After discovering that their father could not pursue his songwriting dream, the two brothers (Ashutosh and Anurag) decided to make the dream their own. Their passion drove them to study in prestigious colleges (IIT and NIT, respectively). Working on jobs, setting up ventures, traveling around, they kept exploring music and dance. Now finally their project, Purplehed – has completed its first official song and music video – Feel the Passion – which is meant to convey the message that listening to your heart and following your dreams, is the ultimate bliss.
- How and when did you get started in the music business?
Purplehed: Songwriting was my father’s dream – a dream he could not pursue. My brother and I decided to make his dream our own. From a small town and modest background, the journey to music production was a long one. I went on to study engineering at IIT Kharagpur. I had been a part of music bands since college days, but I had no formal music training. I worked on day jobs and spent time on music whenever I could. So, it took some time before I could get into composing. I started with creating background scores for my brother’s (Anurag) dance musical productions. At this stage, composing music to recording it to producing commercial quality music – everything was a challenge for me. After several years, Purplehed began operations on May 14, 2014
- Who were your first musical influences that you can remember?
Purplehed: My first musical influences were Pink Floyd, Metallica.
- Which artists are you currently listening to? And is there anyone of these that you’d like to collaborate with?
Purplehed: I appreciate the work of many artists. I love exploring various artists of different genres. A few from the current generations would be Adele, Sia, The Weeknd. I would love to collaborate with any artist who shares my vision.
- How did the name Purplehed come about and who exactly is part of the project?
Purplehed: Purplehed is the brainchild of my brother, Anurag Upadhyay and me. Purplehed vision’s to explore diverse music and dance art forms with the aim of inspiring people. Purplehed is also my stage name. Anurag Upadhyay and Krupa Shah are the lead Performing Artists for our Current and Upcoming Projects.
- What was the initial attraction towards electronic and EDM-based music?
Purplehed: EDM thrives on fresh of sounds as well as interesting of the songwriting. This freedom to be able to play with new sounds is something great but EDM.
- Which do you ultimately prefer? Entertaining a live audience or creating songs in a studio setting?
Purplehed: The high of performing live is an amazing feeling. On the other hand, the creation process at a studio is a lot of fun too. I love them both. Currently I am more focused on creating our upcoming music video.
- Your Lyrics sometimes read like poetry. Inspiring and emotional. Do you consider the lyrics of equal importance to the music when crafting a song?
Purplehed: I strongly believe the lyrics of the song should be able to add a new dimension to the melody. Meaningful, poetic or inspiring lyrics play a major role in Songwriting, for me.
- Who does what on your current release, “Feel The Passion”, and how did the song come about?
Purplehed: The song interweaves realistic stories of four diverse characters, each of them in the quest of realizing their hopes and ambitions. The one thread that binds them all is their passion to push themselves to follow their aspirations. The lyrics embody their belief of living in the moment and their will to embark on the uncertain, yet full of possibilities, path of their dreams.
The song features Shilpa Singh, who was Miss Universe – India, 2012. Feel the Passion has been directed by Biswanath Rath (a NIT alumnus and Founder of BnR Films) and choreographed by Anurag Upadhyay and Krupa Shah, who also feature in the song. The post production has been done by Jackson Garg (an IIT alumnus). I composed the music and lyrics for “Feel The Passion”. I am also the lead singer of the song.
- Which piece of hardware or software would you consider the most essential in your Production setup, and that you would never want to be without?
Purplehed: A good machine, DAW such as Logic, protocols, good audio interface, microphones, monitors, headphones and acoustically treated room are things I can’t go without.
- What is the title of your upcoming music release and what is the song about?
Purplehed: Our upcoming song is called ‘Burn Like the Sun’. It’s a tribute to ex – President of India – Late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He was a not only a scientist but a great leader and philosopher. Slated to be released in January 2016.
- Which aspect of being an independent artist and the music making process excites you most and which aspect discourages you most?
Purplehed: The freedom to experiment with diverse art forms and subjects and freedom of expression as an independent artist is very exciting. On the other hand, making and marketing music as independent artist are quite challenging.
- How do you market and manage your music career? Do you have a management team or do you control everything by yourself?
Purplehed: I market and manage my music career myself. No we don’t have any management team.
- Do you work exclusively a private home recording environment or do you use a commercial sound studio too? For example, do you outsource your mixing and mastering?
Purplehed: I’ve worked in both private and commercial setting studios. I mostly record in commercial sound studios. Yes I do collaborate with experts for my mixing and mastering.
- The best piece of advice you would like to give to fellow artists?
Purplehed: Creating something new is a time-consuming process and requires tremendous faith and perseverance. The process may entail a lot of iterations. So, it becomes important to choose something one is passionate about. If one enjoys the process, it becomes easier to get through the countless failures before the eventual success.
- Have you suffered any ‘resistance’ from within the industry, and if so how have you handled that, and how do you handle criticism and haters in general?
Purplehed: Not really. We do evaluate criticism constructively. If something positive comes out of it, we try to use the inputs.
- Do you consider Internet and all the social media websites, as fundamental to your career, and independent music in general, or do you think it has only produced a mass of mediocre “copy-and-paste” artists, who flood the web?
Purplehed: Internet and social media websites have open a lot of possibilities for independent musicians. However, with such low entry barrier to music industry, the amount of new music has also increased many folds. Hence, good quality and originality still matter a lot for new independent music to get noticed.
- If someone has never heard your music, which keywords would you personally use to describe your overall strongpoints, sound and style?
Purplehed: Passionate, Inspiring.
- What usually comes first when you set about composing a song, the lyrics or the beat?
Purplehed: The workflow is not fixed as such but. A key lyrical idea or a melody is a starting point for me in most cases.
- As you work your way through your career, which more than any other fires-up your imagination – A Grammy award, Platinum music sales or some other tangible milestone?
Purplehed: A Grammy award is right up there because that generally means that all other check boxes have been ticked.
- What is the ONE thing you are NOT willing or prepared to do EVER, in your quest to achieve a successful musical career? Maybe
Purplehed: To compromise on being myself and being original.
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