‘Indie music should get the push to reach public’
Though Indian pop band Aasma existed for merely five years before it dissolved in 2008, the songs they created continue to be counted among popular party numbers. While everyone had their own journeys, one of the band members, Vasudha Sharma carved a niche for herself through independent music. And with her recent EP, BeDesi, the singer, along with her band — Sharma And The Besharams — has come up with a new line-up that’s a mix of folk or semi-classical. “The EP has four songs and has got the desi vibes to it with elements of folk, Hindi, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi. The first song is called Ganga, which is a Bhojpuri folk song created with a fusion of western and Indian instruments. The second song, Jazbaa, has a video and is a great fusion. The other two are yet to be released,” Vasuda shares.
While Bollywood music is on an all-time high, Vasuda feels positive that independent pop music will soon come back as a mainstream platform.
“Bollywood has taken over a huge space in our Indian music industry. Having said that, I feel there’s a lot of indie music that has created a niche for itself. There are a lot of music festivals, which are not only semi-Bollywood, but there are many indie bands and musicians like Raghu Dixit, who headline such independent music festivals. So, there is definitely a lot of scope for different genres of music,” opines Vasudha.
When it comes to coexisting with Bollywood music, the singer asserts that there’s already a stream of independent musicians thriving without the support of commercialisation giving them an extra push.“If the music is rich, the pop era will come back in a big way like the times of singers likes Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Daler Mehndi. It’s time that indie music gets the push to reach the masses,” says Vasudha.”