Lucky number 7

Lagori makes music that reflects the face of the modern Indian youth. This fusion band combines Indian classical melodies and inflections with rock music, which results in an interesting mix that is high on energy. The band gets its name “Lagori” from the popular street game played across the nation. Lagori’s music reflects the varied influences of each band member, culminating in a unique, fresh and honest sound.

Lagori created history by being the first band ever to perform for hundreds of people in the middle of bustling Brigade Road, Bangalore, at peak hour and they term it as an exhilarating experience.

Excerpts from an interview:
What is your expectation from the Hyderabad gig?
We have always loved the Hyderabad crowd. This time, it will be extra special as we will be playing before Ehsaan and Loy, artists we immensely respect and admire!

Will you roll out new songs at the Hyderabad event?
Most definitely! We are in the process of recoding our second album. The crowd can expect three new songs from us.

Why choose a name which is the traditional game, for your band?
Lagori is a game played with seven stones. Seven holds a special number for us, as the time signature 7/8 is one or favourites. We have incorporated this time in a few of our songs too. Moreover, Lagori as a game symbolises fun and energy, exactly how our music is.

Tell us about your journey to fame. We are a band that loves making music together, and our followers and fans, whom we consider family, have been with us all through this amazing journey! We owe every bit to them

How did the band form?
Geeth, Edward and Vinyl are childhood friends who played in a Hard Rock band called Fahrenheit. With the intent to now make popular music in Indian languages, Shalini and Tejas also joined this mix to form Lagori. We sing in seven Indian languages right now.

Why combine Indian classical with the rock?
India has a gamut of music listeners with varied tastes. What better way to get through everyone than combining popular forms of music.

What was the idea behind performing in the middle of bustling traffic?
We wanted to do something people hadn’t done before in Bangalore and this was the perfect thing to do. Running around for permissions got us a half-an-hour slot to perform to the public. We hadn't made any announcements as we wanted the surprise factor. It worked! Till date, people talk to us about that day!

What do you think of remix and covers?
People have gotten really creative with making remixes and some of them sound better than the original. We don’t think there is a correlation between the number of remixes and creativity with new songs. It only helps spread music that is made.

Many bands these days have been reduced to the ambience in popular hangouts of the cities. Does that concern you? Or is this the only path to making it big? There is significant opportunity in the live and the production scene for musicians to make a career doing music. The opportunities have definitely increased tenfold over the last few years.

Is the portrayal of bands in mainstream cinema fair?
The vibe from the 80s might have carried on and moved into filmmakers minds. But we think bands are much more than what’s portrayed in some of these movies.

Do you just play for the love of music or is there something more to it?
We love performing, composing and sharing our music. We just love being on stage and I think that shows. We most readily play for causes we have believed in, like fund raisers for cancer foundations and animal welfare.

What are your future projects?
Plenty of collaborations and new videos are coming up! Of course, our second album, and most definitely traveling and playing outside the country.

By Navin Pivhal