They were in the top five bands at the Radio City Freedom Award out of 700 entries across the country in the category of Best folk fusion Artist. SamVed is an Electronic Project mixed with rooted Indian Hindustani classical music which has been liked by many cities of India and abroad.

The band is trying to bring in the ancient classical music by fusing it with upbeat electronic music. Their original sound sets them apart from the many indie bands that play safe doing cover songs and getting fame. As a band they thrive on experimenting with different genres and sub-genres of music, thus making them a very unique fusion band with a lot of multi genres.

With a new album, Rlung Ta, released early this year, we spoke to producer/artist Ritvik Joe about the band and the new album.

How did the band of 5 members come together?

Towards the end of 2012, one day KK and I were at our studio in Mumbai, jamming making some liquid drum and bass sets. Zeeshan our vocalist is a family friend of K.K’s and he had come to the studio to meet him. Even before we were introduced, Zeeshan, KK and I jammed for some half an hour. He started singing some classical Bandish on the track which was sounding fabulous. All three of us got really excited and decided to meet the next day. The next day we tracked down 2 songs. It was sounding nice but something was prominently missing. We all wanted to include an Indian instrument in the tracks so for a week we were brain storming as we did not want a conventional sitar or a flute fusion. So after a few days we were just chilling at the studio and Zeeshan showed us a clipping from one of his earlier classical concert where he was performing with Sangeet Mishra (Sarangi Player), we stopped the clip mid-way and fixed a meeting with Sangeet. Since Zeeshan knew Sangeet for a really long time it wasn’t very hard to convince him to try out a fusion with us with electronica. Then for the rhythm section I had only one guy in mind Kirti Das who is also a childhood friend and a very learned musician. He also plays for Papon and the East India Company and few other electronic artists, so he has that taste for electronic - classical fusion. So after we made Kirti and Sangeet hear our tracks, they were really excited for this experimental project. In early 2013 the band for formed.

Do you guys have regular jobs besides being in the band?

Everyone in the band apart are professional musicians doing fairly decently in their respected fields but yes, no regular jobs.

I (Ritvik Joe) apart from being the music producer and electronic artist in the band, specialize in music post production for TVCs and Television. I also do guitar sessions for other music producers. K.K is one of the leading names in the field of music in television. He has done music for shows like Jassi Jaise Koi Nahi, Left right left, Lapata Ganj, etc. He has also won over the critics by his music score for international films like September Tapes and Madrasa. Zeeshan Khan our vocalist is a renowned classical singer from Rampur Seswan gharana. His classical shows are hosted globally. He recently won a classical reality show on DD television. Sangeet Mishra is among the top 5 Sarangi players in the country. He plays concerts all over the world with artists of national and international stature. Lastly, Kirti Das is a multi-percussionist; he plays the Tabla, Congas, Djembe, Darbuka and lots more. Apart from the band he plays for Papon and the East India Company and other electronic artists. He also does session recordings for various percussions.

Your debut album ‘Rlung Ta’ consist of 9 tracks. Most of the tracks except for the last two are instrumental, what do they speak about?

Actually apart from the seventh track, all tracks have lyrics. Most of the tracks in our debut album Rlung Ta are based on classical Bandish. In fact, for two of our tracks the lyrics are penned down by Ustad Maqbool Hussain Khan. All our tracks are a result of all that we have heard, learned, seen and travelled.

You have recorded one video ‘Kama Unit’, any more music videos in the near future?

Boasting Time. So our video for Kama Unit is the first of its kind music in the world. We have combined two techniques light painting and stop motion. It took us six months to shoot this video where we clicked over 6000 pictures, built 36 light units with no special effect. Our video director Chandrasekhar Karalkar has received a lot of appreciation from all over the world for undertaking this mammoth project. So our focus is to come out with only two videos in a year but do something really out of the box. Our next video should be out by end of this year.

How did the band come up with the name Samved?

