Get your folk on

Sony music's new endeavour to create a mash up of electronica and folk music saw Vivek Rajgopalan share a stage with Indian Idol 5 finalist Swaroop Khan. Yes, Fokltronic is a made-up word, but it certainly makes sense

Vivek Rajgopalan sees it as paying it forward. He remembers being a newbie in the indie music industry and finding a mentor in Shrikanth Sriram of Badmarsh and Shri, a British-Indian Drum 'n' Bass duo. "I was learning the Mridangam and had always been very heavily involved in Carnatic music but I was very new to the business of music," says Rajgopalan. He shares how he even stayed at Sriram's London home when recording his first album Dancing with Shiva.

Video: Vivek Rajagopalan and Swaroop Khan performing

Swaroop Khan is best known as a finalist on Indian Idol season 5. A folk artist from Rajasthan, the 19 year-old was a favourite among voters and judges for his sincere style and characteristic multi-coloured turban. "Folk artists like Swaroop are like free souls, their style of singing is very natural and I just had to give him some direction to blend his voice with the music we created. We met for about two sessions before hitting the stage, and it worked out great," says Rajgopalan.

Rajgopalan was roped into the Sony music venture when he expressed an interest in collaborating with other artistes. The consequence is a monthly show with unlikely duos jamming in different cities. While blueFROG played host to the first show, the next is scheduled for Chennai and it will be a long wait before the tour comes back to the city.

A 40 minute set with Khan and Rajgopalan's quartet made up of Lindsay D'Mello on drums, Sonu Sangameswaran on bass and Paras Nath on flute was followed by a jarring audience screaming for an encore. The back and forth between Rajgopalan and Nath kept the crowd hooked and D'Mello's drum solo is worth a mention. Sangameswaran continues to add that vital tone to the track while hugging the shadows and Khan is a breath of fresh air without any qualms between him and his song.

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