‘We have a global reach because everyone can relate to our music’

South Asian a capella outfit, Penn Masala performed in Bengaluru over the weekend as part of their multi-city homecoming tour. As the US-based 13-member ensemble got the crowd grooving to their Bollywood mashups, signature beatboxing along with some of their original tracks, they can’t help being thrilled at the reception they have experienced in India.
‘Support from our fans in India is just so incredibly humbling’
“It’s hard to imagine that we’re in India performing for so many people. The listeners here are so hyped, they know all the songs and the lyrics, and are very passionate,” says Raghunandan Raman, the group’s president. Prateek Adurty, the band’s music director, adds, “It is Masala’s first time back in India in over six years. So, to see the enthusiasm and support from all our fans in India is just so incredibly humbling and exciting for us.”
‘Desi music recognised now’
Commenting on the audience response across the states, Gaurish Gaur, from the band tells us, “When the band started in ’96, our music was largely ignored by the western world, but that’s not the case now. Desi music is being recognised, there has been progress. So, it’s definitely headed in the right direction.”
‘The capella style of music is a challenge’
A capella means that every sound you hear is completely from our voices. There’s no real instrument involved. Our fusion comes from a blend of Western and Carnatic, Hindustani and Bollywood music. A capella provides a really raw and humanistic form of music that you can’t find elsewhere. It allows us to sing with each other and with the audience. The raw emotions make it special and bring people together. So, you take a capella, fusion and mash them together, and you get magic, you get us. That’s what Masala is all about.

‘Trying to break the mould of just English & Hindi pattern’
The music on our previous album, Midnight Oil, covered a Tamil song by Sid Sriram called Kadhaippoma, and we mashed that up with an English song. We’re trying to break the mould of just the English and Hindi pattern and include a lot more local music in our shows. In India, we will also be doing Andha Arabi Kadaloram, which is like the Tamil version of the Hamma song and Kumkumala, the Telugu version of Kesariya. We plan to do a Kannada song as well. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot more South Asian representation in the music space, especially in the fusion space. We’re so happy to see RRR win best original song at the Oscars. We’d love to perform songs like Naatu Naatu in the future.
‘Original music allows us to explore what we cannot with cover songs’
It’s important for us to think outside of the covers. Originals really allow us to explore different ideas and genres that we can’t really explore with covers. A cover is restricting in the creative sense, whereas an original lets us talk about our own stories.