F
or his latest Tamil release,
Chennai-bred, Minnesota-
based composer, singer and
producer Vinod Krishnan
decided to call on San Antonio, Texas-
based dancer Sophia Salingaros to
choreograph ballet and bharatnatyam
for his love song “Ninnaye Rathi Endru.”
Krishnan – who has collaborated
with the likes of singer Vijay Prakash –
also called on Texas A&M University’s
Swaram A Cappella group, led by
Akshara Parashar, for harmonies that
punctuate the song. If that’s not modern
enough a mélange for you, “Ninnaye
Rathi Endru” also features lyrics by
Tamil freedom fighter-poet Subramania
Bharathi.
This is Krishnan’s world and it’s
not surprising that he’s also involved
with IndianRaga, an arts education
startup which also boasts 273,
YouTube subscribers and over 40
million total views for their mash-ups
and fusion songs that often feature
unique choreography in different parts
of the world. Just last month, Krishnan
teamed up with violinist Akash
Gururaja to cover Simon & Garfunkel’s
“Scarborough Fair” and mash it up
with A.R. Rahman’s “Nadiye,” from the
2000 Tamil film Rhythm. Krishnan says
over the phone, “We decided to pick a
frozen waterfall and it was -17 degrees
Celsius and it was interesting.” Just as
interesting is IndianRaga’s clickbait title
for the video: “Carnatic Music in -
degrees Celsius | How did they do it?”
While IndianRaga was set up at the
renowned Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (M.I.T.) in the U.S.,
Krishnan was a senior fellow invited
to work with other artists in 2016. The
following year, he was invited back
as creative director and mentored
over 30 teams to create different art
productions. “I give them creative
direction on their videos and in general
what steps they can take to bring in
more aspiring artists and collaborate.
That’s really what they’re trying to
do – create a platform for aspiring
artists to step up and engage in creating
innovative content,” Krishnan says.
In April 2017, he created a “New Age
Carnatic” version of Ed Sheeran’s hit
“Shape of You,” which was streamed by
senior citizens and millennials alike,
currently standing at 6.8 million views.
Aiming to be a full-time independent
musician (he’s currently working in UX
design), Krishnan has been figuring
out how fusion, Indian classical and
Carnatic music can be inclusive as it
rolls into a future where traditional
music is still fighting for acceptance. In
an interview with Rolling Stone India,
Krishnan talks about his influences,
dealing with purists and marketing
music. Excerpts:Composer-Singer
Vinod
Krishnan
on Fusion and
Indian Classical
Music’s Relevance
The Chennai-born artist, who is creative
director at popular education start-up and
video channel IndianRaga, talks about
how he crossed genresJuly 2019 | Rolling Stone | 17