Freedom over formula for Chennai band

Jatayu is a mythical vulture, a demigod from the Ramayana, who plays a vital role in the story as he fights Ravana soon after the latter abducts Sita, setting in motion the chain of events that make Ramayana what it is.

But that’s not the reason why Shylu Ravindran gave his Chennai-based band its striking and intriguing name. To my query filled with excitement about a possibly quirky story behind that nomenclature, band leader and guitarist Sahib Singh gives a rather tepid response. He says, “Shylu [Ravindran] coined this name for what was a bedroom project. There was no intention of making any statement with the name. It has nothing to do with religion, and I don’t like just making up some meaning.”

This response, far off the tangent from what could be generally expected, in capsule, sums up the band itself. To not expect the usual, or to expect the unusual, is what Jatayu is all about. The band explains its work as redefining contemporary Indian fusion, blending the improvisational spirit of jazz with the raw energy of rock and the soul of Karnatik music.

That is a lot of different energies coming together to create a seamless music experience that has helped Jatayu carve a niche for itself in the dynamic indie music scene of the country. Besides Singh (33), the band comprises Kashyap Jaishankar (32) on bass; Shylu Ravindran (34) on guitars, kanjira and mridangam; and Manu Krishnan (36) on drums and vocals. 

Currently, it is all set to play at the ongoing Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival), India’s premier international roots music festival, which is being held in Jodhpur this week. This edition will be the 18th for the festival, which is held annually to coincide with Sharad Purnima, the brightest full moon of the year, which falls this year on October 6.

This is the first time that Jatayu will be performing at Jodhpur RIFF, and the confluence couldn’t be better, as both the band and the festival have independently steered clear of all such mainstream and conventional influences that often end up containing or pigeon-holing creativity. 

The festival, held at Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, counts Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Marwar-Jodhpur as its chief patron and Sir Mick Jagger, frontman of the rock band The Rolling Stones, as its international patron.

At this time’s edition, as many as 290 artistes are performing, featuring those from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in India, and from 12 other countries such as England, Bhutan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Portugal, Réunion Islands, Poland, Finland, Colombia, Canada and Italy. 

It is this uniqueness of Jodhpur RIFF that Singh says keeps bands like Jatayu alive, without the compulsion to compromise on their core competence. He shares, “We try to create great music and try to remain as true to our ethos as possible. But the kind of work we do — bringing together jazz, rock and Karnatik music — is not mainstream. In fact, we were rejected by many, including the Karnatik music community, but as the manager of the band, it’s one of my duties to find an audience. And that’s when we discovered that irrespective of all rejections, there is always somebody wanting to listen to our kind of music.”

He adds hurriedly that Jatayu’s music should not be labelled ‘fusion’ as it is “an over-used term, even hated by musicians, because the word has lost its meaning.”

He says, “Actually, all music today is fusion because some sort of a ‘khichdi’ is prepared by mixing different styles of music, without giving any clear taste of anything.”

The band counts the ‘Shakti’ band (founded by English guitarist John McLaughlin and Indian violinist L Shankar with percussionists Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram) as its biggest inspiration, and Singh says the band members had the honour of watching it live in Chennai.

Before winding up, I can’t help but ask the inevitable question about working in films. “Of course, it’s tempting to make money by making music for films, as the Indian film industry, after all, is massive, but films have a fixed template and sounds have to feel a certain way, because crores are at stake. But Jatayu would rather choose freedom over the rat race,” says Singh, sharing that the band has received offers that have been turned down.