The Carnatic progessive rock band AGAM talks about their new album, ‘Arrival of the Ethereal’

AGAM, the Carnatic progressive rock band, is ready with their third studio album, Arrival of the Ethereal, which has been mounted on an international scale

“This is the most personal thing that we have made.” That is how AGAM, the band that makes Carnatic music rock, defines Arrival of the Ethereal, their third studio album. “It encompasses our journey,” says Harish Sivaramakrishnan, lead vocalist of the Bengaluru-based band.

The band, formed in 2003, and active on the live show circuit since 2007, has taken almost eight years to bring out this album. Although work on it started after the release of their second studio album, A Dream To Remember (2017), the pandemic upset their plans. “The plan was to release it in 2020. But when COVID-19 struck, there were no shows, zero income and total uncertainty. We came back from a situation where we had no self-belief. That is why we consider the album the most personal thing.”

T Praveen Kumar, the lead guitarist, adds, “All of us went into a hole; there was creative shutdown since we were not able to meet each other and jam. It took another two years or so for us to get back our focus, energy and spirits.”

The album has eight songs. AR Rahman recently launched the first song, ‘The Silence That Remains’. Three more will be released in the next few months. The rest will come out next year. “While five tracks in the album are based on traditional Carnatic compositions, the others are originals,” Harish says.

The delay had also much to do with the fact that the album has been mounted on a bigger scale. Over 300 artistes, including international musicians, are part of this project. “The Czech National Symphony Orchestra has played for us. Big brass band from Argentina, orchestral conductors from Italy, choir musicians from Hungary and the US, musicians from West Asia ... the album has it all.”

Among them is Grammy-winning audio engineer and producer from Argentina, Andres Mayo, who has done the mixing with Martin Muscatello. Mastering is done by renowned engineer, Sai Shravanam. Mohan Veena exponent and Grammy winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has collaborated in one of the tracks.

“We travelled to work with the international artistes, while some of it was done online. In addition, we worked in multiple studios across India and abroad. We have also used a chenda ensemble in the album, which is not the usual chenda melam. Several new instruments have been incorporated. It is a first for AGAM’s soundscape and musical dimension.”