Penn Masala bring the harmony to Dubai

A familial bond. A campus staple. An act of harmonious resilience in the midst of America’s political discord.

For 20 years, South Asian a cappella group Penn Masala have been part of the fabric of University of Pennsylvania. To hear it from group member Hari Ravi, they’ll be around for at least 20 more. One thing’s for certain: they’ll be around long enough to perform live at Ductac on August 20.

For those new to Penn Masala, they’re the world’s first Hindi a cappella group. Their songs fuse Eastern and Western hits resulting in millions of YouTube hits. Last year, they had a cameo in a cappella flick Pitch Perfect 2. In April, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan tweeted them: “Everything you guys do is good.”

In short: they’ve made it.

But the Penn Masala story predates this tightknit group of men who now consider themselves brothers. It starts with another group of young men in 1996. UPenn’s Diversity Timeline, which lists happenings as far back as the 1740s, features the group’s origin story as the singular event corresponding to that year: “A group of students formed Penn Masala, the first and world-famous Hindi a cappella group [sic].”

Today, their legacy continues with Ravi and 14 others. Whenever a member graduates, an audition opens up for someone new.

“The fact that we’ve been around for this long, especially with constant turnover in the group’s membership, is a testament to the values that Masala embodies,” Ravi told tabloid!.

“We’re confident that future students will continue to exhibit a desire to maintain a connection with their heritage and celebrate it through Masala.”

Ahead of their gig, we find out what it means to be part of Penn Masala — and their political significance in current day America.

When you arrived at Penn, did you already know you wanted be a part of Penn Masala?

Ravi: It’s kind of a mix — many of the guys knew about the group beforehand, had listened to the music, and came into Penn intending to audition. Others became more interested once they arrived on campus and had a chance to interact with the group members and see what Masala is all about.

How much time/energy commitment does it take? Is it ever tough to balance it with university work?

Sharma: To be honest, it’s a little difficult to say exactly how much time it takes. Within everyone’s first few weeks in Masala, we all came to understand that it is a serious time commitment. Depending on the week and our tour schedule, there are some times during the year where it seems as though Masala is even more of a priority than schoolwork. At the end of the day, we all love what we do and are more than happy to make adjustments in our personal schedules to make sure that we continue doing it.

How do you guys decide what songs to cover, when there’s so many members? Do you have to hash it out? Can you give us a glimpse at your creative process?

Rajaguru: While everyone is free to provide their input, we have a few members who focus on our musical content. The Music Director, in collaboration with a few group members, selects mixes, writes arrangements, and edits in studio. There are a lot of components but it ends up being a fairly fluid, albeit intensive, process. The fit between two songs is always critical, but we also consider audience appeal and a potential song’s musical fit within our album, among other things.

Are you guys friends outside of the music, or do you each walk your separate ways as soon as the jig is up?

Ravi: One of the biggest draws to Masala is the brotherhood that you’re a part of as soon as you join. Older members make it clear from the beginning that they are there for anything and everything that newer members need, from helping teach background parts to offering advice about personal or academic problems. Many of us even find ourselves reaching out to past members who graduated before we even joined the group. Of course, this mindset goes both ways — we don’t have merely a downstream flow of knowledge and support, but rather an interdependent group where everyone looks out for each other.

Q: What’s the cultural, or even political importance of having a group like Penn Masala in America today?

Sharma: Many Indian-Americans grow up in the States faced with the challenge of fitting into Western culture while simultaneously learning about and appreciating their Indian heritage. Masala serves as a bridge between the two: through music we’re able to reflect both facets of our cultural upbringing. From our interactions with fans around the country, and especially from our own experiences, we know how valuable this is and how meaningful it is to your personal growth. It can be tough trying to understand your identity when there seem to be so many distinct components, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to make that process just a little bit smoother for many of our fans.

Have you ever had celebrities reacting to your music? Any cool stories you can share? We spotted a tweet from Shah Rukh Khan in April…

Ravi: Definitely! At the beginning of this summer, during our 2016 India Tour, we met with playback singer Shaan and his family. We actually had the opportunity to sing our rendition of Mere Sapno Ki Rani with him, which was an awesome experience. We met with Tulsi Kumar in Delhi and had the opportunity to sing Salamat, one of her newest songs from the film Sarbjit, with her. She even introduced us to some of her music students so we could show them what a cappella music is all about.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about a cappella?

Rajaguru: After watching intricate and glamorous a cappella performances in things like Pitch Perfect, it’s easy to think that a cappella is incredibly difficult and beyond the scope of your abilities. We’d like to say that’s totally false. If you have an interest in singing and are curious about a cappella, go for it! It’s a lot of fun to sit down with a few friends and jam, and in the end that’s so much more significant than being able to develop a complex tune.

You currently have Brendan on board, who’s the only non-Indian member of the group. What’s the driving force behind joining Penn Masala if you’re not Indian?

Sharma: As you might have guessed, we actually do not require our members to have any one particular background. Instead, we look for students clearly interested in the group and willing to learn about South Asian music and culture. At the end of the day, we hope to find like-minded individuals who genuinely care about Masala and strive to push it further.

Nine albums have come out now. Is there another one in the works?

Rajaguru: We’ve actually begun working on what we fondly refer to as “Album 10.” We don’t want to mention too many details, but a cover we released in March, Phir Le Aaya Dil, will be on the album. In general, we try to release an album every two years or so. Because we are all full-time students, as soon as we release an album, we have to get started on the next one.

If we have potential fans reading this, who are completely new to Penn Masala — what are three videos of yours should they should go Google right now?

Sharma: We’d have to say: The AntaksRavi Project: Holi, which we released earlier this year; Tonight I’m Lovin’ You/Dilliwaali Girlfriend, one of our mixes off of Resonance, and The Evolution of Bollywood, one of our all-time favourites that paints a great picture of what our music is all about.

Penn Masala is...

Hari Ravi, Prashant Ramesh, Chetan Khanna, Anil Chitrapu, Aneesh Kanakamedala, Praveen Rajaguru, Brendan McManus, Pranay Sharma, Kashish Hora, Yamir Tainwala, Vishnu Rachakonda, Nikhil Raman, Sanjit Chakravarty, Atman Panigrahi and Wrik Sinha.

Tickets to see Penn Masala at Ductac on August 20 are Dh200-Dh800 on platinumlist.net.