Chennai’s Band Cooum gears up for its first public concert in the city

Band Cooum, a diverse music collective, brings happy tunes to Chennai in their first public concert.

“Ellathukkume inga happy dhaan.” 

This is Deepan Fathima’s response, when asked about the choice of Band Cooum’s location for its upcoming concert — Korukkupet. “In this area, most of us do not like sad music. Our tunes, songs…everything is happy, be it for a wedding, or for death. Band Cooum’s music is happy too,” he says . 

A collective focussed on folk, Carnatic, independent, and electronic music, Band Cooum’s performance this Saturday will be its first live public concert in Chennai — a city that deeply resonates with all the members, and is a big part of its music, and ethos. The five-member band comprises singer Susha, violinist Shreya Devnath and percussionist Praveen Sparsh, who have a strong background in Carnatic music, and Deepan and ‘Rocket’ Raji(Rajendran), parai artistes who are members of the Friends Kalai Kuzhu troupe. 

“The kind of music and instruments the band will be performing with, be it the violin, mridangam, or the guitar… there hasn’t been a live music performance like this here. It is an opportunity for my people here to listen and experience this music, and we are excited about the feedback from here as well,” Deepan says.

Band Cooum debuted in 2022, at the G5A festival in Mumbai. Earlier this year, they had a private showcase in Chennai. For its first public show in the city, Band Cooum will be performing an all-original set list which blends genres and solid beats, bringing to the fore their varied journeys and experiences in music, while hoping for a fair amount of dancing from their audience.  The atmosphere is geared towards being like that of a street festival, and a performance by Deepan’s friends from Friends Kalai Kuzhu is scheduled to kickstart the concert.

“It has been a dream, to celebrate the musical diversity of this city, spanning gaana, parai, Carnatic music, and even gospel. The idea was to come together as people from different musical backgrounds, and create original compositions that truly reflect our musical identities,” says Praveen. 

“Half the excitement of being in this band is the process of creating original music together. We have all come together knowing that the focus is going to be on free, safe exploration of music with no boundaries,” says Susha. As someone who has been a part of different music collectives and bands in the past, she describes theirs, as a completely different way of working.