Five shades of Kabir

During the album recording

"We don't see the mystic Kabir as a ‘saint'. To us, he is just a human being who had the guts to speak his mind," is the belief of Neeraj Arya's Kabir Cafe, a neo-fusion band that has made a mark for itself on the Indie music scene by interlacing the Sufi saint's dohas with Folk, Reggae, Pop and even Carnatic sounds. After two and a half years of being in existence, the band - featuring Mukund Ramaswamy (violin), Raman Iyer (mandolin), Viren Solanki (percussions) and Poubuanpou Britto KC (bass guitar) besides Arya (rhythm guitars) - is set to launch its debut album, Panchrang on Independence Day. They are also gearing up for a six-city tour. "The album's name was suggested by our guru Prahlad Tipaniya, who felt the five of us, from distinct musical and cultural backgrounds, coming together in a beautiful confluence with Kabir is what the album is about," say the members. Excerpts from an interview:

Neeraj Arya's Kabir Cafe

Q. How many tracks are part of the album?
A. It has 12 tracks, including an instrumental piece. It comprises some of our crowd favourites like Halke Gaadi Hako (a tribute to Mumbai where we met and formed the band) and Fakiri but in a new avatar. An interesting new track is Thillana Reprise, our version of a Carnatic classical thillana, known as the Dhanashree Thillana (based on raag dhanashree), made popular by legends like MS Subbulakshmi and ML Vasanthakumari. A thillana is played to signify a joyful end.

During the album recording

Q. Tell us about the process of making music for the album.
A. Research and travelling to Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and the movie, Hadh Anhadh by Shabnam Virmani of Kabir Project, has been the backbone for the formation of the band. Since we have performed over 400 shows, the process of making a studio album was interesting, as the energy we have exuded in our live performances had to be presented within the confines of a earphone. In the album, we've added additional percussion and a few backing vocals but everything has been played live. We have used instruments like the duff, dholak, tabla, timbale, ganjeera and also the congo, darbuka and other high percussions, along with our classic line-up of acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin, drums and bass guitar. We have also introduced choir singers for harmonies.

Q. Is it a struggle to sustain Kabir's music in times of populist genres like EDM?
A. It's never a competition. There's no rule against Drake, U2, Pandit Jasraj, Porcupine Tree, Iron Maiden, Infected Mushroom, Bollywood, Coke Studio and an Indian Ocean co-existing peacefully on a playlist. Maybe, since we sing in Hindi/Malwi with a lot of Indian elements and because we sing Kabir, who is known to everyone in this country, we haven't felt the lack an audience. Of course, like any independent musician, we have our moments of insecurities, but those pass quickly, and we are back on the stage soon.

ON August 15, 6.30 pm
AT Dublin Square, Level 1, Phoenix Marketcity, LBS Marg, Kurla (W).
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ON August 18, 9.30 pm to 1 am AT blueFROG, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel.
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