'Shadow and Light' fuses jazz, raga and electronica

The musical duo Anindo Bose and Pavithra Chari have been making a name for themselves ever since they decided to work together. Including stalwarts like A R Rahman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have praised their unique brand of music.

Popularly known by their band name 'Shadow and Light', Anindo and Pavithra recently released their album 'Sabar' which brings together a melange of intense emotional experiences, express through poignant songwriting and contemporary-classical compositions.

Anindo talks to Anila Kurian about their musical influences, inspirations and about their performance at BFlat last month.

What brought you the two of you together?

I have been playing with bands since 2001 and Pavithra has also been training in Hindustani classical music for over a decade. We started writing together after a few jam sessions and found a good musical bond develop right from the start. Since then, we have just built on our passion for exploring various genres through our compositions.

How do you bring out the best in each other?

Pavithra is very meticulous with her work on all the social media activity and with all the other admin work which we need to deal with on a daily basis. I am responsible for all the audio production work in the studio and for live gigs. We get anxious when things don't run on time. We try to stick to our individual roles as much as possible but sometimes tasks spill over. Since we have the best interest of our music at heart, it's easy to resolve these issues.

What inspired you to write your new album 'Sabar'?

We consciously decided to write a more uptempo album this time. The themes revolve around intense human emotions like desire, grief, guilt, patience unlike the first two which were more in the lines of primary emotions of love, hate, happiness and sorrow. Musically, we've taken a more RnB and pop/rock approach to this one.

What's your opinion about young musicians these days?

There are loads of musicians now who want to write originals and are confident performers, but there is a serious lack of patience. It takes a lot of hard work and passion and genuine intent to put out quality songwriting that helps rise above all the mediocrity and the ocean of content that gets released in the name of music.

Do you think there are enough platforms available for aspiring artistes?

There are a lot of platforms that promote music but more often than not, musicians get taken for a ride by being exploited in the name of promotion and are asked to play for free or less pay. The money is definitely there in the market but somehow always gets channeled towards commercial gigs or gimmicky events. We are hoping to see a positive change in this setting in the future.

What other changes would you like to see in the music industry?

There needs to be far more resources available to the independent musician, venues take so long to approve gigs and with landed deals being offered to most artists now, this becomes unaffordable in the context of a tour. There needs to be more focus on real talent and less on competition driven reality shows, because the point is not to compete 24/7 but to create a sense of commitment and dedication to the craft.

What more do you want to achieve in the years to come?

We are going on our debut tour of the US soon after the India tour! We really want to write music for films and dance productions where our music can be represented visually and with artists from other disciplines.