The quote by A R Rahman, “Be original and find your inner sound. The rest will follow” is this band’s favourite. World Music Band ‘Oxygen,’ a band based in Chennai was formulated and conceived by its founder C. Girinandh during his high school. Through various cultural events, he spotted like-minded artists which gave him the idea to form a band and later started sprouting into writing original songs for the same. The band released their first album ‘Breath Of Fresh Music” in 2004 and recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. It has C. Girinandh for composing and keys, K.S. Ramana on percussions, Carl Fernandes on bass guitar, Bharath Gopal on drums, Akshay Ganesh on the violin, Lalit Talluri on the flute, and Vijay Ganesan on the guitars. Some of their influences include A R Rahman, Ilayaraja, Rush, Yanni, Dave Grusin, Shakti, and Snarky Puppy.
‘The Metagen Project,’ is an attempt by the founder of the band to explore various spectral and sonic capabilities with the latest technology to create a uniquely immersive experience. The band started this project with a song called ‘Saraswathi’ and followed it up with ‘Northern Lights.’ The album incorporates several genres like Tamil and Bihu folk. It is also their first attempt at expressing music through the language of aesthetic lighting. The project has been mixed and mastered by Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio for pristine clarity and a riveting listening experience and was also graded in Dolby Vision for an exemplary viewing experience. 36 original compositions shall be released through this album featuring various musical genres, techniques and renowned artists.
‘Thandananae’ is their third single from ‘The Metagen Project’ released on the 3rd of August. The contemporary Tamil folk fusion is dedicated to farmers, the sustainers of the civilization. C. Girinandh says, “ We believe that once the music ceases to be ephemeral it enters the condition of painting. Just like your daily activities, calendric or life-cycle rituals, work, games, enculturation, etc. How better to express it than folk? This song is our humble offering to the craftsmen of the highest order, the sustainers of civilizations – the farmers.” This multi-genre/ world fusion song took a year for production and post-production for Oxygen’s ‘Metagen.’
We cannot wait to see the other powerful anthems Oxygen has in store for us.
