First Cut | ‘Echoes’ by Lights on Films
If you’ve seen the trailer above, you can guess that ‘Echoes’ focuses on the ever changing and rising music scene in Delhi. It attempts at covering the starting points of Delhi based independent artists, showing how difficult or easy it was for them to start their tryst with music, recounting the major changes they’ve seen within the scene. Suchita caught up with the producer and director of ‘Echoes’, Satyarth Singh from Lights On Films, to talk about his journey making the documentary, his take on the Indian music scene, technology and its interplay in music today, and a lot more.
LBBD | When and why did you start film-making?
Satyarth | I started Film making 3-4 years back when I was in my 2nd year of college. That was the first time I made a 30 second film as a part of a presentation. I feel that if you want to put a point across to people, the best way of doing it is through entertainment, and somehow films were the best possible medium I could think of. I love art in general, and it’s evolving at a really good pace in our country right now. Through my films, I wanted to show this ever changing and growing scenario in India- whether it’s in art, music or anything! And the same passion brings forth our first movie- ‘Echoes’.
LBBD | Have you studied film-making or is it something you picked up on out of passion?
Satyarth | I did study film making from Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune. But then again, if I don’t have the passion for something I cant do it, irrespective of how many courses I take up for the same. So I would say that passion made me study it. One doesn’t go without the other.
LBBD | What got you interested in exploring the ‘art scene’ in India?
Satyarth | When I came to Delhi after college, I saw a lot of things which weren’t there 5-6 years ago. A couple of trips to some music festivals really made me open my eyes and believe that art is finally finding its place in the hearts of the people once again. But to get this across to the masses, the tool I had to capture it all was a camera. So the first venture I decided to stick with was music; maybe in the future I will come up with something to do with art in its entirety.
LBBD | What’s the idea behind Echoes? And what inspired you to work on this project?
Satyarth | Well I love music, and when I saw that there are some amazing musicians playing some brilliant ‘original’ music in our very own city I just couldn’t stop myself from documenting it. The whole idea is to show people that we have incredibly talented artists in our country, though for some reason we don’t end up paying much heed to them, but don’t mind spending a bomb going for the commercial ones. The artists that I have covered in my film are quite well known abroad; they have a big audience outside the country. But why is it so difficult for us to accept them? They’re doing something new, something different, and it’s interesting and fun. And I won’t be surprised if 10 years down the line they are at the top level, killing the scene.
Every idea has an inspiration, and mine was a documentary called PressPausePlay which focuses on the changing art scene, and how everyone is getting into art in their own way- whether it be through painting, graphics, music or even film making. For starters, I decided to create something on a smaller scale, and as I said before if we get some success and recognition from this we would definitely be keen on taking more bold steps in the future.
LBBD | From your conversations with the various artists you’ve featured, what’s the biggest issue they face vis a vis pursuing music as a career in our country?
Satyarth | I think the major issue they face starts with venues. For any emerging artist there are a lot of venues who will let them perform, but will expect them to settle for the basic food and drinks and no payment for their performance. This doesn’t go for all venues, but yes there are some who don’t understand that being a musician is a full time profession now. Also, getting an audience for their gigs and promoting themselves to the right crowd is definitely a challenge, because now we have hundreds of musicians coming up on daily basis and they just have one platform to get peoples attention- which is the Internet.
LBBD | There’s been a surge of artists playing music in a variety of genres- from jazz to reggae, electro, and opera even. Do you think the ‘India’s a market for all’ phrase applies to the music industry as well?
Satyarth | As I said, such sort of music is just getting introduced in India. Electronic might have been there for a while now, but reggae or Ska is emerging and trust me, there are a lot of people going out to listen to their music! It’s different and the audiences are loving it. I think people are accepting these genres of music, and with time it will go beyond the niche audience and spread to the masses, and you never know- maybe the music industry might take some of this music to a higher level. As the interest of the audience grows, the interest of the industry is bound to grow.
LBBD | With multiple venues coming up, and a plethora of people having a stake in the music business, do you think originality is being lost out on?
