What do you think of Adele’s song Someone Like You getting a desi makeover? Minus instruments and with male voices?
Penn Masala, the group behind the a cappella rendition that meshes the song with the Hindi song Pehli Nazar Mein by Atif Aslam, is back in town for a one-night-only concert at Ductac, Mall of the Emirates, on Thursday. They performed in Dubai last year, too.
The Indian-American group founded in 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania is well known for ‘Hinglish’ mash-ups, and every year gets an update. Newcomers to the institute try their hand at holding a tune and are inducted into the troupe. So far, the gang is doing pretty well: their YouTube numbers hit about 2 million views each and they are performing songs off their 10th album, Yuva, all over the world.
The current line-up for Dubai has 14 members: Praveen Rajaguru, Kashish Hora, Pranay Sharma, Hari Ravi, Brendan McManus, Yamir Tainwala, Nikhil Raman, Wrik Sinha, Vishnu Rachakonda, Atman Panigrahi, Sanjit Chakravarty, Ajay Vasisht, Anvit Reddy and Anirudh Bikmal.
Ahead of their gig, we spoke to Ravi, Rajaguru, Sharma, Raman and Yendapally about their trip, how they made the group and what’s next on the agenda.
Here are excerpts from the interview.
This isn’t your first time in the UAE. What’s new? What can Dubai expect? And what are you looking forward to doing here?
Ravi: Dubai, be on the lookout for classic songs and our latest favourites off of Yuva! For our [freshmen], it is their first time in Dubai, so we will try to show them the places we visited last year including Burj Khalifa, sand dunes, and more. I think we are more excited to try more food. A lot of us consider ourselves foodies, so we can’t wait to try out new restaurants.
Tell us a bit about the Penn Masala selection process.
Rajaguru: Through our audition process each fall [autumn], we work hard to find the best possible freshman and sophomores to join Masala. Initially, our first round of auditions is open to any male student — no singing experience required. We ask them to prepare a verse and chorus of an English and/or Hindi song, if we like what we hear, we invite them for a series of intensive round of auditions. Unlike other a cappella groups, we have individual call backs instead of group call backs to really gauge if they would fit into the culture and spirit of the group. We have strenuous commitments with joining the group so the second round is all about seeing how well they think on their feet. It usually involves the candidate receiving two songs to sing and then we test out how they cope with complex scales and how quickly they picked up the selected songs. We also use that stage to probe them on how they handle crises. For instance, we do ask how the candidate would react and respond to the audience if they were the only person on stage and the group is running late.
After joining, new members have a great amount of responsibility early on as they learn the full repertoire of the group prior to the semester’s tour. Over time, they are exposed to different facets of the group’s operations and traditions including experience different cultures.
What are the challenges of singing a cappella? And how do you choose your songs? What’s the process of creating a mash-up?
Rajaguru: With a cappella it’s like walking a thin line between having a single sound and individual voices seeping through as well. We always have to ensure that there is a blend between parts, rhythm, tone, dynamics and everyone in the group is on the same page. We all start so young, so it gives us a strong entrepreneurial spirit to work harder to overcome the challenges.
In terms of how we choose our songs, it can take time to find that rhythm between two equally commercial songs across different languages. We usually look for a song that has very distinct musicality that we can break down in parts and try to pair that song with an English/Hindi counterpart. Luckily, we haven’t run out of ideas yet.
Do you work on fan requests?
Reddy: We have in the past and hope to continue doing so for special occasions. If a fan requests us to perform a special occasion — including a wedding or marriage proposal — we are more than happy to share that magical moment.
You’ve sung for world leaders. Who would you like to sing for next?
Raman: We have sung for global leaders before and it’s been an amazing experience. Recently though, our group would love to sing for some of the artists we cover for our mash-ups. For instance, performing Phir Le Aaya Dil for Arijit Singh would be amazing!
What’s next for Penn Masala?
Sharma: Now that Yuva is finished, we are already working on some new content for the future.
If you had to sum up your experience in a word what would it be?
Ravi: Unforgettable.
Don’t miss it!
Penn Masala will perform at Ductac, Mall of the Emirates on Thursday. Tickets start at Dh200. Doors open at 7.30pm; show starts at 8pm.
