BHARATI PAWASKAR
There is a reason and a purpose why and for what we are born. No one is born by accident. Believing in this law of nature, an engineering graduate Prashant Edwin backpacked 50 songs that he wrote and travelled from Nagpur to Goa three years ago, in 2015. Adding 25 more to his collection in the past three years, he now has 75 songs, all coming from his heart for enthusiastic listeners who are interested in the story behind these songs. “Each of my song has a story in the backdrop as the words come straight from my heart and the music from my soul,” admits Prashant who is performing live with a band of nine musicians at Gonsalves Mansion in Panaji with the support of ‘Goa ForGiving’ - an NGO that supports social causes. This time it’s serving as a platform for fresh talent in music.
“The show is open for all and there is a song for everyone. As an artist, I feel I must play for people who appreciate what I do. Luckily I am in the company of these wonderful co-artists who match with my own line-of-thought,” shares Prashant who has been doing shows in Goa and outside..
Prashant who writes songs, mostly, in Hindi and English, deliberates of the amazing response he gets. “Every song is my baby. I can’t say which one is my most favourite. However, ‘Mere Jism mei’ and ‘Jana’ are two songs that are close to my heart,” he quips.
Some of the artists in ‘Prashant Edwin Live’ are singers while others play sitar, guitar, cello, drums etc. Prashant came across them one by one in the past three years. They jell well. Prashant expresses his wish to work with a bigger band as he has umpteen songs in his booty and each song has different requirement.
This time Prashant will be performing with Twisha Ganger, Bobby Dee, Dane Dias, Thorne Pereira, Manasi Naik, Gautam Nina, Pushpanjali Sharma and Amey Patwardhan. He observes, “People who come to listen to us are mostly those who want something unheard of. They want to listen to music which they have never heard before and that’s the crowd we cater to.” Prashant is happy that he could bring nine like-minded musicians together to offer exactly this.
Prashant speaks through his songs, taking one on a journey of raw, unmasked aspects of life - love, anger, beauty… A versatile guitarist and an extremely talented composer, his music has a unique power to silence time. Some of his songs are three-year-old while others are seven. Admitting that ever since he penned them down he has felt that they have their own story to create a life to lead, Prashant states, “I have always wanted to bring them to light and show them the world even as I wanted the world to see them, appreciate them and connect with them.”
A weathered Dhrupad sitar player and a travelling musician from Auroville, Twisha Ganger makes the sitar sing. Legendary drummer of one of the pioneer rock bands of Mumbai, Bobby Dee is a veteran on drums. A young genius on electric guitar, Thorne Pereira is student at St Xaviers, Mapusa. Manasi Naik is a singer trained in the Indian Hindustani Classical singing art form and grew up listening to juggernauts like Bhimsen Joshi, Shobha Gurtu, Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt. A recent affinity to Jazz and Sufi music lends a more worldly character to her singing.
Relocated to Goa after abandoning the city of Mumbai and its corporate life, she now pursues her passion for being a tattoo artist and singer.
Gautam Nina and Pushpanjali Sharma are interdisciplinary performing artists, dance educators and facilitators of self-knowing practices through movement and somatic. A student of Pandit Ramdas Palsule, Amey Patwardhan is an upcoming tabla-star with unmatched speed and a profound sense of rhythm.
Dane Dias, a music enthusiast from the day his dad played Bon Jovi on the stereo, has come a long way in terms of musical taste and experience. Primarily a guitar player, Dane’s influences range from Jimi Hendrix to Tom Morello, but picking up the secondary axe, the ‘4 - string beaut’ has opened his ears to more rhythm and funk styles.
