‘We were almost named Gloomy Fish’: Sanam band members reveal music journey and future plans

From going through 300 names before arriving on the current one to taking pride in their music connecting generations, Sanam band members reveal their origins, journey, co-existing with commercialisation of music, and their future plans

Bollywood songs like ‘Gulaabi Aankhein’, ‘Lag Ja Gale’, ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ hold a special place in the hearts of all Indian music lovers and film music fans. However, if you ask youngsters about these songs, chances are many will associate them with ‘Sanam’ – one of India’s most popular pop-rock bands, whose modern renditions of these classics have been a hit among fans for over a decade. While Sanam band is known for their covers, their original discography consists of equally impactful tracks that make Indians groove to their music.

The four-member band, comprising Sanam Puri (lead vocalist), Samar Puri (guitarist), Venky S (bassist) and Keshav Dhanraj (drummer), recently visited Mumbai for House of McDowell’s Soda Yaari Jam. We caught up with them before their performance to discuss music, friendship, life and a lot more.

How did you all meet?

An excited Venky shares, "Sanam, Samar and I were in school together. We had a band. This was many years ago. When I was in Bangalore, through the college rock scene, I met Keshu (Keshav) and we started a Chennai-based band. In 2009, Samar, Sanam and Keshu happened to move to Mumbai."

The bassist then introduced them and they started playing some original music together. Some of the songs they made were ‘Badalne Ke Intezaar Mein’, ‘Titli’, ‘Aisa Laga’ and ‘Teri Aankhon Se’. "We formed a band and we were called SQS Project back then. So, it has been a long journey since that time in 2009. Even though people associate us with renditions, that's how we started," he reveals.

Origins of the band

Venky explains, "When it was called the SQS Project, our artist manager at the time realised that it was difficult to push us in the market with that name." Interestingly, Keshav remembers it quite differently. "We used to get e-mails on this, because SQS Project sounded like some construction company," he quickly adds. 

Being out of a contract, the band felt it was a good time to change the name, and it just fell into place. "At the time, Sanam was starting off a Bollywood career," shares Venky, continuing, "So, we thought we'll name the band ‘Sanam and something’ since there are many bands named like that."

Going through about 300 different band names, Keshav says he even remembers the unique options. "I have some e-mails with some weird names that we had come up with like ‘Gloomy Fish’," he adds.

However, the fact that the word ‘Sanam’ has a lot of other meanings apart from his own personal name made it sound perfect. "It had this connect to music and a nostalgic feel, an endearing feel. It sort of made sense to just call it Sanam," adds Venky.

However, Sanam doesn’t like to take credit. He humbly shares, "You got to thank our parents for that. If I wasn't Sanam, then we would never have thought of the name of the band."

Bonding beyond music

Venky shares, "I think it's not limited to music at all because we go back to school and college times, we have different conversations that have nothing to do with music. It usually has to do with some lifestyle thing or random conversations."

Sanam quickly adds, "We have a lot of conversations about food for sure because all of us are big foodies and just love trying out different things. Venky is one person that we rely on in terms of “Venky, what do we order?” He's like, “I'll take care of it, don't worry.” So, conversations vary from food to life itself and even cricket, which they play till today.

Samar expresses, "We're more like family, I would say, and very close to each other. We share almost everything, if we want to."  

Juggling between renditions and original music

On being recognised for renditions of classic songs, Venky explains, "I personally never looked at us as representation of that in particular, but to be honest, we grew up listening to a lot of pop music. That's a common connect with the four of us. Good pop music is something we all like, whether it's boy bands, pop artists, good writers, because they figured it out and they were creating something new at that time. Indian film songs were new and they were written in a way that songs weren't written previously. It was ahead of its times which is why even today, it sounds fresh."

With their own influences and different styles that they draw inspirations from, Venky says when they sit together and come up with music, it doesn't matter if they're making an original song or a rendition because they're still putting their soul in it.