Satyarth | Not at all. I think this is the time when originality is screaming and coming out of nothing. Everyone who wants to compose music, they want to create something new, and they want the audience to listen to their music and be like- yeah that’s cool. So I don’t think that originality is being lost out on at any point, I think this is the peak when original new music is actually coming up.
LBBD | You spoke of the relationship between art and technology in music….
Satyarth | I feel art and technology go hand in hand, be it in music or in film making. You need to have that basic desire to create something that no one else can think of, and technology gives the tools to make it easier for you to execute what you really have in mind. That’s my personal opinion. Some say that if you have the technology you can create whatever you want. But I feel that if you don’t have an artistic vision to do it, technology will be just be something you can experiment with but won’t help you achieve anything.
LBBD | What’s your take on the use of social media to promote music? It gives a level playing field to artists, but does competition kill its benefits?
Satyarth | Social media, in a way, is the best thing that has happened. It’s because of social media that art is actually growing so much and is being noticed. People make art, post it online, and depending on the reaction of others they’ll know how competitive their work is. I would not say that competition kills its benefits. Personally, competition is something that would push one to make something better in order to get more recognition and ‘attention’. Specially for people like us who love music- we get to hear different stuff every second day and we get to decide what’s good and what isn’t.
LBBD | How long did it take for you to make ‘Echoes’?
Satyarth | It took me about 3 months to finish off with my shoots and another 2 months with the post production stuff. We are done with it now and looking forward to screening our doc very soon.
LBBD | How many people are a part of this project?
Satyarth | Ah. To be honest its just 2 people a part of this project. One is me, I worked on the pre production and the shooting and Pr and Marketing bit and the complete Editing of the film has been handled by Brijesh who is working under the banner of Lights On Films. So yes, as of now its 2 of us.
LBBD | What’s the one thing you hope audiences take away from ‘Echoes’?
Satyarth | Accepting change- I want people to accept and welcome the new era we are entering when it comes to music {in this country}. I’m not telling them to leave other music behind, but I really want them to understand and welcome this change in a positive manner. Also, I hope people realize that they can take up music as a profession; it isn’t just a ‘side thing’ anymore. If you are good at something, go out and show it to the world! Don’t just sit at home with your guitar or your drums and prepare for your CA entrance. If you love music, if you have the passion, then just take it up for life. Confusion should be a long gone thing now. Hopefully people will take the movie positively though.
LBBD | Have your thoughts on the music scene changed after making ‘Echoes’?
Satyarth | Hell yeah! Before the movie, I thought that there are a few artists who are coming up and emerging as the new face of music. But now, I go to these small gigs regularly and I see that there are so many more musicians who have so much talent and so much to offer. It would be really awesome to see them up there in the future because when you listen to them play, you know that no ordinary being can do it.
LBBD | Which Indian artists/bands top your playlist?
Satyarth | There are a lot of them, Specially the 5 which I have covered in the movie are definitely there, then there is Midival Punditz and Jalebee Cartel. I also love PCRC and Menwhopause. I think all these artists are really brilliant.
LBBD | The one place in Delhi that offers spectacular performances?
Satyarth | There are a lot of places which offer some really amazing performances. But for me the top one would be TLR(The Living Room) in Hauz Khas Village. Whenever I am there I see some new artists playing and I have never been disappointed by their music. That place always livens me up.
LBBD | What do you love about Delhi?
Satyarth | FOOD! Food here is just to die for. Apart from that now the art scene is really diversifying here and that’s really pleasing to the eyes. It feels good to be here.
Check out the screening of ‘Echoes’ at Iron Curtain, Hauz Khas Village
When | Monday, 20th August, 6:00 – 6:30 pm/ 7:00 – 7:30 pm/ 8:00 – 8:30 pm/ 9:00 – 9:30 pm/ 10:00 – 10:30 pm/ 11:00 – 11:30 pm
Details on ‘Echoes’ Facebook pages | www.facebook.com/events/176389762495506/
