Design in many ways is like fusion music. We mix together art and science, to create a melange, the Golden Mean, to make the people happy. The Mukti band members blend together different styles and genres of music, to create amazing experiences for the listeners. Designers and World Fusion Musicians, both experiment and explore a lot – go beyond the frame, beyond all what has been done, to create experiences that the people will keep in mind for a long time. Both are bound by the rules set to them by their parent science, yet, they explore and improvise to a great extent within their limits.
I had a really great experience, and an amazing story to tell people after this concert. I was really glad to have volunteered for arranging the concert. The band arrived at our college at about 15.30, and along with a handful of classmates, I went to help them out, to carry their sound equipment. I also was lucky to have been the one to show them a changing room in the college, where they got ready for the concert. I had a head to head dialogue with the three of them, though then, I wasn’t aware of what they had in store for us in the next 2 hours. After taking care of the seating arrangements, we all got set for them to start off.
Then, they came in, and in a very modest and down-to-earth way, started off with invocation of Lord Ganesh. The music of the trio was absolutely stunning. They not only had innovative music, but also an unforeseen instrument - the Indian Slide Guitar. They explained us what ‘raagas’ in Indian Classical music are. Through the 7 tracks they played, they displayed vivid fusion of Indian Classical along with myriad forms of music, such as Sufi, Spanish, Jazz etc. The musicians regaled everyone sitting in the foyer, irrespective of the fact that many people in MIT-Institute of Design didn’t have a keen interest in Indian Classical Music. The clapping and hooting by the students – most of whom were sitting for a classical concert for the first time, was almost instant, after every abstract play of notes, and returning to ‘sama’. The Indian Slide Guitar sounded surprisingly classical, as we have a different sound of the guitar in our minds; the electric guitar was refreshingly smooth; and the tabla was versatile – vibrant or serene, as the song demanded.
All in all, the experience was just brilliant, the sound was fresh and it was a good break from typical Bollywood and English songs that most people in the college listen to. Also, in the end, I was lucky to get a photograph with the band, along with the other event-volunteers, and also a small chat with them. This was surely one of those evenings I’ll never forget, and the memories of which will rejuvenate me for the times to come!
Visit Mukti – The World Fusion Band here.