She is a trained Hindustani classical singer and he is an ad-film music composer. What happens when the twain meet? Love? Music? Fun? How about: All the above! While it may sound like the prologue of a romantic novel, the story behind indie band Maati Baani is nothing less. We asked musical duo Nirali and Kartik Shah about what makes them tick and where their music comes from.
“Ultimately what brought us together was our love for different kinds of music,” says Nirali, who is the voice behind Maati Baani. While it had always been her dream to make music since the age of eight, Kartik, whose job it is to add funk to the soulful songs, says that it wasn’t until he had 500 ad scores in his kitty that he realised it was his passion too. “I was always interested in classical and folk music, which is what sparked our interest. Especially the ragas, which incidentally I used extensively in my ad-film scores too.”
With popular songs such as Boondan.. Tore Matware Naina and Funky Bawa, Maati Baani has come up to the forefront of the indie music resurgence in India.
But how do they make their music? “Our style is a little different,” says Kartik, as Nirali elaborates on the process and adds, “Nothing is concrete when we start. We literally make things up as we go along.” While that may not be a convincing formula for good music, she adds, “The trick is that we don’t stop experimenting until we are convinced of the sound we are making.”
Throwing light on the ideology that guides their music, Kartik says, “I personally believe that music is like boxes! There are big and important boxes like the voice and the mood, but there are other boxes too, like bass or melody. It is in placing each box in its right place that we search for and find our music.”
For all their recent fame and acclaim, Nirali believes that Maati Baani solely exists for the music. “Kartik still does ad-films. But right from when we formed it, we were sure about only using it as a tool for experimenting with our music.” A major part of what makes Maati Baani click are the collaborations, adds Kartik. “For example, there is this old singer from Jaisalmer called Dappoo Khan who we collaborated with. And he has been making his music for a long time. So when we collaborate with someone like him we explore the originality of his sound by making ours fit in.”
Be it their more recent Funky Pawa, which is an Indian version of the Pied Piper or their early work in Tore Matware Naina, where they collaborated with an African voice, Maati Baani are known for their originality. “The thing is we never do the same thing twice. We want to surprise the audience every time we go on stage or release a video,” adds Kartik.
Telling us about their upcoming projects, Kartik says, “The project has 10 songs where we are collaborating with 70 musicians from over 30 countries! Right now we are halfway through. But we hope to finish it soon.”
