Sumesh Narayanan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“It’s difficult to dance to rhythmic beats,” says percussionist Sumesh Narayanan. After all, he has been exploring the art of drumming for over a decade.
Exactly 10 years ago, he joined popular playback singer Haricharan Seshadri along with fellow artistes Ravi G, Alaap Raju, Raghavasingh Sankaranarayanan and Vikram Rozario to perform Haricharan’s ‘Gruvida’ at the Kamaraj Arangam.
Sumesh is associated with mridangam apart from classical concerts. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Probably, this is what inspired him – many Kucheri and later even made a film – to connect with rhythm in his own unique way. Recently, he presented his solo act, ‘To Groove is Divine’, at Medai – The Stage, Chennai.
beyond the routine
This was not the first time Sumesh tried to look beyond the regular rhythms. His fans know him as a powerful percussionist of Indosol, getting people nodding their heads and shaking their hands with his tunes, which often derive from complex rhythms. SolusThis reflects his 24-year long training in the Mridangam.
But this was the first time he appeared on stage alone, which was different from his previous style. Kucheri He explored many audio-visual elements of performance while also entertaining the audience with his presentation: mridangam vs. cajon.
Sumesh, who is part of the Indosol band, believes that expressing your emotions through rhythm is beautiful. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Sumesh says, “As a mridangam player, I have been trained to produce sound with both my hands. Influenced by the cajon, I started playing it with my left hand and the mridangam with my right hand and was very pleased to see how well the two blended. The cajon gave me a round rich bass sound while the typical mridangam sound remained intact. After discovering this unique combination, I wanted to make it my own.”
Collaborating with a team of technicians, some of whom are first-timers and one is his old friend, Sumesh says TGID is a result of all his previous collaborations and the vocabulary he has acquired that has helped him advance in programming, art arranging, and composition.
He says he is excited to “find the beauty in imperfection,” because that is the unique quality that gives birth to a story on stage. Ask him more, and he says he doesn’t know either – things just come out on stage.
“You know that moment of intense satisfaction you experience when you go on stage, after a well-executed idea? Well, that moment is completely unplanned. As passionate as I am as a performer, I love composing just as much. I can never satisfy my desire to experiment. I just want to sit down and play every sound that comes to my mind. Because honestly, He “This is my story,” says Sumesh.
