[ad_1]
Final Up to date on July 6, 2023
Viraj Bahri has an extended listing of accomplishments as a singer-songwriter. Most lately, he was a part of the Grammy-nominated album “Shuruaat” in collaboration with the Berklee Indian Ensemble.
Along with his acclaim right here within the US, Bahri was additionally invited to carry out and prepare music for a Buddhist chant for His Holiness The Dalai Lama in Delhi. He was the one performer at this occasion, and the efficiency was lauded by notable Indian enterprise leaders, politicians, and industrialists.
Bahri additionally carried out because the lead singer for a latest recording of the Indian nationwide track, “Vande Mataram Restrung”, which has garnered vital recognition on social media. His work on the track additionally earned him two awards on the Artist Aloud Awards.
One thing Bahri talked about intimately throughout our interview was being chosen by Sony Music India to direct, produce, and carry out as lead singer for the official industrial for Berklee School of Music.
Whether or not you’re a singer, musician, or only a listener, we hope you’ll be a part of us for a captivating interview with a extremely completed singer and songwriter.
Welcome to LNGFRM. We’ve been wanting ahead to chatting with you.
I’m completely satisfied to be right here.
Congratulations on being a part of the Grammy-nominated album “Shuruaat” in collaboration with the Berklee Indian Ensemble. Are you able to talk about your work on this mission?
Being part of a Grammy-nominated album was a surreal second. Moments like these are extraordinarily reassuring and motivating. I’m extraordinarily grateful for having help from my mentors, household, and mates. “Shuruaat” was a large endeavor that the Berklee Indian Ensemble set out on. It had a few of the best musicians, producers, and engineers to start with. Quickly, we had different collaborating artists that got here alongside and made this mission much more particular.
I believe the most important problem in such an enormous mission is planning and scheduling. As soon as that’s taken care of, collaboration is all the time enjoyable and crammed with surprises. The album featured legends, together with tabla grasp Zakir Hussain, singers Shankar Mahadevan and Vijay Prakash, and Bollywood icon Shreya Ghoshal. It truly is a full spectrum of what the ensemble has created as a staff, as a household, over the past 10 years. This was additionally the primary time a Berklee album was nominated for a Grammy.
So how did you become involved with the Berklee and Sony Music India industrial?
The Berklee X Sony Music industrial was a dream mission for me. Bringing collectively the varied group and tradition at Berklee with the highest Indian music label, Sony Music India, was an exhilarating expertise for me. Within the final 4 years, I had been acknowledged by Berklee and Sony individually on a lot of my tasks for the distinctive writing and manufacturing kinds I used to be presenting in my work.
In my final semester, I had a script and idea for a Berklee promotional video that basically touched the president, Erica Muhl, when she heard it. That is when she requested me to guide this mission and execute it precisely how I had envisioned it. Her help and perception in me had been extraordinarily motivating and reassuring.
How did Sony reply to the completed music video?
As soon as the mission was full and Sony Music India noticed it, they had been wanting to re-release and distribute the mission on their platform with over 50 million subscribers. The mission went on to have over 2 million views, was featured in varied newspapers, and likewise ended up on radio stations all through the nation.
Apart from the popularity talked about above, you’re well-known in India for singing the nationwide track that was launched by two very well-known labels. Are you able to inform us how this mission took place?
Vande Mataram is the nationwide track of India. Written in Sanskrit ‘Vande Mataram’ means ‘I bow to thee, mom’ a poem from the famed novel ‘Anandamath’ written in Bengali and Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1882. It’s a tune each Indian is aware of by coronary heart. Although this tune is thought by all, it has all the time been used within the context of respecting the motherland.
In 2014, there was a brutal rape case within the capital, New Delhi, known as “Nirbhaya”. This left the nation mourning and in shock. The nation was in despair and the individuals had been indignant. With Vande Mataram Restrung, our goal was to succeed in the youth of India by way of a up to date model of the Nationwide Music with a refreshed interpretation.
The refreshed interpretation was all about how we have to respect the ladies, the moms of us all, earlier than we speak about respecting the land. Being the lead singer on this mission was an enormous honor and accountability. I’m endlessly grateful for being chosen. In a manner, I really feel that I used to be representing the youth of my nation. This mission continues to be very near my coronary heart.
What’s the largest problem of main a big ensemble vs. serving as the principle performer for an enormous occasion, corresponding to you probably did while you carried out for the Dalai Lama?
Personally, I really like doing each. Main an ensemble and being the lead performer are each thrilling in their very own manner. The most important problem I expertise with a big ensemble or crew is the planning and scheduling that comes with it. Having a staff devoted to doing simply that makes issues just a little easier, however it’s undoubtedly difficult. Aside from that, collaboration is all the time my favourite a part of any endeavor.
Alternatively, being the lead can also be very comparable in a way. There may be nothing with out teamwork. I don’t consider being the lead as a solo act as a result of it’s actually not. You continue to have to work together with your staff and turn out to be one, and solely when everyone seems to be coordinated completely can the act shine.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. We all know you’re very busy today.
Thanks for reaching out. I might speak about music for hours.
[ad_2]