Musician Saravana Gowtham makes waves with new album

BENGALURU:  What if every phase in your life were to be likened to a wave? Would you be able to stand at a distance and watch the tides rise and fall? Or would you be swept away? Musician Saravana Gowtham captures a similar emotion in his new single called A Distant Wave. Scheduled to be out on Sept. 11, the instrumental post rock single features no vocals at all. 

“If you pay close attention, it’s like my guitar is singing. It’s just not lyrics but a melody instead,” says the city-based musician, who hails from Coimbatore. Explaining the idea behind this single, he says, “All the things we go through are like waves – some high, some low. And I’m used to acting according to these things but through this song, I want to explore the concept of just being an observer. Can we all wait for the wave to ebb and flow naturally before we react to something?”Besides his solo project, Gowtham also plays the guitar for the band The Sahej Project, and undertakes bass duties for Prime Rage and Verses.

The former, however, focuses entirely on instrumental music, with his previous track, Lost Light, and upcoming EP of 4-5 tracks, also falling under the same kind of creations. “Songs with just instruments can be just as good as those with vocals. For instance, symphony orchestras also don’t have vocals but are loved by many. You can convey emotions through just instruments as well,” says the 26-year-old, who works out of his home studio on Bannerghatta Road.

Writing an instrumental single takes Gowtham 2-3 weeks. Like any vocalist, he too begins with mulling over the emotion he wants the song to convey, which can often prove to be a challenge. “IF you want to sing about love, there are so many words you can use. But it’s not the same with an instrumental track,” he explains. Writing the guitar portions and programming the drums takes 2-3 days each, and the most important part comes after this.

“I have to let the melody breathe for a week. After my break, I listen to it again and finetune till I’m satisfied with it.” The new single’s mixing and mastering was done by Hreedish Kakoty and the accompanying video’s cinematography and videography is by Shaunak Bordoloi. “But the writing and video editing was mine. In a way, you can call this a DIY project,” says Gowtham, who is hoping to release his EP by early 2021.