Sign off 2023 with music and heritage in Hyderabad

Tangy Sessions to host music sessions to sign off 2023 at the Bansilalpet Stepwell, Hyderabad. Satlaj Rahat Indori and Aahvaan Project will perform

A year since its restoration, the 17th century stepwell at Bansilalpet, Hyderabad, will play host to intimate music sessions. Poet Satlaj Rahat Indori, poet and storyteller Gautam Aditya and Aahvaan Project are among the artistes who will be performing at the venue. Bringing these artistes to the city are Arjuna Prasad and Deepa Radhakrishnan of Tangy Sessions, in collaboration with The Rainwater Project’s (@therainwaterproject on Instagram) conservation architect and restoration expert Kalpana Ramesh, and the Gandipet Welfare Society. Each of these sessions aim to draw around 100 connoisseurs.

Believing that jam sessions need not be restricted within the walls of a few clubs, Arjuna Prasad and Deepa Radhakrishnan founded Tangy Sessions in 2016, as a platform for alternative art and music, and curated sessions on rooftops or organised kutcheris and baithaks at people’s homes and farms. “We are often on the lookout for quirky venues — a rooftop in the vicinity of the Charminar or even an abandoned swimming pool. Like-minded people have occasionally opened their homes and rooftops for our sessions,” says Arjuna. 

From Baul singing to janapadam (folk songs), Himachali folk music to Indian classical music, the sessions have been varied. Language is never a bar. To date, Tangy Sessions has relied on its Instagram account (@tangysessions) to spread the word and has created a community of audience and volunteers who chip in to organise the events.

Tangy Sessions events are largely self-funded, supported through tickets and donations. Going against the usual practice of footing the bills of flying down artistes, accommodating them in star hotels and commute, these events bank on artistes who are game to step out of their comfort zone and present something unique. Often they are put up at Arjuna’s home. “We began by inviting travelling artistes and today we are a collective of about 600 to 700 artists. On a typical weekday, you would find at least 20 musicians jamming at home.”

Their USP lies in bringing together different artistes for the first time and the jam sessions, says Arjuna, ensure that even experienced artistes do not sleepwalk through their performance, given their experience of having faced different crowds over the years. “These guided jam sessions make everyone stay alert and alive. These sessions helped when we were trying to see what new we can create with music.”

The collaboration with The Rainwater Project came about when Tangy Sessions was on the lookout for heritage sites and monuments to host events. The stepwell at Bansilalpet was an ideal choice since it is celebrating its anniversary and Arjuna says a moot point was to host an event in Secunderabad, a zone in the city that rarely gets to see new age cultural events. “In the past, we conducted a few sessions at homes in Sainikpuri.”

At the Bansilalpet stepwell, the seating will be limited to accommodate an audience in the 20 to 65 age group, with chairs wherever necessary while others can be seated alongside the steps.