Music
Singing the Folk Tales of Punjab:
Hari Singh & Sukhmani Malik
SANA YASEEN
New Delhi, India
Hari Singh and Sukhmani Malik from Chandigarh, Punjab, want to be known as serious musicians.
And they surely are being taken as such since the duo
easily took the crowd by storm as they churned out their famous songs at
Lemp Brewpub and Kitchen DLF Star Mall recently.
“We want to make the rich musical culture of Punjab famous all over the
world. And there is no better place to play Punjabi music than in Delhi.
The audience here is open to experiments in music. Be it Bollywood,
Punjabi Folk or Sufi. They understand and enjoy music like no one else,”
says Hari Singh.
The duo has fused Punjabi folk with electronic sounds keeping the essence of the original folk music intact.
After the Delhi gig the two packed their bags for a show in Kenya.
They have already performed in Australia, Dubai, Istanbul and New Zealand.
“It’s mesmerising to see the crowd cheering for songs in a language they don’t understand,” says Sukhmani, who holds a Master's degree in Indian Classical vocal.
Their music is electro-heavy but they also focus on melody so that their songs become memorable. They have also collaborated with other artistes since it adds variety to their music, says Hari.
“We also time and again use unusual instruments like esraj, morchang and daf,” adds Hari.
The two believe that online music platforms have made things easier for aspiring musicians.
“However, we are content with releasing singles instead of coming out with albums. After all, albums are passé and no one stocks music albums anymore like they used to,” says Sukhmani.
[Courtesy: Asian Age]
February 19, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Shaminder Singh Grewal (Gurgaon, India), February 20, 2013, 2:58 AM.
Way to go ... supa supa. Would love to see them perform next time they're in Gurgaon. Listened to their music available online - "Madhaniyaa(n)" - and couldn't stop listening to it. True reflection of Punjabi Virsa (culture). Congratulations, guys!
2: Raj Singh (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), February 21, 2013, 6:21 PM.
Check them out on Coke Studio - India; they do a great modern version of the classic folk song, 'Challa,' made famous by Shaukat Ali and Gurdas Mann.