The Hindu Business Line : Waves of harmony

2004, the death and destruction spurred people across continents to help the affected. People contributed in whatever way they could. Some choose to give musically. EarthSync, the Chennai-based music label and audio-visual production house, created Th e Laya Project that travelled across continents collecting the music of those worst affected by the tidal waves.

The tsunami might not seem the most ideal of circumstances for music. “But when you believe that music is the most primal need of man then it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?” asks Sonya Mazumdar, creator of EarthSync, “The creation and need for music are primal. There is no right or wrong, or bad music. As long as there is a creator and a listener, music will be created.”

A personal and collective musical tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, the Laya Project is dedicated to the tsunami survivors. The word ‘Laya’ derived from Sanskrit has many connotations such as life, death and destruction.

A musical journey crossing borders — through Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar and India — the album has several performances documented for the first time.

Consciously, the music has been selected from its proximity to the people who gave birth to it. That’s why the singers and music makers here are the fishermen, farmers, women working in farms, priests and ordinary people who live and die in the soil of their birth. The idea is to record these compositions, uncover talent, nurture it and create albums to give the music a global platform.

The Laya Project Live! is an offshoot that brings together 25 musicians who interpret music from the Laya Project in concerts that range from an explosive show of percussions to Buddhist chants, folk music, Sufi music, Carnatic notes, traditional instruments electronically mixed and much more.

The Laya Project Live! has been invited to open this year’s Perth International Arts Festival, the oldest annual multi-arts festival in the southern hemisphere that features some of the world’s best theatre, music, film, visual arts, street art, literature and free community events. For EarthSync, a company that believes in nurturing folk and tribal music, this is an affirmation of its core beliefs. “We are not an album-driven company,” says Sonya adding, “The tsunami made us want to contribute in ways more sustainable than just donating aid.”

However, the Laya Project isn’t a documentation of loss. “Its main focus is to give these traditional music forms a world platform. These songs are the life and soul of a community. Travelling through scenes of loss was devastating. But what stunned us was the generosity of the people and their eagerness to share their art even in times like that,” Sonya recalls.

No one ever had to be pushed to sing. “In the Maldives, we had just finished recording a percussion session when a woman came over asked if she could sing a song for us. Her patience and her enthusiasm to sing made her our cover girl,” says Sonya.

Israel-based Yotam Agam, the technical head of the company, agrees with her. “I have so many memories putting the Laya Project together,” he smiles, “We collected the songs in so many ways. In Karaikal, for example, a fisherman sang the Hylasa (a song in the album) for us which we recorded in the car with the windows rolled up (to shut out the sounds of the sea).”

Most of the songs have been collected from around temples, where people gather to stage soirees, plays or simply sing bhajans.

“The times after the tsunami saw people justifiably wary. But the minute we would tell them we were there to record their songs, we were welcomed with open arms,” says Yotam.

Sri Lanka was the first country they went to. “We didn’t know what we would find there. It was easier than India, simply because of the size of the country. We didn’t know what exactly we would record till we heard the fishermen sing while drawing their nets out of the sea,” he recalls.

Each country is a different chronicle of culture, music and art. They would usually connect with a guide or someone from the film industry there who would take them to places.

“In Myanmar, we didn’t know what to expect. There was a curfew and the police was everywhere. We tried to find a music school. Finally, we found a university that taught classical music. We heard some girls sing and recorded the song from the window. Later in the hotel, our tour guide recognised the song and got the teacher, who is very famous in Myanmar, to sing the same song for us.”

A musical journey, this project also serves as a platform for diverse cultures and languages to come together and find a common hue in music. Perth sure is going to be more colourful in the coming days!

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