In search of his roots

Uddipan Sarmah

There's no business like show business, but it has been slow business for showbiz since the lockdown. The arts are suffering. But that also means that artistes are freer to explore their creativity. They don't have to cater to the whims and fancies of a demanding market as much anymore. There is time to pause and press the refresh button. That's what indie mainstay Aswekeepsearching's frontman Uddipan Sarmah has done with Zindagi, the second single of his new solo project.

The seeds for it were planted before he formed the alt-rock outfit. But then his responsibilities with the band and other projects ate up his hours, and the song gathered moss till the lockdown gave Sarmah the reflection to water it again. He says, "I got time to look into myself, going back to archives from the past. I had also gone for a solo tour right before the lockdown, where I played stripped-down Aswekeepsearching songs. That gave me a new perspective, and helped me join the dots."

The result is a tune that sounds like it could fit quite well into the soundtrack of a new-age Bollywood flick dealing with existential angst. However, Sarmah says that he has no commercial interest in mind with his solo project. Instead, it's a crutch to keep his mental health stable. "Look around you. Everything is polluted, from social media to the business [of music]. The most important thing for me is my mental well-being, and if it helps to keep making songs and releasing them, I would rather do that than think of the commercials," he tells us, pointing out how - without market demands paving the way - an artiste is free to chart his own creative path.

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