Rock gets the Katcheri sound

The band’s eclectic taste in music might offer an early clue, but nothing quite prepares you for the label Contemporary Carnatic Rock.
Carnatic music and Rock couldn’t be further apart, but blending the two forms together to create a distinct sound is exactly what a bunch of techies from the city are attempting with their band Agam.
Vocalist, Harish Sivaramakrishnan admits that the group struggled to define their sound initially.“We didn’t know what we were playing. Our melodies were heavily inspired by Carnatic music, but our music is also influenced by acts like Shakti and metal and progressive bands like Iron Maiden and Dream Theater. So we took a while to define ourselves,” he says.
Eventually, the band chose to call their sound Carnatic Rock to distance themselves from the fusion tag. Ganesh Ram, the percussionist says, “The sound is not something we invented. But our rhythms are layered with the Carnatic pattern called thillana. At the same time we have a heavy distorted sound and you will find traces of jazz and funk in our rhythm section.”
The name Agam, according to Ganesh, means inner self in ancient Tamil, and the band also features Praveen Kumar and Suraj Satheesh on guitars, Swamy on keyboards, Vignesh on bass with Shiva Nagarajan playing additional percussion.
Although they started off as a college group, the band in its current avatar formed in 2007, when they found themselves together again, almost serendipitously. “We have been playing since 2000, but as Agam we are about four years old. It has something do with all of us somehow ending up in Bangalore at the same time,” Ganesh says.
Since reforming in 2007, the seven member ensemble made news when AR Rahman took notice of their performances on a TV reality show. Since then, Agam has been doing the club circuit in Bangalore and has steadily increased their fan base in the city. For now, the band members say, “balancing work and music is difficult but do-able” and they will soon hit the studio to record their first full-fledged album.
Band’s own compositions
Rudra
Malhar Jam
Brahma’s Dance
Swans of Saraswati
Raag Dhanashree
Saramati Blues