Ep. 10 Srikkanth Natarajan - The Chennai Scene

In this episode of "Stage Matters," host Aravind sits down with Srikkanth Natarajan, a concert promoter, event organizer, and artist manager, to discuss the often-overlooked side of the live music industry. Srikkanth shares his journey from being a music lover with a knack for organizing to becoming a key player in the Chennai scene.

He delves into the "magical" experience of live performances and how his understanding of music has evolved to appreciate both technicality and artistic expression. Listeners will get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to put on a successful show, from the crucial steps of booking and tech advancing to the frustrations of promotion and the importance of adaptability when things go wrong.

Srikkanth offers a candid perspective on his relationships with performers, revealing what he expects from artists and the challenges of dealing with unreasonable demands and "tantrums." He also provides a realistic and insightful take on the state of the live music industry in India, discussing the financial realities, the dominance of big-name artists, and the uphill battle faced by the independent music scene. This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about the hard work, passion, and stress that go into making live music happen.

Chapters

• 0:00 intro
• 1:34 why this
• 8:52 what does it take to put up a show
• 23:34 what do you expect out of a performer
• 28:55 concert economy
• 34:06 how do you make it work financially
• 40:00 srikkanth intro
• 44:32 success and failure of a show

Transcript

Hi Srikanth. Hey Arvind. Welcome to Stage Matters.
 Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for having me. 

This is actually very exciting for me because you are the first non-musician, first person coming from an event organiser, concert promoter, artist management perspective. So I still don't know what I'm going to ask you, but we'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. 

I don't know what I'm going to tell you also. So it's going to be interesting. So why did you get into this? That's a straight, straight into the middle of it. 

That's a good place to start, I think. So why, while growing up, I had a lot of friends who are musicians and I also tried to be a musician. I used to go, I learned to play the guitar a little bit. 

I used to go for drums classes and I always have loved music. And for some reason, I know I could never like put a lot of time and energy behind playing the instrument. I would, I mean, I started and I would learn some stuff, but like sticking with it has been always like a problem. 

But through the years I found out that I was good at other stuff naturally. A lot of my, like the skills that I had, like growing up, I just seemed to be able to manage and organise things pretty well, you know, from whether it's like amongst friends or even like in college or like once I started working as well in my first corporate job, I kind of just had a better, I was able to manage people, organise things, get people to kind of agree on certain some things to make things happen, always organise the events, you know. So it has been just like these skills that I seem to be good at. 

And then after a point, like I could never become a musician, but I loved always being around music. So I decided to apply those skills here and then take whatever like management and other skills that I've picked up, you know, throughout my journey and bring it to the world of music and hope that I could kind of improve what the state of things are in this country. And, you know, just be a little bit, be a part of, you know, something bigger. 

So that's what it's been. And yeah, it's been an interesting journey. So what's it about live performances and live music that you enjoy so much that you decided to make it your business? It's a good question. 

I mean, of course, there's that connection, right? Like, how many I have loved going to gigs all through my life and, you know, being a part, you know, just in being the audience, when there's such a great live musical act going on, that connection that you have with the artist at that moment of time, like, especially if you know the music that, you know, is being performed, or even if you don't know the music also, you're able to just be in that moment. And, you know, 

there is nothing else at that moment apart from music, you, the audience and the space, and all the people around you. And I don't know, it's magical, I think more people need to experience that. 

And then you would feel, you know, a lot more better about life. So how has your understanding of performance evolved from then to now? Oh, yeah, that's changed heavily, like, just by being around music now for the last, I mean, for sure, like listening to music from very young age, watching people perform, right from school, and like, I used to go and attend a lot of gigs. So I have seen people, how they've evolved as musicians, how they've evolved as people, you know, and not just the people around me, but like, you see how, like the live, live, the live space as a whole has kind of just like elevated, like people, how it has changed, you know, they've brought a lot of technology into it and stuff like that. 