Our aim was to connect the younger generation with our classical roots, presenting our music fused with upbeat electronic, it becomes easy for them to adapt and connect with our culture. We strongly believe electronic music from India should have Indian flavor, so we like to keep everything very indianised. Samved is one of the four Vedas, one of the first books in human civilization that talks about and explains music. So when I suggested the name Samved everyone in the band liked it. Now we are Samved.

How did the band come up with the album name Rlung Ta?

One might observe colorful flags hung up on the mountains of ‘Ladakh’. Each flag is different and has its own meaning. They are majorly “Prayer Flags” and are called ‘Rlung Ta’. Fusion to us is a collaboration of different sounds, different cultures, different soils, different colors like the Rlung-Ta, with different colors yet so uniform. That’s why the name Rlung Ta, our entire album is based on this concept.

How would you introduce your brand of music which is classical - electronica / style or genre to someone who has not heard your music?

We are an electronic band with a bend of Hindustani classical music. However in our first album we have featured Christie Bourcq, a French singer. We intend to do a lot more collaborations in the near future with artists from different genres of music from around the world.  

Who are your musical influences?

We listen to and admire a lot of artists from around the globe but to narrow it down to a few is very difficult. Let’s see, off late we have been listening to a lot of classical artists as Hindustani classical is a very prominent feature in our music but Anand Shankar remains one of our biggest inspiration.

What do the images of the horse in your inlay / CD speak about?

The Horse in our Inlay is the Wind Horse. The Wind Horse is one of the symbols in Rlung Ta right in the center of the flag. It is believed that if you pray to the flag, the White Horse shall take your prayers to heaven! We loved the whole concept hence, the horse. Infact, one of our songs in the album is named Wind Horse Flight.

What do the cover image / diagrams depict - can you explain what the whole concept is? Who designed all this for you?

Our album cover depicts the entire concept behind this album. There is a lot happening in there. So the Prayers Flags (Rlung Ta) are the prominent feature of the art which also represent the north most of India. There is a track in the album called “Anamudi Access” Anamudi is the tallest peak in all of south India which is in the center of the art. So our art is the fusion of all directions, colors, cultures and uniformity. The album art is created by Peg Green a very humble and generous artist from Florida USA.

What genre would you put your album into?

Ourfirst album is a fuse of electronic with a blend of Hindustani classical. The electronic section in this particular album is quite industrial though with a few bass heavy tracks.

How did the contract with Universal Music come about?

It was quite a surprise for all of us. After the production of the album we had actually approached Sony Music first but it dint work out. Then after few weeks later we were approached by Universal Music. They heard our music and really liked it and were equally excited to take up an offbeat experimental genre, as we were.

Did you have full control on the creation of the album and its content or did the company also take a stand on certain things?

Very honestly, we were always pretty skeptical about going with a big label as we have heard a lot about labels interfering with the content. But the entire team at Universal Music has been very supportive and very clear about letting us take all the calls on creative content. Which includes not only the music but also the album art, the inlay, the entire designing etc.

Where have you guys performed – India and abroad?

Right now we have performed only in India, at various events like college shows, corporates, at venues like Hard Rock café and The Little Door café, but we are now pushing for international festivals. Even the Live team at Universal is really keen on pitching us to the international audience.

What do you feel about the new Pepsi MTV Indies channel for upcoming Indie bands?

We think it’s a great initiative to promote Indian Indie music scenes. Plus we are left with no music channels in India, as reality shows have taken over. So on television, apart from YouTube, it’s a great option for listening to some fresh music. However if only they can have different shows or slots for different genres it would be great because listening to so many different genres together becomes a bit tiring, but then that’s just a personal opinion.

What are your future plans?

We have already started work on our second album, but it’s a concept based album with a lot of collaboration with artists from all around the world. Also the electronic section will be very minimal. We will start conceptualizing for our next music video by next month. And for our performances we plan to play as many shows and festival in this season and start planning for international tours from early next year.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira