Winner of Songdew contest Sanam band talks about music and more

Band members of Sanam

Tell us about your band? (When it was formed, place of origin, background story, etc.)
Venky S (Bassist & Backing Vocalist of Band SANAM)- Samar and I were classmates in ISM. Samar and Sanam are brothers. So the 3 of us go back a long way. We formed our first band together in school. I met Keshav in our college days, through the music scene down south (Chennai/Bangalore). We formed a short-lived band called "The Previous Band". Ironically that has become our "previous band". When Keshav moved to Mumbai (from Chennai), Samar and Sanam had also just moved there (from Delhi). They were looking for a drummer and Keshav was looking for musicians in Mumbai to jam with. I introduced them and they hit it off in Keshav's garage. They connected really easily both musically and as friends. The first public performance they did together as a band was at the Times Music Supastars contest, where over 1200 bands/artist pan India took part. I joined them in the finals, which we eventually won and we have been together ever since. Being young impressionable, we had a totally different image of what signing with a music label could do for us. We were convinced that we had somewhat made it. However, slowly we realised the reality of this industry and how things actually work. It was after we met our business manager Ben Thomas (post our 3-year contract with Times Music), that we all decided to work hard towards building and bringing back the independent music scene and band culture back into India. We knew it would be a slow and hard route. But our goal collectively as a band was clear. We haven't looked back ever since.

Who are your biggest music influences?
Samar Puri (Lead Guitarist of the Band SANAM) - I listen to a lot of different styles of music. I love to browse through new artists and listen to new songs that are making waves around the world. From bands like U2 and Cold Play, to Arabic music, also artists like Kendrick Lamar, my list can go on. Each of us have completely different musical influences. This works to our advantage. Also, we make sure that all 4 of us are happy with every song before we release it.
As far as personal influences go, everyone in my life is an influence and someone I can learn from. My mom and dad, to my brother Sanam, to brothers from other mothers (Venky S, Keshav Dhanraj and Ben Thomas) and of course all my friends. We are forever changing and moulding into new phases of life. It's important to grow, learn and experience life as much as we.

Details of any debut EP/LP/Album release (name, year etc.)
Keshav Dhanraj: (Drummer of the Band SANAM)
Supastars in 2010 with Times Music, Samar Sanam in 2011 with Saregama
Sanam Revolution in 2018 which was a compilation of our single releases.
Then quite a few compilation albums released by Saregama including "In Love With Sanam" in 2017, "Sanam Revisited" in 2015, etc. We prefer to release singles instead of an album as a part of our current strategy since we do music videos for every release. So all our recent songs Sanam Mennu, Amar Mallika Bone, etc. you will be able to find as singles on music platforms.

Any interesting story behind the band name?
Sanam Puri (Lead Vocalist of Band SANAM): Initially, we called ourselves The SQS Project. Since it was just Samar, Keshav and me at the time. SQS (Samar Quesh Sanam). However, after Venky join us in the finals of the Times Music Supastars contest, this name no longer made sense. We had to keep it the same for our 3 year contract with Times Music. After we met our Business Manager Ben Thomas (our 5 band member). We decided to start afresh. He used to send out our video and audio links to his large network of people in the industry and would often get replies saying "congrats on starting your new construction company". Without clicking the link, the name SQS Project sounded like a construction company and looked the least bit musical at first glance. It was clear that we had to change the band name! Together, we brainstormed and came up with over two to three hundred band names. Combinations of our names and all kinds of different ideas. However, none of those names really connected with us or our music. Until one day, before a show, Keshav and I were discussing the band names we had just come up with and by mistake (since it was dark) while reading the name Sanam electric, we just read SANAM. We immediately looked at each other and it just seemed perfect! After the show, we all sat together and discussed. We realised that there is no better name to describe us. It's simple and easy to remember the name. It has a direct musical connect and is a word used in countless songs. SANAM is a word used in many different languages (Hindi, Urdu, Thai, and even Arabic). So it connects with a larger audience. The word SANAM in Hindi is a term of endearment such as beloved. This completely relates to all 4 of us as Individuals and the music we make. There was no doubt that this is, in fact, the most perfect name for us. Everything about it just works!

Any upcoming tour/release?
Sanam Puri (Lead Vocalist of Band SANAM): Yes, lots on the cards. New releases. International Tours. Will be revealed in time so you shall have to stay tuned for that.

Your most exciting gig/moment in a musical journey so far? What was so special about it?
Keshav Dhanraj (Drummer of the Band SANAM): Our musical journey has been a roller coaster of a ride. Just like everything else in our lives. Not in terms of good and bad, but in terms of phases and learning and experiences. Since we are 4 different individuals working on everything together, it is really important to respect, understand and learn from each other. Having good cheer is key to keeping everything balanced. So in this roller coaster of a ride, what's constant is that we are all in this together! That's our strength! We learn from each other both musically and in general, about life, by being around each other all the time. The good times become great and the hard times become easier when you have each other.

Samar Puri (Lead Guitarist of the Band SANAM): Our music has been given many titles so far. But the one name that sticks is when many of our fans say that any song we touch, gets 'Sanamized'. That's basically all four of our ideas and influences put together. In terms of genres, we are basically a Pop Rock band. We are growing and will continue to grow as musicians. The journey is what's important to us. Making the music, having a good time, feeling good about the final product. This is why we do it. For happiness and the strength, we get when we are together.

Who would you like to collaborate with?
Venky S (Bassist and Backing Vocalist of Band SANAM): Collaborating with different artists is exciting! We get to learn and try so many new things. It's also fun working with all of them. We have collaborated on a number of projects with Sanah Moidutty, Clinton Cerejo, Lisa Mishra, Aishwarya Majmudar, Shirley Setia, etc. We are looking forward to collaborating with a lot more talented artists from all over! You can expect some really fun collaborations soon!

Any special achievements? (Awards, magazine feature, recognition, etc.)
Sanam Puri: Everything about it was special. Being the first music artists to cross 1 Million on Youtube was special and then being the first to cross 5 million was also very special. We have been awarded the Best Music Content Creator- (National Category) at the Social Media Summit and Awards in Amravati in 2017 by AP Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya and MP Kesineni Srinivas. We were also awarded Digital Icons of the year by Talent Track Awards 2018. 2018 also saw getting featured on the cover of Rolling Stones, The Score & Creme Magazines. All of it feels amazing like a dream.

Sanam is the winner of 'Get Featured on Midday.com contest' organised by Songdew.com'

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