Music has the power to change lives, and for those who love to sing, it often gives them a new lease of life. From Mug To Mike, a platform for bathroom singers which has conducted over 350 workshops in different cities, recently released an anthem to celebrate this power of music.
The anthem, sung in Hindi, is titled ‘Saasein Sargam Hui’, and is the brainchild of music director Sunil Koshy, who is also the founder-director of From Mug to Mike.
With music by Koshy, the lyrics are penned by Bollywood lyricist Sahil Sultanpuri while the anthem was conceptualised by Archana Hallikeri, co-founder of From Mug To Mike and Koshy’s wife. The song was mixed and mastered by Saibu Simon in In The Mix Studios, Mumbai. Featuring Koshy and his students Vishwajith Bharadwaj, Dr Jai Ganesh, Venkat S, Nidhi Srivastava, Rekha Arun, Mamta Ganesh and Arya Aju, the music video was shot in Ooty and the outskirts of Bengaluru on weekends and recorded in Vijaya Audios. Violinist Francis Xavier and flautist Josy Alappuzha from Kochi also team up for the song.
The response, Koshy says, has definitely been good. “Getting together different people from various walks of life has worked well for this anthem. It is a peppy tune and we shot the video in some beautiful locations.”
On what inspired the song, the composer says every year they try to do something for World Music Day. “This time we settled on an anthem with a simple message – to inspire people to listen to music and sing. We showcase why you don’t need to be a professional singer to enjoy singing. Anyone who loves to hum a tune should follow their heart. We also sing about the benefits of music since we have seen people connect to it. Music is also a therapy. So our anthem focusses on encouraging people to sing.”
The singers in the anthem are from different professions – techies, a bank manager, sales managers, a dentist and a housewife, says Koshy. “They were trained over workshops and separate sessions for the anthem. We wanted to convey the love for music that almost everyone shares. We’ve also roped in a few senior citizens.”
He introspects on how it all began: “I started learning music professionally later in life. Music workshops are often competitive, and often assume you already know music. Through our workshops at From Mug to Mike, we broke that and started from the basics. We have no expectations from participants. So everyone from senior citizens to housewives has joined us. Every workshop has inspired people and broken the barrier that music is too technical. We’ve even had bathroom singers break free from their inhibitions. Having no expectation is the key factor to encourage people to enjoy singing. To top it all, we give a studio experience in our workshops that is a big boost for them.”
From the video, Koshy hopes people takeaway the power of music. “Having grown up listening to Carnatic and Hindustani my whole life, I only recently started exploring Western music. I don’t want to be tied down by any genre and want to encourage people not to restrict themselves to languages or genres.”
The video is available on Youtube.