Delhi based Bawri Soch is a serendipitous result of missed flights and chance meetings. It started out as an idea between two college friends, Vishvesh Kant Shukla, a singer-songwriter, producer, rapper, and Heisengarg/Madhav Garg, a rapper, music producer, theatre artist, to create fresh music unbounded by genre. Vishvesh has written and performed his compositions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland. He was also the opening act finalist for Arijit Singh at the Bollywood Music Project Festival, and for Ankit Tiwari’s US-Canada tour. He has also won an open contest and covered Chan Kitthan on the T-Series YouTube channel.
The band talks about life, love, heartbreaks, and hustle through their music and attempt to create a safe space for Bawri-Soch-powered misfits who are looking to make a difference in this world.
The band is set to drop their new single, “Void” on October 25, 2020. Void is an electro-ambient track inspired by the feeling of loss, wherein one can find themselves squandered in time and space. The audience is most certainly going to appreciate how every single element in the track seamlessly interact with all the others, instead of overpowering certain things in favor of others. This track is produced and conceptualized by Vishvesh while Madhav/Heisengarg has played the drums and interestingly, also designed the artwork for the track. Mixing and mastering has been carried out by producer, singer, and engineer, Satvik Sarkar.
Q. What does your track “Void” mean to you? Can you shed some light on the hidden meaning that you want to convey?
Heisengarg: When relationships end, there’s no visible finish line, so people continue to fight and blame each other. In a way, they keep going back without realizing that it’s over. Moving on is one of the hardest things to do because it involves letting go, becoming vulnerable to losing yourself into a void where you can’t tell whether you’re falling or flying.
Vishvesh: The track started with the idea of how sometimes being in love or a heartbreak feels like an eternity. Void talks about a vacuum in the heart that’s falling in and out of love. It talks about how the feeling of being in love or a heartbreak feels like it’ll last forever.
Even the lyrics come from a very raw and honest place, and refer to the masks and mirrors which people obsessively put on these days –
“Hara hai, jeeta hai,
Ghut Ta hai, darta hai,
Girta sambhalta haan, Phir bhi na rukta ye,
Leke kadam aage phir tere jhukta hai,
Baatein Irade naqabon se dhakta hai,
Aaine pe jaise haan oas ka parda hai,
Main bhi na dikhta haan tu bhi na dikhta hai”
Q. How did Bawri Soch come together?
Vishvesh: Bawri Soch is a serendipitous result of a flight that Madhav missed, which led to a chance meeting of the duo at a mutual friend’s studio in Mumbai. We vibed so well that I ended up extending my stay by a few days. We decided we’d do music together and call ourselves Bawri Soch. After college, we got ourselves a studio apartment and started making music together. Bawri Soch has another member, Celesto a Producer/DJ, who’ll be debuting very soon with a new track.
“I think we’re misfits. We come from different walks of life and often feel like outcasts who are trying to fit in. A lot of people find themselves in a similar place, and our music is an attempt to create a safe space for others who have a Bawri Soch and are trying to make a difference in this world.”
Heisengarg: Bawri Soch, is more than a music crew or band. It’s more like family. It started with me and Vishvesh meeting in Mumbai. It’s strangely beautiful because we were in the same class, but never really hung out until that chance meeting.
Q. Let’s go back a little bit. What got you into music?
Vishvesh: I’d say my family is musically gifted. Almost everyone can sing. My dad, uncles, and aunts can all play some instrument or the other. I come from a family of scientists, where music was only considered a hobby that you do on the side. As far as I can remember, I could hum and sing even before I could talk. I started writing poems when I was really young because it helped me organize my thoughts. Although I come off as an extrovert, I think I’m a closet introvert, so music has been an outlet for both expressing and feeling emotions. The turning point of my journey was when I qualified at the state level in the Sur Sangam nation-wide music contest. It got me press coverage and gave me enough stimulus to not stop.
Heisengarg: I come from a very small town in Haryana, called Jagadhari where my family runs a small business. None of them are into music, so I didn’t get a lot of exposure back then, but things really changed when I came to Delhi which is a melting pot of great music.
Q. Which musicians/music did you grow up on? Can you recount some of your fondest musical memories?
Vishvesh: Growing up, I listened to a lot of classical music and ghazals by Pandit Jasraj, Ghulam Ali Khan saab, Hariharan, Md.Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar-ji, A.R. Rahman, etc. By the time I was in 6th grade, my appreciation broadened and I started relishing the likes of Eminem, Linkin Park, Green Day, Bon Jovi to name a few. I listen to all kinds of music genres to be fair, and keep falling in love with new kinds of music.
There are so many fond musical memories! Singing at T-series was surreal. Music opened new opportunities which led me to travel abroad and try new experiences while doing what I love. It cannot get better than that, can it? Representing DU and India on an international platform was humbling and crazy at the same time. Another fond memory is of my mother penning lyrics onto a diary when I was really young. I was too young to sing the correct lyrics, so she’d write them down for me. She’s been my biggest fan and for that, I’m really grateful. At the end of the day, it’s the small things that matter.
Q. How would you describe your band’s music and what sets your music apart?
Q. What do you enjoy most about being an artist?
Heisengarg: The process. It has helped me fight my anxiety and put my thoughts and stories into words.
Vishvesh: Yes, exactly the same.
Q. Do you miss live gigs? What are your ambitions as a band from here? Tell me about your musical plans for the next 12 months or so.
Vishvesh: Yes! We hope to get back into the live gigs scene soon. We’ll start hitting venues as soon as Covid safety measures are reliably taken care of. We have also done theatre and we’d really want to do music and films together.
Heisengarg: I am not much of a planner, but the goal is to keep making music, getting better, growing our audience, and make our dreams come true. But yeah, in the next 12 months, we’re going to start our debut album and work on short films.
Q. What are your plans for any future releases and when can the audience expect your next release?
