This week on South Asia Beat we speak to Vasu Dixit, the founder and lead singer of Swarathma, an Indian folk rock band based in Bangalore.

Vasu was just 22 when he started the band and had no idea about the music scene in the country.

“When we started the band eight years ago all we wanted to do was have fun and probably impress a few girls holding the guitar”

But, since then Swarathma has come a long way. The band released their debut album in 2009, toured the States and the UK as well as India.  They have made quite a name for themselves in the Indie music world. The other members of the band include Jishnu Das Gupta on bass guitar, Sanjeev on violin, Montry on Drums, Pawan Kumar on percussion and Varun on guitar.

Swarathma play in different languages including Hindi and the regional Kanada. And as Vasu tells host Dheera Sujan, their music has no age. 

“We sing for everyone- From a small kid to an old lady to the Indian modern youth.”

But for Swarathma a music show means more than performing at music festivals and corporate sponsored shows. Vasu says their idea is to reach out even to those who cannot afford to come and see any band play live.

Vasu shares some of the emotional moments of the band when they played at a blind school in Pune.

“The kids were so enthralled with every new sound they heard. A normal person would just clap if he likes the song but these kids they couldn’t see us, they wanted to know who this voice is. They wanted to touch me and feel what I was singing. My voice was not just heard; it was also touched by someone with their hands.”