‘Instrumental piece can arouse emotions too’

BENGALURU: Musician Sarvana Gowtham has spent his last few years handling bass and guitar duties for city-based independent outfits like Prime Rage and The Sahej Project. But the 25-year-old artiste has now come up with his solo project and is set to release his debut single, Lost Light, on April 24. Speaking about the theme, Gowtham emphasises that while the track is a personal story, it aims to reminisce forgotten memories with an added message of optimism in the times to come. 

“Earlier, I worked on instrumental projects which consisted of dense technicalities but this single leans more towards the ambient/post-rock genre. Most people relate a song through the lyrics, I believe an instrumental piece can bring emotions similar to that of a vocally-driven track,” he says adding that in his single his handpicked setup of bass and drums followed by an interlude prior to the guitars, is an equivalent mood to vocals.

While Gowtham asserts that a larger part of solo-project is instrumentally driven, it was only after two years and a few experiments, did he draw a conclusion. “I experimented with a few tracks to gain an understanding of how one can engage with the sound. This involved listening to artistes from a similar genre pool such as Nick Johnson and Plini, one can instantly connect to their songs and they do not have vocals,” says Gowtham, adding that music by Blackstratblues, Joe Satrianni, Nick Johnson and Plini played a crucial role for him in understanding the compositions oozing out fresh elements with distinct instrumental setup.

Like other musicians confined indoors, Gowtham has made the most of his time, posting guitar covers of TV shows from the early 2000s -- Pokemon, Beyblade, etc. He adds, “The response I received was quite overwhelming, most people relate to these shows from their schooling years and these are songs which are at the back of our heads. I’m rolling out a few more of the same. When it comes to sol -projects, I am planning to hold more live sessions.”