25 Aug In Conversation with Anirudh Varma
The ‘In Conversation with’ series brings to you the stories of various creative professionals from the music industry and provides a glimpse into their journeys. Today’s conversation features New-Delhi based pianist, composer and producer, and founder of the Anirudh Varma Collective- Anirudh Varma.
Early Years
Hailing from a rich family of lawyers and musicians, Anirudh’s aptitude for music was spotted early on by his uncle. Spending his summer vacation in his grandparent’s house in Allahabad, he filled his time playing tunes on the harmonium – barely reaching the bellow– by ear. Beginning his training on the keyboard upon his return to Delhi, Anirudh dove deep into the world of Western Classical music. Composition came naturally to him as he progressed in his training and he performed his first composition ‘Wailer’s Fiesta’, inspired by Bob Marley and the Wailers, for his first keyboard exam for Trinity College, London, at the age of six. “Composition just allowed me to be myself without worrying about what I’ll say because I’m not talking but I’m talking through my music.”
Simultaneously, Anirudh had a growing affinity for Indian Classical Music. “Around class eight, I got exposed to Indian Classical Music in a contemporary space. By that point, I was emotionally ready to absorb Indian Classical music and I started training in Indian Classical vocals as well to incorporate that into my composition work. When I was finishing school and entering university, I got exposed to a lot of amazing classical musicians in Delhi University. My entire mindset changed and I was very attracted to the emotional qualities Indian Classical Music brings out. I was amazed by how each raaga has a story of its own and how the same raaga can bring out different colours in a given moment. That’s when my transition happened from a very Western Classical pianist to a very hybrid one; and that’s how it all came together for me.”
After completing his undergraduate studies, Anirudh was encouraged to pursue Performance Studies at Ambedkar University by one of his professors, during the course of which he founded the Anirudh Varma Collective (AVC). “Studying Performance Studies was one of the best decisions. The Anirudh Varma Collective was born as an academic end-term research paper. In my first semester of Masters in November 2016, we were reading a book by Diana Taylor talking about the archive and the repertoire. The concept that today’s repertoire is tomorrow’s archive, and tomorrow’s archive is the repertoire of the day after, and the only way an archive will become repertoire is if it’s re-explored by the contemporary, hit me really hard. That thought built into the idea of the collective- the collective being me and the other. The other could be one person, or the other could be ten people. How the idea of the collective was formed was that you and the other are not the other anymore- you are all one. You come together to form oneness and form a collective energy. This is what I was writing a paper on. The paper translated into a performance outfit.”
Anirudh Varma Collective
After conceiving the vision of the collective, Anirudh embraced the challenging task of finding the right set of musicians to bring the project to life. “The idea was to look at musicians who are very strongly rooted in some genre of music and of course, primarily Indian Classical Music. If there were a hundred tabla players, we pick two because we wanted to find artists who are open to collaboration in the true sense. We wanted to find artists who are open not just to playing a gig but getting involved in the aesthetics and the affective nature of the collaborative project because the energy has to be very organic.” Defining themselves as a contemporary Indian Classical music collective, speaking about his interpretation of the term ‘contemporary’, Anirudh says, “what is contemporary? It is today’s format. It is our format. For me, contemporary is how we are looking at anything in today’s light. It is my vision of things presently. This idea has also changed and evolved in the past five years which is reflected in the arrangements as well.”
In 2018 AVC released their debut album ‘Perspective’ created in collaboration with sixty five artists across India to critical acclaim and widespread appreciation. Speaking about the driving force behind the project Anirudh says, “what drives the collective is the memory from back in 2003 when I was in Allahabad for a baithak at my grandparent’s house and the young kids and the non-musicians were not being able to engage with classical music. My goal was that I want to make Indian classical music accessible and appreciated by everyone across the world. I want people to listen to Indian classical music the same way they listen to film music. A bandish being translated into a song without the essence of the raag being lost is the primary goal of the collective.”
AVC comprises three diverse segments: the classical quartet with sitar, tabla, piano and vocals, the core band, and the ensemble. Elaborating on the reason for structuring the collective in this way, Anirudh says, “the idea with the collective was that everyone can come in and go out as they wish and that really helped because no one was burdened in either way. The collective works because it allows new ideas to come in almost every day. We formed the core band with people who can prioritise the collective. For me, the idea was that they are giving me commitment and I want to give them commitment as well. Initially we were known only to do bigger productions but I figured that realistically and logistically for travel, that doesn’t make sense; and so we branched out into different segments. The ensemble is mainly for Delhi shows, the core band is the travelling band, and the quartet focuses on baithak style intimate concerts.
Homecoming and more
In 2022, AVC released their second album ‘Homecoming’ featuring 150 artists across India, Canada, and the USA, and launched it at the prestigious Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi. The album saw the collective collaborating with revered musicians like Darshan Doshi, Kamar Zaffar of Coke Studio fame, and Nikhil Rao from Indian Ocean. “The album is called ‘Homecoming’ because although we come from different backgrounds and the thought of home is different, we share a common home which is exploring traditional music and coming together to form that one energy. We started working on the new songs after the first album. We finished recording the songs in 2019 but didn’t touch on the mixes until 2021 because when COVID happened, I felt like I needed a break and the songs needed to breathe. In 2021, one day I woke up and was ready for it so I decided to resume work. The collaborations on this album are very interesting because one, we got the Carnatic side of things. The other aspect was that we got to collaborate with some fantastic musicians. Having senior artists like Darshan Doshi and Kamar Zaffar on the album was one of the biggest learning experiences for us because their experience was just overflowing on the track.”
‘Homecoming’ offers the quintessential AVC experience- only bigger and better. “Out of the ten tracks on the album, some of the compositions are traditional words but we also brought in a lot of original writing. With this album, our goal was to explore the narrative in a very big way. We wanted the imagery of the lyrical idea, the composition, and the raag to speak for itself. The song ‘Bihag’ features an Odissi dancer- Vrinda Chadha, and we wanted her to feel like a part of the song. We didn’t want it to feel like she is an external energy. These were some of the interesting nuances of working on this album. The closing track ‘Homecoming’ was shot at my grandparent’s house at Allahabad so with this album, we came full circle from where it started.” The album launch on April 2nd in collaboration with Teamwork Arts was the biggest AVC production till date. “Launching the album at the Kamani Auditorium was a dream for me. Teamwork Arts and I had worked together in the past which is why they understood us and we understood them. Production wise it was the most seamless concert till date. Everyone put in their best and everyone’s energy was in the right space and right place on those two days. It was a very emotional day because we were showcasing three years of work in a three hour concert. With every song it felt like the concert was coming to an end.”
With two albums to their name and a reputation for creating grand musical extravaganzas, AVC is geared up to broaden their horizons by exploring global collaborations and touring, a nationwide tour scheduled for October 2022, and exploring Kabir’s poetry. “Kabir’s poetry is the fourth segment. The reason being that in every segment, different artists are highlighted further. There are a lot of singers who are not trained classically but their folk is very strong so for this section, the lineup will be different because we bring in artists who thrive in the light classical or folk space. My constant goal is to push all the artists out in front. The Kabir production we did in Banaras made me realise that I want to explore more traditional music from India to keep evolving. If we didn’t do that, we would be too happy and comfortable in what we are doing.”
Written by Senjuti
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