New normal

name and the Vasant Vihar branch was born, where Arjun would tinker away solitarily on a piano. Then, there was The Piano Man Garden in Palam Vihar before he decided to take the leap and give Delhi a jazz bar.

I remember the opening night in 2015 – all the indie musicians across all age groups cheered as Arjun took the stage and crooned, showing off the impeccable sound of the space and introducing the concept of respect to gig attendees used to chattering over the music. “We wanted to create a point for exposure as venues in India aren’t rooted in ideology but economics,” he says. And so, he took loans, spending mid-single-digit crores to get the right soundproof glass, custom-designed furniture and equipment, cables and amps in-house, as well as training the team on how a venue should function. “How can you be a music venue and not get the sound right?” he laughs. “Lugging around equipment isn’t easy. Not having a competent crew at the venue is frustrating. Having no respect is worse and makes you feel uncomfortable,” he says from his experience. Which is where he saw that most venues make one primary mistake: the owners/managers disrespect musicians, and the organisation imitates it. A habit that has zero tolerance on his properties, including when it comes to customers giving shade to musicians.

So, there isn’t a separate artiste menu like at almost all other venues across the country. “I’ve been handed a different menu, told to not sit in certain areas, had servers and managers discriminate against musicians and experienced the segregation,” he says. A musician first through and through, it was just time to stand up for the community.

One that has been heavily hit during the pandemic with almost zero live performances of late. TPM is back though, with a performance everyday.

Arjun is also planning to convert their artiste management venture into a streaming platform/label, and working on redesigning the ecosystem to shift focus and reward creativity instead of popularity. “The idea is to incentivise the creation of art for the sake of art. We continue to make the same mistakes, creating individual megastars, ignoring thousands of other equally and often more talented artistes, instead of a stable and secure infrastructure for artistes. The problem is simple, how does one create a more effective platform for art distribution,” says Arjun, explaining his plans that will promote a model of patronage for musicians.

How else can musicians tide over these financially difficult times? “Patronage services that allow fans and wellwishers to support them with small monthly payments. Even with a few dozen supporters, one can start to meet basic monthly expenses. An additional advantage is that to grow your patron base, you have to start delivering content more frequently, creating a discipline for yourself,” he says “Wonderful artistes like Jacob Collier, Pomplamoose and Pentatonix use the model, it’s a great way to build a secure baseline so one can focus more on creativity,” he adds.

Arjun (middle) and his father, Rakesh, (left) at the Chick Corea (right) gig at The Piano Man Safdarjung in 2018

“IF ONE LISTENER SUPPORTS FIVE ARTISTES BY SPENDING `500 PER MONTH, IT COULD SORT RENT” —ARJUN SAGAR GUPTA

Chick Corea Tribute Night at

The Paino Man

To register: Log on to thepianoman.in or Instagram or Facebook

Time: 07.30 PM onwards. Performers include Arjun, Rythem Bansal Trio, Ron Cha Trio, etc. Pradyumna Singh Manot Trio, among others.