In just a year since inception, kSaya and the sibling duo, Pooja and Prasad Gaitonde have accomplished a lot.
Their latest single, Ae Ri Sakhi, has already crossed 10,000+ streams and is out on all major streaming platforms. Earlier this week, Rolling Stone India featured the track in their September playlist spotlight.
Stream “Ae Ri Sakhi” Now – https://kSaya.streamlink.to/AeRiSakhi
kSaya, led by Mumbai-based producer, Shantanu Gursal, produced this fusion track, inspired by the sounds of Asian Underground Music. The song is quick to latch on to the listeners’ attention in the early seconds of the intro and will continue to take you on an elliptically mellifluous journey through the outro. Pooja’s aesthetically textured voice has injected rich Indian-Sufi infusions onto the track, backed by Prasad’s pulsating tabla beats. While the song is one of longing and languishing for love, Prasad’s percussion beats add reassurance and hope, justifying the Khusrowian lyrics of the song. kSaya partnered with CD Baby India for distribution. Supporting them is ‘Drum and Bass India’ a Bangalore based community promoting local Drum and Bass Artists in the country.
Pooja Gaitonde is a widely recognized name across traditional raagdari, ghazals, and Sufi-Jazz, and has collaborated with artists such as Louis Banks who is referred to as the Godfather of Indian Jazz, Lost Stories track which was played at Tomorrow land, Belgium, etc.
Producer-percussionist Prasad Gaitonde, experiments Indian Classical with different genres of music like Drum ‘n’ Bass, Deep House, Jersey club, and many others. His track ‘Todi’ — is a deep house track with Indian Elements over it had topped Beat port charts for February. He recently featured on BBC Asian Network.
While Pooja and Prasad are both distinguished musicians to be reckoned with, kSaya is the upcoming artist to watch out for.
kSaya’s journey from introduction to obsession with Asian Underground Music
Shantanu’s discovery of Asian Underground music happened over a trip to Lonavala with Amol Gautam aka Blvperd, in December last year. Amol has modified his SUV to fit in a ginormous collection of CDs, dated from the 60s up to now, spanning myriad genres such as deep house, beat garage, breakbeats. Of these tracks, the one that really stood out was Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground by Talvin Singh, which is a fusion track based on Indian drum ’n’ bass, break beats, and electronics. “I listened to the entire album and was shocked to find tracks by A.R Rahman and ‘State of Bengal’ in this album that was little known. Post Anokha is when I delved deep into the Asian Underground Society and Brit-Bhangra” he adds.
For the uninitiated, Asian underground music is a rather recent movement that came about in the 90s, blending eastern sounds with electro and drum ’n’ bass that arrived to give a generation of young British-Asians a vibrant new voice. A product of the first wave of Asian immigration into the UK in the early 60s and their children growing up in a newly diversifying society — one imbued burgeoning multiculturalism from the Caribbean and West Africa. It was a mix of Indian classical instrumentals, Bollywood singing, jazz, and the 90s club sounds of dub, drum ’n’ bass, and jungle.
Balancing converse personas
Shantanu produces music under both kSaya and Smg, straddling between genres so distinct that they sound like they’re made by two, very different people. “I work under different mindsets and persona altogether. I treat kSaya more like a project than a moniker. It helps me separate my headspace and personality from who I am when operating as Smg.”
But that’s not all that he balances. Shantanu’s juggling a B.Com and a full-time program from True School of Music. Like in most Indian families, he too had to sit through a ceremonious chat with his family where he expressed his desire to pursue music full time as against a Chartered Account career alternative. There’s been no looking back since then.
Literally, kSaya translates to Shadow or Dominion. The name was suggested by his mother and the meaning sits perfectly with the meditative chants and calming sounds of what kSaya’s music conveys. It transcends the boundaries of audience demographics. Shantanu puts it succinctly as, “If a track doesn’t appeal to my dad, I scrap it.”
Coming together as a trio and the genesis of Ae Ri Sakhi
Shantanu, Pooja, and Prasad were in the same school, but music collaborations happened only several years later. “Pooja and Prasad were my seniors in college, so with music being a common interest, I got to spend a lot of time at their home studio. Driven by curiosity in Asian Underground music, I started fiddling with Prasad’s pre-recorded tabla samples and rough vocal samples of Pooja, fusing them with tribal deep house. That’s how we created Todi, which got signed up by White Line Music.”
About the genesis of Ae Ri Sakhi, he says, “when Pooja heard Mora Saiyan which was merely meant to be an experimental effort, she loved the track so much that she recorded a take of Ae Ri Sakhi with a vision to release an electro-fusion original. The final release is a toned-down version of the initially recorded versions.” Interestingly, he adds, “Over a period of 6 months, the track transitioned from a euphoric, exhilarating version, to a much more poignant, balmy track.”
Envisioning a refreshing twist to a song that is several centuries old
On its own, Ae Ri Sakhi stands as a soothing rendition of Khusrowian lyrics woven into the tranquil Raag, Tilak Kamod. It’s a song that beautifully expresses the longing one feels for someone they deeply love and miss. But from a different lens, the meaning of the song can be interpreted as a dedication to one’s spiritual Master or Khwaja, Murshid, Rabboni. This song was originally written by Amir Khusrow, who was a devout disciple of Great Saint, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.
Interestingly, only Pooja and Prasad knew about the existence of this centuries-old folk song and its several adaptations. Shantanu discovered this much later, but then consciously decided not to listen to other versions to prevent subconscious influences and maintain originality.
He adds, “I wanted to draw the listener’s attention to Pooja’s voice and the pain it carried. The song carries the pain and longing of one waiting for their lover. There’s an assurance that her lover will come to meet her, but the song captures the pain of the empty moments leading to the final union.”
Artist Influences
Shantanu, who has been seamlessly crafting cutting-edge music across various genres under kSaya and Smg, draws his biggest influences from Talvin Singh, Karsh Kale, The Nasha Experience, Mayur Narvekar (Bandish Projekt), and Ram Sampath, to name a few.
He believes that Indian music has a lot to offer to electronic music as a whole, and has been on a journey to infuse classical Indian influences in his productions and exemplify his affection for scrupulously crafted music. Shantanu’s recent exploits in the form of ‘Todi’ and ‘Walk’ have represented his distinctive ability to switch styles effortlessly.
More music in the pipeline
kSaya has teamed up with Yash Gosavi for a single, Tum Ho, due to be released by the end of this year. Shantanu’s also working on another track under the Smg moniker which will be out by the end of September.
A shout-out for the single’s exquisite art maker
Ae Ri Sakhi’s cover artwork is a splendid example of how important it is for artists to invest time and thought into their album cover art. Your music may be sounding great, but whether it’s a digital or physical release, your album art offers an effective way to stand out and get noticed in the increasingly saturated music industry. Errol Crasta, has done a fabulous job at crafting an illustration of a teary-eyed woman dressed in wedding attire, anxiously for her long-awaited lover to arrive. Do check out his work on Instagram or Behance.
The music video of Ae Ri Sakhi is due for release next weekend.
Follow Ae Ri Sakhi’s artists here:
kSaya | Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, MixCloud
Pooja Gaitonde | Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
Prasad Gaitonde | Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
