

The album has eight songs. AR Rahman recently launched the first song, ‘The Silence that release’. Three more will be released in the next few months. The rest will come out next year. “While five tracks in the album are based on traditional carnatic compositions, the other are original,” Harish says.

The delay was also a lot with the fact that the album was placed on a large scale. More than 300 artists, including international musicians, are part of the project. “The Czech National Symphony Orchestra has played for us. Big Brass Band from Argentina, Italian orchestral conductor, composer from Hungary and America songs from Hungary and America, composer from West Asia … is all in the album.”

Among them are Grammy winning audio engineer and Argentina’s producer Andress Mayo, who has mixed with Martin Muscatelo. Masting is done by the famous engineer, Sai Shravanam. Mohan Veena Examinant and Grammy winner Pandit Vishwah Vishwah Mohan Bhatt have collaborated in a tracks.

“We traveled to work with international artists, while some of them were made online. Also, we worked in many studios all over India and abroad. We have also used it. Chanda Cloth in the album, which is not normal Chanda MelumMany new devices have been included. This is the first for the soundscape and music dimensions of the agam. ,

Still ‘The Silence’ made from the third album of the fire from the music video of the track, the arrival of arrival. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Says Praveen, “The album took time because we tried to pursue our boundaries; there was a conscious decision to make it different. And each artist put his heart and soul in it.”

According to Swami Seatharman on the keyboard, the band set the bar high for the album’s soundscape. “It was a toilet every day. We put ourselves on the shore. Searching for many emotions through songs has been a different experience. It has not been easy, in particular, executing it with many voices, equipment, etc. … The whole thing was on a separate league for us.”

So, what was the feeling behind growing up? “First, our age,” says Harish. “We are all on the wrong side of 40. It is now or anytime as a situation. As Praveen says, it would have been too early five years ago and it will be too late after five years. We do not know the results, but wish to take our ambition to the maximum. I believe that we have achieved it to a great extent,” says Harish.

The music video produced by Wonderwall Media and shot by Sumesh Lal is also made on a grand scale. “We have a long association with Sumesh. They have made it the same as we wanted.”

The first track is based on the ‘The Silence that Reimens’, the composition of Tyagaraj, ‘Mohammedu Galada’, which is on the philosophy of attaining salvation (liberation) and the cycle of life and death. With an errorless, grand arrangement that switchs between traditional and modern, the composition is still another evidence of the solid use of the fire with soundscape.

“This composition is usually treated with soft orchestration and sung with focus on the soft aspect of the song. It does not have such an aggressive orchestral treatment. So it took time to come in that form,” Says Harish. Swami says, “It is largely about the five elements, which portrays the struggles of physical life, which has been brought out through unique sounds. We have used 30-35 tracks for it alone! For example, there are voices of trembling of the earth, earth plate shifting, ocean waves, volcano means the meaning of volcano.

Members of Band Agam. , Photo Credit: Mozin Thinvilleilly

Harish says that he always undergoes a long process to choose Karnataka compositions. “We take a lot of songs, but most people will not translate meaningfully. If there are eight or 10 songs, perhaps two can be align in a sensible direction. It is all about experimenting because this style does not have a template. When we work we work, there are many preventers. Finally, it has to fall systematically.”

Considering the observation of Rahman that he is a band that “believes in identity”, says Harish, “This is a huge verification for us. When we talk about identity, we are clear what we should not do or not. When we were in half the way through the album, it tells that the Instagram generation is for a 30 seconds for only a 30 seconds!

Still ‘The Silence’ made from the third album of the fire from the music video of the track, the arrival of arrival. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

This is the place where the band proud of its huge fan. “We are very lucky in this way. Recently we came to a fan in our 20s who came to our first concert with his father when he was five years old. We don’t have passive fans; Any artist would like to play for such developed audiences,” says Harish. “The expectation of the audience is so high that we don’t want to leave the ball.”

The second song of the album will be released by the end of this month, which Harish says, “Every South Indian will know a composition has an interesting to take.” The remaining will be released by August 2, after which the band will be set on a world tour with the album.

The Line-Up: Harish Shivaramakrishnan (Vocals), T Praveen Kumar (Guitar), Swami Setharaman (Keyboard and Additional Programming), Aditya Kasap (Bas), Shivkumar Nagarajan (Persian) and Yashunandan Nagarj (Drums).

AGAM is performing album songs at two concerts in Bengaluru in partnership with Akshay Patra Foundation. At the MLR Convention Center, Whitefield on 14 June and Pesties Center for Performance Art on 15 June. Time: 7 pm.