Formed in Mysore, Swarathma came into being when vocalist-songwriter Vasu Dixit met Abhinanth Kumar with the aim of creating original music. Joined by Pavan Kumar KJ on percussions and Arjun on the violin, they formed the original line-up. With Dixit’s exit in 2003 the band went on to take a two-year break, but regrouped in 2006 with Montry Manuel on drums.

Swarathma’s first break came by when they won Radio City Live 2006, an SMS based contest for Bangalore's best band, held on September 31, 2006. The band continued to play shows in and around Bangalore, gaining popularity and building a fan-base, while searching for a record label to release their music.

In 2007, they were joined by Sanjeev Nayak on the Violin, Varun on lead guitar and Jishnu Dasgupta on bass guitar who earlier played with the band bodhiTree, from XLRI Jamshedpur.

The new line-up played at an array of venues including the prestigious Mysore Yuva Dasara Habba. Sharing stage with noted artistes like Usha Uthup and Sunidhi Chauhan, Swarathma was lauded for the depth of their compositions and on-stage energy.

Swarathma also played at the Fireflies Festival of Sacred Music held in Bangalore where they featured alongside artistes such as Oikotyaan.

In early 2008, Radio City re-launched Radio City Live, a nation-wide hunt for India's best Hindi band. From over 100 entries from bands across India, Swarathma made it to the national finals with a winning performance.

They released their self titled debut album in 2008 and later that year were chosen as one of the four Indian acts to be part of the India Soundpad Sessions, bringing together emerging artistes from India and UK's top producer John Leckie to collaborate and record together in a series of special studio sessions set to take place in India.

Swarathma consists of Vasu Dixit (vocals and rhythm guitar), Pavan Kumar KJ (percussion and backing vocals), Varun Murali (lead guitar), Sanjeev Nayak (violin) and Jishnu Dasgupta (bass guitar and backing vocals).

We met up with Jishnu Dasgupta who spoke about the band’s humble beginnings, their success mantra and their two albums. EXcerpts:

The name of your band is very unique. How did you come up with the band?

The name Swarathma comes from Swar (note) and Athma (soul), so it is the soul of the note, or notes from the soul; however you’d like to look at it. We have been told that it is a unique name, but perhaps it does not matter beyond a point. What only matters is the kind of music we make together. The name was the brainchild of former bassist and founder of the band Abhinanth Kumar. Who knows what was behind the moment of inspiration that struck him when he came up with it one fine morning. And the name stuck.

What genre of music would you guys classify yourselves into?

Genres are just words created by a music industry keen on pigeonholing musicians in a vain attempt to understand them. That’s why I’m not a big fan of classifying music. However, if you were to ask about the kind of music we play, the truth is it is an amalgamation of the influences that each of us has grown up with. So while there is a strong Indian undercurrent in our music, there are motifs from around the world. If you put a gun to our heads, we’d say Indian Folk Fusion, but that’s just an empty word, there are compositions of ours that are neither Indian nor folksy. We’re a band from India, at the end of the day, whatever genre that makes us.

Which Indian bands do you admire when it comes to original music?

There are several bands we deeply admire for their originality. Indian Ocean would be at the top of the list simply because of how they’ve stuck to their beliefs in the face of odds. There’s also Kailasa, The Raghu Dixit Project and Papon. Of our generation of bands we like Skrat, Scribe, Bhayanak Maut. There are a slew of young excellent bands, too many to name here.

Does the band members write their own songs or are the lyrics based on real life experiences?

Well, yes and no. Most experiences are real at some level. Art allows you the liberty to interpret experiences in your chosen language, be it painting, poetry or music. So while some song lyrics are based on real life experiences, others are interpretations of the world, through our eyes.

Your second album 'Topiwalleh' is very interesting. What is the story behind it?

Topiwalleh is an album with eight songs, and 2 bonus tracks. Most of the eight songs were written in the period between 2010 and 2011, with no singular theme in mind. The songs are more hard-hitting than the ones in the first album. Again, that was not by design, but more by a natural progression of the direction the band was taking at the time. I remember a songwriting workshop we did during the time and came up with 4-5 of the songs that made it to the album. We just came together with ideas, riffs, melodies and themes and wove it together over 2 years. As for the song Topiwalleh, it is a satirical dig at politics and politicians.

Compared to your debut album, how is the new album different?

Well, as Topiwalleh is now close to three years old, it isn’t fair to call it a new album any more. Compared to Swarathma (2009) though, it is much more mature, sure-footed and sonically richer. It represents a snapshot of the time and place the band was at, when it was recorded. We are now working on the third album; this promises to be different, too. We hope we can nail down what we’re thinking and feeling at this time.

You started out sometime in 2002, has your sound changed since the last few years?

On the surface it has, but deep down, perhaps not. The sound has changed with newer members bringing more of their influences into the songwriting process. As the band grows as musicians, there is a change in the way we play and sing, that becomes a part of our sound too. However, the reason we are a band still remains the same that ensures that at a deeper level the more the sound changes, the more it remains the same.

Sometime in 2008 you guys were chosen as one of the four Indian acts to be part of the India Soundpad Sessions? Can you tell us something about this?

Yes, this was a event where emerging artistes from India and UK's top producer John Leckie would collaborate and record together in a series of special studio sessions set to take place in India. In October 2008 with John Leckie and Massive Attack producer Dan Austin were at Yash Raj Studios to record two tracks for a compilation album funded by the British Council. The project also featured Indigo Children, Medusa and Advaita in an effort to bring forward the Indian independent music scene. The album was released in May 2009. The song ‘Jamba’ from this compilation was picked up by the Music Alliance Pact featuring the top indie songs from 33 countries.

So interms of global recognition, how you rate yourselves?

We don’t claim to have any global recognition at all. Sure, we’ve toured 6 countries, but that doesn’t make us globally recognized. It is part of the grand agenda, though.

Have you been offered any work for composing for Bollywood?

Nothing that has worked out in the form of a release, yet. But hopefully soon.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira