For the past two weeks, you must have been wondering about who Shorthand is and what do they do. Well, we sat down with Shorthand and found out what makes them tick, what makes them so good at what they do, why they do it, how they do it and what their plan is for the future. So, we talked to Prithvi Iyer, the drummer of the band and Sreya Muthukumar, the lead singer.
Before we get into the interview, a small introduction about the band. Shorthand is a Delhi based band and is identified as a free genre band but they specialize in funk, rock and soul music. They have performed in so many different colleges around India and on the 11th of September they are coming to Manipal to perform as well.
We started off by asking them why did they want to pursue music from a young age and the answers we got were pretty interesting. Prithvi has been a drummer since 8th Standard and was always gravitated towards the drum kit. A lot of his inspiration comes from his elder brother, a professional musician who introduced him to a lot of good music from the 80’s. Sreya started singing from the age of five, trained in classical singing and found her love for western music from Disney movies. She is also a dancer and takes out time for Bharatnatyam from her daily routine. She feels that it’s always important to take some time out for yourself and just have a constructive outlet when the going gets tough.
The process through which they create music is unique and between the individual opinions of four people, they always find a common ground where all their ideas and thoughts come together to create something completely out of the box and stun their listeners with awe in doing so.
Their process starts with song writing which Sreya does and is followed by a meticulous presentation of complex grooves and ideas by Prithvi, combined with the blues sensibility of Govind which he coverts into a melodic relatability where as Abhinav comes in with the progressive rock tunes on the guitar. All this comes together which in turn when refined comes out as some amazing songs with nothing but positive and chill vibes.
Like every band, they have had hard times of their own, but they never lose sight of the big picture. This is what allows them to put aside their differences and work together as a team, talk it out, understand each other’s point of view and come out of it stronger than ever. Over time, they have come far from bringing people who jam together to being a family. At the end of the day, all of them are committed to their cause and trust between the four of them is always there.
Prithvi says that there is a difference between what you work on for your growth and what you play for the public when you perform. He says that it’s about the little things that you do when you play any instrument and quotes Benny Greb when he says that if something takes a lot of mental effort to play when you practice, you shouldn’t be playing it live and its good advice for many musicians who are starting out or even experienced ones at that to know what you can play and how well you can play it. The band also tells budding musicians to just go for it, not be afraid of failure. They also say to work hard, have faith and if you find musicians like who want to create something new, something different don’t let go of them.
Chords & Co. 