Doing a rendition of 'Ek ladki ko dekha', which became popular, Sanam says was a transition point. He explains, "We started this journey doing originals and believing that we've got to make our own music but we also knew that people were asking for renditions because we'd done a few of them as we really liked the songs. We thought that if we lose that path of creating our own music, then it's very hard to come back to it."

While the lead vocalist says it did happen and there were moments of regret somewhere, even though it has given them a lot, they realised that it's music at the end of the day. He shares, "If you're able to touch people's hearts, which is our intention, that’s all that matters. It took us some time, at least took me some time but now we are in a good place and happy with what we've done so far and the kind of response we've received from people. We're now doing a lot of originals."

Keshav believes their youth made them eager to show their original music, renditions changed the way they perceived their music. He traces, "Slowly over four, five years, we started to understand that our music had a lot more impact than just that, because we started getting messages and emails from people saying things like 'your song has brought our entire family together'. You have grandparents, parents, and kids listening to the same song, which we might not have been able to do through a pop original, because this is a song that somebody has heard long back."

Having travelled to countries like South Africa, Amsterdam, Israel and other places, the fact that their music has touched so many lives, Keshav says is because of these renditions. "We're really grateful because this has given us a platform to grow from now when we want to do originals. We are not starting from scratch," he adds.

Venky believes that just how a lot of artists experience the unexpected in their careers, it was this for Sanam. "We're on this journey together and we're happy to see where the journey goes," shares the content bassist.

Commercialisation of music

It is impossible to ignore the commercialisation of music in the internet era. Every other week, songs come and go with some being chart-toppers and others barely lasting in the lists, especially with streaming applications and social media, and Sanam, as a band has witnessed it all around them.

Sanam expresses, "We can see that everybody's trying to be somewhere. Most of the people today make music, not for the love of music, but it's mainly for validation. Songs are becoming business models more than music which touches people, influences them to do something good in life or being relatable to what they’re going through."

However, he believes it has gone in a good direction as well because it is open for anybody to do anything. "But at the same time, it's becoming a little toxic where people are getting influenced in a bad way."

Sanam continues, "Yes, music is very powerful. It always has been. It's like a spell on people. So I feel, as artists, what we put out there really matters because it does affect people."

A lot has changed over the years. Keshav notes how it wasn't easy earlier for everybody to just become a big artist because you have to get selected by a music label. He explains, "They have to want to spend money on you to be successful. Right now, what's happening is that anybody can do it. Even for us, we just started putting out stuff on YouTube and people started liking it and it just happened."

With millions of people doing it every single day, it has made the music space more crowded, but he believes in that whole crowd, there are still a few really good artists who will come out in these platforms as well. He further adds, "The only difference is that right now, a lot of young people are thinking that if they just do this or that, they'll make more money from it and get somewhere. It's all about social media. In terms of music, the good thing about this is the fact that there are a lot of artists who have a platform where they don't have to rely on somebody else to tell them that they are good musicians and some people don't even have to be good singers. Maybe they're good programmers. They might just start putting out songs in a different way."

If one has an open mind, Venky says one will see how the music industry is going to be changed and revolutionised with AI. He shares, "Our consumption has changed so much. Earlier YouTube was big, but everyone's on Instagram right now. Tomorrow, there'll be some other app."

Amid their journey experiencing commercialisation of music, playing covers and their original songs, Sanam is hoping to do a lot more in the years to come. Venky shares, "We are yet to explore a lot of things. There are some songs that have been composed and some that have been arranged and recorded. The minute we are ready with it, we’ll have a new thing to offer."

Sanam adds, "We’re taking our time because we don't want to give you something which is half-hearted and incomplete where we feel like we could have done more. We want to be at a stage where we're really satisfied. It's our own songs. We have our own time. What's the hurry? We'll do the right thing."

At a time when artists are releasing singles every few months, Keshav says just because the band doesn't release music that frequently, it doesn't mean that nothing is coming. With them working on a lot of music in the last few years, it will be released very soon. "So, we're going to be doing this for a very long time," he concludes.

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