HYDERABAD: A perfect balance and a dynamic combination of Hindustani, Carnatic and Progressive Rock makes their music sound unorthodox. Their debut album Coalescence promises to bring back this perfect fusion of different musical backgrounds. Formed two years ago by two friends who collaborated together given their mutual love for music, the band has come a long way now, consisting of five members.Kaushik Ramachandran’s Hindustani vocals and Nikhil Nandakumar’s Carnatic violin are accompanied by a Progressive Rock influence that comes from Ariel Samson on bass, Chimany Arharkar on guitar and Aamir Ismail Sheikh on drums. Produced by Vishal J. Singh of Amogh Symphony, Coalescence also features contributions from some very prominent musicians in the country. The band says that the release of Coalescence is their way of announcing their arrival as a major Rock act in India.Not a term that’s heard often, the name of the band 'Paradigm Shift' is inspired from the song Paradigm Shift by a popular band Dream Theatre. “It sounds like a really cool name for a band, right? Our manager Nikhil Warrier, who is also a former member, came up with the name. Later on when we learnt the meaning, we realised Paradigm shift means looking at a particular thing that gives different perspectives, so it is like an illusion. Just like our music. One gets to listen to Carnatic , Hindustani or progressive rock,” explains Ariel Samson.The band has received over fifty thousand views on their YouTube video for their cover of AR Rahman’s Roja from the film of the same name and with almost 10 thousand Soundcloud.com followers. The sampler of Coalescence and its track 'Khwabon Mein teri' has been released for online streaming. Their new album took a while to get into form and be set for release. “Over the past few years Kaushik came up with many vocal melodies of the songs. And all of us came together to work on these songs and everyone gave in their own ideas. It took us about three years to come up with the compositions,” Ariel says and adds, “The arrangement for the songs did take a while. We had to see what can be used, and what cannot be used. Our songs are very relatable and also represents who we are and fits the fusion concept we believe in.”Ariel has been playing the bass guitar for over two years now. He says defining their style of music has been quite difficult. “It is very difficult to categorise our kind of music. We alter the way we play depending on the composition. Blending the different genres together, surprisingly works well for us. We could probably be close to progressive fusion rock,” he says.Ask him how are tours effective in promoting their music, he says, “Tours are a different experience altogether. This is our first tour and we have been having great fun performing. We believe that experience of listening to music live is always better than listening to music on a DVD. And we are one such group who want to make an identity for our live performances. We always try and do something different and work with visuals.”Commenting on the independent music scene in the country, Ariel says, “Independent music is definitely getting better. People are preferring more serious music and are appreciating our kind of music as well. We just hope this gets better.”This being their first gig at Hyderabad, the bass guitarist says they are definitely expecting a decent crowd this time. “We have played at Warangal once, which is not technically Hyderabad. The band believes that people in Hyderabad have a great taste for music and we are definitely looking forward to play in the city.” The band will be performing at the Hard Rock Cafe on Thursday, from 9 pm onwards.
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