VIDEO SPOTLIGHTS
Simply Live! Our 5 Track Video Series Streams Now
Shot Live at The Red Music Box
Released in Feb, 2021
Set-List:
Sur Mera [Swarathma]
Kaash [Raah E Fakira]
Pyaasi [Swarathma]
Manwa [Raah E Fakia]
Rishton ka Raasta [Topiwalleh]
2020, the pandemic-year was hard on us as a band, that is so used to playing concerts where the live energy of an audience, of connecting with them make us grow as performers.
To make sense of these long months of forced isolation, we went back in time to pick up from where we started. With just our acoustic instruments, we belted out our songs to stay rooted to the Swarathma signature sound. Kicking off with Sur Mera, this collection features some of our old favorites with an acoustic twist and more recent songs stripped down to their essential melodies.
In a very first, we hosted a special preview watch party online for some of our most cherished fans and listeners.
A song that is a concert-favorite. We created this video as a gift to 2021 - to hope and to always walking towards relationships that matter. The melody soars into the lush forested hills of rural Assam and with the clouds nestled in valleys.
Rishton Ka Raasta Lyric Video by Alchemy Pixels
Released on Jan, 2021
Album: Topiwalleh, 2012
Our 2nd studio album
Khul Ja Re Lyric Video
Video by Aayush Agarwal
Released in Oct, 2020
Album: Topiwalleh, 2012 Recorded at Empire Studios Mumbai
A song about the world opening up, words that work like a magic spell removing all obstacles from your path!
Reimagined to the freedom and promise of open roads - we hope you sing along on a bright sunny day or make it the anthem for your next road-trip.
As heard on Apple India store launch promotional campaign video
Aasman Ki Dukaan
Shot Live at The Red Music Box
Released in Sept, 2020
Album: Raah E Fakira
"Aasman ki dukaan wale, khol tu apne dil ke taale...
Seedhiya utar ke aaja neeche - warna hum nahin sudharne wale..."
Aasman Ki Dukaan is a petition to the shopkeeper in the sky to open his heart, descend to be amongst us – lending us grace and acceptance.
Shooting this live was special - we met our lock-down gig venue, all masked up and sanitizing compulsively, just to make music together despite our forced isolation in times of this pandemic. We celebrated this win - however small, and it felt great, to drench ourselves with cheerfulness and melody, even as we held on to faith in a better tomorrow! We missed the home-quarantining Sanjeev and his quiet brilliance that day, but we went ahead because there has never been a greater need for art and music in our life-times than now.
Let's Go - The Quarantine Jam version
Live at The Red Music Box
Released in July, 2020
Also called "Long Awaited Jam" - part of Swarathma's early line-up
Let's Go is Swarathma's few instrumental tracks that showcase the brilliance of Sanjeev Nayak and his violin wizardry. The video is a slightly dramatized version, with Sanjeev cutting loose while in home quarantine - final track was recorded and mixed by Varun at The Red Music Box.
Let's Go is a delight to play on stage and we hope to continue experimenting with it in the B-stage format when we get back to live-shows!
Till then, watch Sanjeev totally blow your minds with his playing chops.
Pyaar Ke Rang
Shot Live at NH7 Weekender 2019 Pune
Released in July, 2020
Album: Swarathma
Pyaar Ke Rang is a classic from our debut album. Here is a video us playing this fan-favorite live at NH7 Weekender. It was a cracker gig that started at sundown and the sheer energy of the audience continued lifting the show up many notches.
Midway through it all, Vasu scythed through the crowd and chatted up this amazing member of the audience. What followed was some easy banter and killer dance moves! But we never did get to know her name. So, before releasing this video of which she was the star, we took our search to Instagram. And within a short 24-hours, the (social-media universe) helped us find her. We got together for an live-chat as we dropped the video. Didn't you know Swarathma shows were special in so many ways?
Kaanton ke mausam mein
Phoolon ki khusbo ko chunte raho
Dum bhar ke saanson mein
Ummeed koi jagate raho
Mushkil mein jeena na bhoolo
Koi geet sunte raho...
Remember to pick the fragrant blooms
From among the thorns
Keep alive the flicker of hope
In every breath drawn
Choose life in your heart
Listen to this song
Mushkil Mein Jeena, is not just a song. It's a virtual hug for a tired world. It is soaked in emotions, the lows (and some highs) of the unprecedented times we're living in. The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown that has disrupted our lives and livelihoods.
Mushkil Mein Jeena is not a rallying cry of optimism. It's just a gentle reminder to remember to live, even as life is turned on its head.
We couldn't get together as a band - so, the video was shot on our phones in a typical vertical format for consistency.
The cast of this video is dearest to us: it features our families who give us hope and encourage us as we continue to make music. From indulgent mothers, to supportive better-halves to our children - we have captured moments with our loved ones as we hold up handwritten lyrics-pages to the soothing melody of this gentle song.
