ByPuja Gupta

May 12, 2020 (IANSlife) Popular Bollywood singer Papon “wonders” how the Indian music industry will survive this period when everything has come to a standstill. He adds: “Music is not just about big bands or big banner movies. There are a lot of alternate ways to stream music and ways to alter music too.”

In a conversation with IANSlife, Papon shares his views on the survival of music post the pandemic. The artiste, who hails from the northeastern state Assam is also a popular folk singer. He speaks about the impact of the pandemic on Assamese music.

Read excerpts:

Q. How do you think Indian music industry can survive this period?
Papon: Like every other industry, the music industry is suffering equally. To look back, there was a recession last year and a lot of ups and downs in the political scenario as well. And now with COVID-19, this year also seems to have gone for a toss. Social gatherings or live shows seem impossible. So everything will slow down. I have no idea how musicians will support themselves at this time. I just hope there is a way to help these artistes earn their bread to pay their bills and survive.

We will suffer a lot this year. We need to find ways to do online concerts where people are willing to pay for the artistes for a certain amount of time and entertainment in exchange for good music. I hope India reaches a level where they have multiple genres, multiple radio stations for other forms of music and not just stick to film music. All sorts of music should flourish.

 

Q. How hard do you think folk music will be hit?
Papon: I wonder how music will survive this period. Music is consumed differently in different mediums. If you produce music that ignites a ray of hope or makes you feel good, it will definitely be consumed. And now that we have internet, it is quite easy to carry it forward. We should maybe look into diversifying music genres and the ways music can reach out to people. Music is not just about big bands or big banner movies. There are a lot of alternate ways to stream music and hear music too.

 

Q.  You must be missing all the Bihu fun that is usually observed in Assam during this time?
Papon: I have been missing Bihu shows for the last four years. Bihu is one of the best times to perform in Assam. It’s an amazing one and a half month-long carnival where people belonging to different strata and localities perform. Every night is different and I definitely miss that.

This year since people are feeling so low I decided to do a three-day concert singing only Assamese songs. When I am performing in Assam, I perform for the seven days which is generally the tradition. Now, this is also getting extended as artistes are not being able to reach all corners of Assam within the seven days. So as a result, this goes on for more than a month.

This year, one day I performed on Facebook, the other day on Youtube and then I patched in many more artistes to come and join me on Instagram live. People in Assam loved it. I have got a lot of messages from Assamese families from all around the world thanking me to help them uplift their moods during such tough times.

 

Q. You also collaborated with the online concert ‘Let’s folk together’ to help folk artistes. To what extent will the Assamese music industry suffer?
Papon: For the Assamese music industry, the big setback was the coinciding of COVID-19 with the Bihu festival. Bihu is a part of the belief of prosperity, looking ahead for the new year and is quite a big festival. During this festival, all sorts of musicians get a stage to perform. They look forward to this month to gather there and make the most of it. This is a huge loss to them. I hope the government looks into it and figure out ways to support different artists.

 

Q. How are you managing time for music during the lockdown?
Papon:  I am about to make new music or new collaborations with other music artistes over the internet. Apart from managing the house, I am keeping myself busy by creating new music to help me maintain the right kind of balance.

 

Q. How does your lockdown schedule look like?
Papon: My lockdown schedule has been busy. For the first four nights, I was extremely busy managing the house. We do not have any help. It is me, my wife, and my 2 kids. Then I slowly started making music and most of it is gone into charity shows like for 'Lets Folk Together,' 'I for India', and for a multiple of other charity shows. I have been doing my bit to give back to society. When all this settles down, I will be back to more music.

 

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Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in