Sustainable beats
Anarghya Panwar, XII I & Ishaani Chaudhary, XI B, AIS Noida
Folk-rock band Swarathma, which began its musical journey in 2002 in Mysore, has ushered in a new dawn in sustainable music by launching India’s first-ever solar-powered concert tour. Known for blending Indian folk music with Western rock, the band has set a shining example of how art can seamlessly incorporate environmental advocacy as well. We find out more.
Turning up the volume
Did you know that on an average, over a span of three days, a single concert releases 500 tons of carbon emissions? India hosts dozens of music festivals each year, with millions of attendees, and this means our country alone releases thousands of tons of emissions annually. Swarathma, meaning music that touches your soul, is constantly working towards inspiring thousands with their music that promotes environmental awareness, the most recent example being an acoustic jam in Bangalore’s Cubbon Park to support retaining the city’s green cover.
Together for a cause
The idea to use solar energy to power their concerts came a few months ago, when the band was travelling to Hooghly with their client Selco Foundation. “They told us about their success with deploying solar systems in small towns and we began to wonder why we could not power a concert with it?” shares Varun Murali. With the help of Selco Foundation and Ampere Hour, who provided SUNNY- a 100 KVA clean energy system, Swarathma has powered its eight-city concert tour in which the sound, visuals and sometimes even the stage lights are fully powered by solar or clean energy, eliminating the need for the standard diesel gensets. “This system is portable, so that we can charge it anywhere,” explains Jishnu Dasgupta. The band assures us that solar energy does not undermine the quality of music at all. In fact, it only gets better because solar energy is a far more reliable source without any voltage fluctuations. Their most recent Delhi concert was powered completely by clean energy, from the sound and light to the LED systems.
Maintaining the momentum
It’s a well-known fact that popular bands, like Coldplay, are trying to reduce their carbon footprint by switching to biofuels and Swarathma seeks popularisation of similar initiatives in India as well. Says Varun Murali, “While bands like ours are taking steps towards sustainable music, you as the audience, need to encourage venue promoters and festival organisers to adopt more sustainable practices. It is only when we all come together to create a sustainable entertainment industry, things will change.” Even before pioneering this solar revolution in music, Swarathma had already made a name for itself for creating compositions aiming to social issues. One of their songs, ‘Ee Bhoomi’, is all about the Earth becoming a paradise. The band is also associated with several movements including protests against single-use plastic, the Steel Flyover Beda protest, etc. They have also played in aid of many NGOs and conducted quite a few fund-raiser shows. “When all of us make small changes on a daily basis, we can build a sustainable world together,” signs off Sanjeev Nayak.