Sandeep Narayan Spreads the Tunes of Traditional Carnatic Music with Modern Twists

It is incredibly challenging for a person to leave their established job and pursue a traditional art form, especially when it is not known to many. Sandeep Narayan, who had a well-settled life in Los Angeles, moved to Chennai to perfect his craft and spread the Carnatic music to the roots of India. “At the age of 21, when I decided to take this step, nobody believed in me,” says Sandeep. “After a point, even I started questioning myself, Am I doing the right thing?” However, the young boy was determined to pursue this art form, and he gradually convinced people that he wanted to perform traditional music in India. 

The Breakthrough Moment 

Despite all the uncertainty and doubts raised by society, he was determined enough to continue learning and performing the art form. He started getting shows and gigs, but he still didn't feel like he had arrived. He felt that he had not served the purpose for which he had started this journey. Amidst this spiral of thoughts, he finally had a breakthrough moment when The Hindu called him for their cultural festival in Chennai. Sharing his excitement, Sandeep says, “This was the eureka moment for me because getting a call for ‘The Hindu Friday Review Festival' was a big deal back then.” Artists from all over the country performed at this festival, and being one among them was truly a boost for him. 

Post this, there was no looking back on his musical journey. Through his vocals, he tries to capture the essence of this traditional art form with music that even the youth of today can relate to. “I feel that even the best of things need to move with time, and promoting a music form that is still underrated needs a bit of re-packaging. So, I try to blend the ragas of Carnatic music with the pop and jazz of Western music,” says Sandeep. 

A Fusion of Traditional and Modern 

To promote this, he has collaborated with various artists from India and all across the world. He has performed a fusion of Tamil and Gujarati folk songs with Gujarati singer Parthiv Gohil. Last year, the vocalist released a Carnatic hip-hop album called ‘Arul’ with a producer from Toronto, Yanchan, which is an EP of house mixed with hip-hop beats with Carnatic music. “Some of the songs in this album have 350-year-old Carnatic tracks sampled with new world music, and people are loving it,” the artist said. Having said that, he is also working on another album with a German musician to blend the two worlds of music. 

This exemplifies that music has no boundaries. It can be presented to people in any form, unless and until it holds on to its roots and is pleasing to their ears. And artists like Sandeep are the true bearers of this torch in spreading Indian classical music to the world.