Play for passion: Musician Vehrnon Ibrahim speaks on making modern Indian music

Musician Vehrnon Ibrahim will discuss how we can make modern Indian music more relevant

 Vehrnon Ibrahim

Vehrnon Ibrahim is not an expert on culture or art, but he has 30 years of experience in music behind him. When he programmed national FM radio networks for over 12 years, the complaint he had from listeners was the quality of music. If only, modern music could be more relevant. For now, he says, it is far too commercial. The musician will be giving a talk on music as a culture's subconscious at a new Mumbai Local event.

Speaking about why good music is suffering today, Ibrahim says that there are very few professional musicians in the country. "The same handful of people do vast majority of the work. Most potential musicians switch to 'real' jobs. Without a pipeline of nurtured talent, we are destined to use and reuse the same kind of music over and over again," he says.

He hopes artistes in the country focus on other skills that help them grow an audience. "Musicians are creative people, so why not look at other creative areas like marketing and performing. Besides, artistes should perform live more often," he adds.

The availability of progressive, quality music education could also be part of the solution. "Students need exposure to fresh ideas. For example, if an EDM artiste studies Indian percussion, he/she may be able to create music that has never been made before," says Ibrahim for whom "modern music need not be loud, heavy or danceable, it just has to reflect passion."

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