Mushkil Mein Jeena Shot Live at our homes as we remained sequestered during the COVID-19 pandemic
Released on June 12, 2020
Video Concept & Direction: Vasu Dixit
Edited by: Aayush Agrawal
Special Appearance 🧡
Abir Dasgupta
Mahati Subramaniam
Alaap Dasgupta
Jovila Marina Baptist
Carol Viola Crasta
Bindhumalini N
Shreya Dasgupta
Chitra M
Jangama
Shot Live at Red Bull Studios
Released in April, 2020
Album: Raah E Fakira
"Is there a saint or Jangama inside you?
Is there a saint or Jangama inside me?"
Jangama is an interesting folk-rock fusion. 9th track of our album, it is the only song in Kannada. A song about the common man in us all - one who journeys on through life's ups and downs. The journeyer is the focus of the music, which began as a recursive, trippy guitar lick later made groovy with the kanjira pattern.
"One who saw life in sludge and earth
One who lived in the seas and forests
...
One who laughs and dances as per the season
One who consumes pain and fear"...
Jiya Lagaye is a song about the things we hold closest to ourselves, but those that matter the least. Just a simple voice of calm in a troubled world.
Jiya Lagaye Shot Live at Red Bull Studios
Released in Mar, 2020
Album: Raah E Fakira
"We aren't the whole tree, we are only the leaves."
Raah E Fakira Official Music Video
Shot Live in the chalws of Jogeshwari, Mumbai in collaboration with a Dahi Handi Mandal
Released in October, 2018
Album: Raah E Fakira
Produced by Red Bull Media House, this video of the album's anthemic title-track tells the story of a young boy who has dreams of flying, but instead finds his superpowers through the ancient Indian human pyramid sport of Dahi Handi. The video charmingly captures the boy's dreams and the subsequent sense of inner peace that comes with finding your purpose in life. Eventually.
Beta Sweater Pehno Official Music Video
Directed by front-man Vasu Dixit, in association with soft-drink brand Mirinda's "No Pressurepanti, Only Pagalpanti" campaign
Released in February, 2017
Indian kids are under a lot of pressure – every parent expects their child to excel and this results in an Olympian academic race. Times might have changed but the drudgery of going to school from the dressing up to the ride there and then class after class is something that still remains. In this track, weepy violins (Sanjeev Nayak) and bitter bass-lines (Jishnu Dasgupta) takes a quirky aim at helicopter parenting and India’s obsession with grades.
Created in association with “Release The Pressure”, a movement that addresses the extreme exam stress faced by teenage students. Featuring band members in school uniforms going morosely through the motions of school life with comic melancholy.
Won Radio City Freedom Award for Best Music Video in 2018
Rang Zinda Hain Music Video
Released on July, 2013
Created in collaboration with students from NID, this song is about celebrating ageing
"Bachpan after Pachpan" (childhood after 55): Made in celebration of all elders who have inspired Swarathma, this video will add colour to a dull day. A beautiful reminder to not give up, and know that one can always live life with childlike wonder.
Visuals of a lively group of elders playing with colours, and huddled around board games are sure to warm your heart on a bleak day.
Manwa Shot Live at Red Bull Studios
Released in October, 2019
Album: Raah E Fakira
Funk-flecked Manwa is a song about telling your Heart to take heart. Things may not be going your way. But this too shall pass.
Agla Savera Official Music Video
A groovy tune shot as a live performance in a studio set-up
Released in June, 2017
Collaboration with Clinton Cerejo feat. Binanca Gomes
Jamba Live Music Video
Recorded in August, 2009 at Yash Raj Studios
With the reknowned John Leckie and Dan Austin, for a compilation album called Soundpad
Jamba is an audio train journey across Karnataka. Recorded for Soundpad for British Council. the track was later picked up by Music Alliance Pact featuring top indie-songs from 33 countries
Ollekalla Bandide Music
Video
#No1YaariJam - a happy tune about friendship
Released in December, 2017
Collaboration with Salim-Sulaiman
Ekla Chalo Re feat. Lakhan Das Baul Music Video
Recorded in October, 2014
Video steeped in sepia-nostalgia is shot at Thakur Bari in North Kolkata, Tagore’s ancestral home
Swarathma re-visions and performs an inspired cover of Tagore’s iconic track for FoxLife Soundtrek Season 2. Inspired by traditional baul (devotional) folk song, Eklo Cholo Re became a powerful anthem for Bengal’s anti-partition movement in 1905.
For a song with so much history, Swarthma stays true to the original while bringing in a contemporary feel.
The music is a compelling call to journey on: walk alone, walk intrepid, find your path.
Duur Kinara Music
Video
Released in January, 2012
Collaboration with Subha Mudgal
Shot for The Dewarists, Season-1 Episode-7
"The Dewarists" is a movement, part travelogue and a musical documentary that recognizes and celebrates musicians who have changed the rules of the game. In this episode, Swarathma collaborates with the pre-eminent Hindustani classical singer Subha Mudgalji again after Pyaasi, the band's debut music-video.
Duur Kinara, a metaphorical song on a river's journey is created from the soundscapes of Mysore as these musicians collaborate by the waters of the Cauvery.
Subhaji's haunting, lingering vocals blend with Swarathma's kaleidoscopic, soaring sound. CAVA, Mysore, where the band was born, forms the perfect setting for this track of abiding beauty.
