Winner of Songdew contest InDoor Gharana talk about music

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

Tell us about your band?
InDoor Gharana is a Hindustani Electro Fusion Band and the common passion of three individuals, (Deepak, Neehar, and Nitasha), for music acted as a catalyst in nurturing the first steps of InDoor Gharana.

Members of InDoor Gharana

• Deepak: I co-produce, compose, sing & play the guitar.
• Neehar: I do music sequencing, co-produce, compose, sing & play the keyboard.
• Nitasha: I am a singer, songwriter and a performing artist.

Their story
Deepak: Neehar and I already knew each other and were working together on some wonderful projects at Chennai. Nitasha wanted to learn more about Music Technology and that is when she met me at an institute, where I was faculty. She sang one of her original compositions, Tore Bina and the ball got rolling.
Neehar: Meanwhile, Deepak and I were working on a composition as well, in which we wanted to explore what classical elements could be added. And the three of us met. The song Hoping to live, from our self-titled album 'InDoor Gharana', came about through that first meeting.
Nitasha: We realised that our strengths complemented each other, and so began our journey of coming together as a band.
Deepak: One thing that unites us and aligns us is our passion and unabashed honesty about our music.

Who are your biggest musical influences?
The core of InDoor Gharana lies in the fusion of diverse and distinct cultures, sounds, ideologies, and lyrical representations. Our influences have been varied. Our music is an eclectic mix of being experimental, electronic, fusion, lounge, trance, folk, and Sufi. The backdrop for our compositions is drenched in a transcendental fabric.

At an individual level:
Deepak: I have always been fascinated by different sounds and how their different permutations and combinations evolved into a harmonious expression. I’ve heard a lot of music/artists of various genres and they’ve helped me grow up to be unbiased to all forms of music. Every form of music co-exists. I’m just inspired by everything musical to my understanding and sometimes just by the noise or silence that surrounds me.
Neehar: The process of creation and playing with sounds on the canvas of musical portraiture gave me immense satisfaction. I am also a painter and so my influences are varied across art and are drawn from life experiences, amazing artists, people, nature, places, travel, tea, and the list goes on.
Nitasha: My mother has been instrumental in introducing me to music at an early age. Music is my passion, inspiration, expression and most of all a medium that opens the doors to connect with my inner self as well as people across the globe. I have grown up listening to Kishori Amonkar Ji, Shobha Gurtu Ji, Pundit Jasraj Ji, Jagjit Singh Ji, Mehndi Hasan Sahab, Ghulam Ali Sahab… Timeless Bollywood classics, Cliff Richard, Neil Diamond, Everly Brothers to list a few…

Tell us about your debut EP/LP/Album release
Debut Album Name: InDoor Gharana
Released on: March 8, 2018
Record Label: Songdew

First Single: Kesariya Baalam
Released on: September 22, 2014
Second Single: Aye Badara
Released on: August 7, 2015

Any interesting story behind the band name?
Neehar: As our journey progressed as a band, we wanted to give a name to our collaboration. There were a few names that came up and we met over our jam sessions to decide which one works the best.
Deepak: We wanted the name to represent our musical ideologies and uniqueness as a band. To be a bridge between classical and quirky.
Nitasha: I circulated a list of prospective names that we came up amongst a few friends and family asking them to list out the most catching name. The name 'InDoor Gharana' spoke to our hearts in expressing our core.
Deepak: What else could be more suitable for a 'grand' collaboration happening inside the four walls.
Nitasha: And, of course, it is wordplay and our modest homage to the gharana system of Hindustani music.

Any upcoming tour/release?
We are currently working on our new single and jamming together for some live performances. The love and support that we have got from our audiences is overwhelming and it makes us work sincerely, focused towards growing in our craft and staying true to our music.

Your most exciting gig/moment in the musical journey so far? What was so special about it?
We had the honor of performing at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, for a very select audience. The chief guest being the legendary singer Vani Jayram herself. One of our favorite tracks of her is her rendition of 'Bole re papihara', based on Raga Mian Malhaar, from the film Guddi. We were told she would not be able to stay for the whole program, so we took the opportunity of performing some of our Hindustani classical jams – A bandish based on Mian Ki Malhaar, a medley of two bandishes 'Saawan with Shyaam' in Raga Samant Sarang and Raga Durga. To our delight, she stayed on till the end of the whole program and blessed us. One of the best parts of the evening was the audience’s enthusiastic participation in answering the riddles from our song 'Aye Sakhi Sajan'. Vani ji joined in and sang a few lines of the song as well.

Who would you like to collaborate with?
It gives us immense pleasure to experience the spontaneous outburst of creative elements when collaborating with different artists. We are therefore open to collaborating across genres and the globe with artists who share our musical sensibilities.

Your first break? First big moment?
It would have to be the release of our album, InDoor Gharana. The release was a culmination of years of hard work that we put, into the making of each song. Each composition beats to the rhythm of our hearts and dances to the bliss of our souls. It brought forth so many emotions as we realized this dream. A dream we saw collectively, of bringing forth our music from inside of the four walls to the limitless expanse of our audiences, to over 30 million households through the SongDew network.

Any special achievements?

Most of all we as a band feel fortunate, overwhelmed & deeply humbled by all the love and responses we have received for our music. Some genuine blessings, appreciation and encouragement for the work we do. To connect with our audiences in this way is extra special. Apart from this, there have been some other highlights.

• Featured in the Top 20 indie music releases of 2018 on Songdew
• Over 10K+ hits in just a few days of our debut album release, InDoor Gharana
• Our Album has time and again topped the list of Friday Hits and have been listed as the top 5 songs, on songdew.
• Even before our release, our music was chosen by one of the most imminent brands of the country - FabIndia for their Fab Cafes, those are spread all across the country.
• We received unprecedented support for our campaign on thunderclap, in favor of our Album. Our target was to reach out to a humble 100 supports and we had a social reach of more than three lakhs!
• Our single, 'Aye Badara' garnered more than half a lakh views on youtube within 2-3 days of its release.
• And we performed on Chennai Live 104.8 FM, with RJ Tausif on 'Artist Special'.

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