BACKTRACKS | Jhankaar The Band

IN this modern day and age, classical music has become somewhat of an acquired taste or a rare genre that only the purists could truly savor.

This could be said for Indian folk songs — a genre of music that played on older radio stations in the sugarcane fields of rural Fiji and popular among older generations of Girmitiya descendants clinging onto the stories of their forefathers’ journey to a small island in the South Pacific centuries prior.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a small all-Indian band at The Gateway of India in the Waiyavi Hub in Lautoka that played a cover of Jimmy Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now also played classical folk songs many of which are originals.

The band is Jhankaar The Band, a group of seasoned musicians who grew up on classical music that have inspired them to turn into a career and to release their celebrated albums ­—­ Girmit Gatha Volume I and Girmit Gatha Volume II.

Band manager and drummer/percussionist Samresh Rao is one of the brains behind the band’s more modern turn but his love for classical music is still very much alive.

In fact, this passion of his began when he was in primary school learning from his close family and relatives the musical sounds of his forefathers.

“For me personally I grew up in the devotional musical scene,” Rao said.

“I was playing the tabla and percussions as a primary school student, and then when I went to Suva Grammar. I was also part of the school choir and the school band.”

Rao said music has always followed him.

“When I reached university, I played drums and percussions for a few bands around Fiji and was fortunate enough to be part of my first ever concert which was called the Legends Concerts.

“They featured the likes of Jimmy Subhaydas (notably known as Fiji’s golden voice) and then later on I did some gigs with the Bad Boy’s orchestra.

“Then in 2003, the original members, including myself and Vikash Reddy, decided to form a band.

“I was still in primary school at the time, so when I was in the band, I was also doing these other gigs and concerts.

“At one point I was also part of the band Deja Vu, and with them I was able to attend an international jazz and blues festival.

“So from these different experiences, I took what I learned and brought it back to Jhankaar.”

Before the band became what it is today, Rao distinctly recalled the moment they came up with the band’s name.

“One of our founding members is our guru Mr Viveka Nand who was a music tutor at the Indian High Commission.

“When we were still coming up with ideas for the band, we were watching a music show from India, and I saw a big banner behind one of the musicians that had the word Jhankaar and I asked him what that word meant.

“He said it meant resonance. That word really clicked for us because if you want to do music and be a musician, a composer or a producer, you have to be able to make music that when people listen to it, they can resonate with it or it makes an impact on them.

“Your audience should be able to remember you by your music. So, that is a name that really meant a lot to us.”

Rao said since 2003 and a three-year hiatus from 2012, the band has been going strong.

“I received a scholarship to get my degree in music from the Indian High Commission.

“So, when I went in 2012 and because I was the guy that was basically managing the group, we had to temporarily disband it.

“I returned in 2015 after getting my Bachelor of Arts in Instrumental Music from the Rabhindra Bharti University in Kolkata.”

Rao said he and Vikash Reddy wanted to revive the band “but then I was based in the West because I was teaching music at the Lautoka Girmit Centre and the Nadi Cultural Centre.

“So, instead of coming back to Suva, we decided to start a small band in Nadi so that we could pursue our passion for music.

“Even though we were working, as musicians we still wanted to do something again in 2016 like a revival of the band but then we had only three musicians and now we have about eight members.

“From 2016 to October this year, we have done about 22 live concerts.

“Besides that we have our weekly gigs at private events, restaurants and at resorts.

“The band right now is a mixture of old and new and to be very honest we are a very diverse band.

“The female vocalist is Zana and I’m the drummer and percussionist. We travel weekly to Suva for gigs and our lead vocalist lives in Sigatoka and our keyboard player is from Lautoka while the rest of the members are based in Nadi.”

Rao said while their main genre is Indian classic songs, they’ve also dabbled in more modern upbeat Bollywood and English hits, showcasing their versatility.

“We like to play a wide genre of music.

“The main content is Bollywood covers but when you look at videos of our gigs at restaurants and hotels, we also play some English songs.

“We might probably be the only band that plays a couple of iTaukei songs as well just to make it inclusive because we’ve done some private events in Naisoso and Denarau, and in these kinds of events we can’t go full on Indian music, so we also do Bollywood covers.

“We want to try to add in some classic English songs with some Elton John, Celine Dion in there just to get into that market and also prove we are able to play in front of a diverse crowd of people. It also displays our versatility.”

Next week: Telling the stories of their forefathers to a new generation

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