So how things have changed. I mean, not how things have changed, but how has your understanding how my has my understanding of performance? Yeah, so from now, like, now I'm able to kind of separate the technicality and, like, the musicality of a performance. I don't know if that's the right way to differentiate things. 

But like, first of all, you get to understand, like people how skilled they are just by looking at them perform. And then by kind of listening to a lot of genres and not being like very particularly, you know, like sticking with one genre and being very elitist about it. If you listen to all music, you see someone who's like technically advanced and who can play things. 

And they may be really good, you know, as a musician at that moment, but they might not have like a great artistic expression. Right. And over time, you get to kind of like read artists and like kind of read and understand, you know, what kind of a performance it's going to be. 

And my understanding of it has like kind of it has grown into this, like a larger universe in a sense, because now you kind of like take things for what they are, you know, and within the space of its genre, you know, and you kind of respect it within that space. You don't have to be elitist about your genres. And like, there is something to enjoy even in a singer songwriter as well as in a metal show. 

So it is what it is. And I think that is my biggest like, I'm grateful to be able to enjoy all sorts of music. So what do you look for in a performer that you'd like to sign up or like you like to work with? What are the main factors? I think artistic expression, right? Like, before you get to like, there are artists who may not be like technically great, but who have like a very strong artistic expression, they are able to express themselves. 

A voice that says something. Yeah, a voice that says something in a very original way. And I think that is the biggest thing like you need to have a real passion for, you know, whatever you're making and want to make something which is, you know, stands out or is different or make a statement. 

Right. So that that is the first thing. And I think if someone has that and that little bit of drive, the rest of it comes like, you can, you can become technically good at an instrument. 

You know, you can learn to be comfortable on stage, you can figure out how to produce your music in, you know, in a way that would reach a lot of people. But beginning at, you know, first, you need to have that want to tell something to the world, I guess. Yeah. 

Wonderful. Could you take me through what it takes to put up a show? Starting from the very beginning, saying, you say, what, planning and then? Planning. Before the show, then on the day of the show. 

Okay. Like, first of all, it's the real work starts way, way before the show. And first of all, you have to, you have to first do the booking. 

Right. And it's a little different in our country versus other countries, because we kind of like, I think India has not developed so much in this space, as much as like, we have gotten on par with, you know, the Western certain spaces, certain like industries and stuff. But live music as an industry is very nascent in this country. 

And what ends up happening is that people tend to wear multiple hats, they have to, what would generally in the West or in the states or other places would be jobs done by, like, probably six different people in our country is done by like two people, right? Like there is in this space, there is a promoter, there is a venue, there is a stage manager, there's a booking agent, there is a, you know, A&R guy, there is an artist manager, there is stage tech, there's a bunch of people, you know, in that space. But since we are in a country where, like, we really don't have enough money to give to that many people. So it ends up that a lot of things are being like have to be done by you. 

So for me, that is first that is booking, booking the show, closing it with the venue, closing the date with the artist, then any organisational things like accommodation for the artists or like figuring out, you know, their logistical issues, sorting all of that out, that comes second, like planning all of that, then they call it tech advancing, tech advancing is when the artist sends over the tech writer, and then have to make sure that we get the tech writer for the show. Then comes... Could you explain to our audience what a tech writer is for people who don't know? A tech writer is basically a document which every artist should have, which kind of tells the venue or the sound vendor who is handling their live show exactly what their setup is. So anybody should be able to look at that tech writer, it's just a PDF document usually, which will tell me a bunch of different things, starting from what instruments, how many people are in my band? What instruments do they all play? What microphones would they prefer to use? If there is a stage, a plot of the stage with where each person's position on this on the stage is supposed to be as well as any amps and other items that you need any instruments and everything that you need plotted out on a virtual stage if you can. 

And if you have a sound engineer, a list of the channels of the different instruments that he's 

going to use, which is called a patch list. So all of these things are generally part of a tech writer. Now for an amateur band, it does not need to be great because you're still like probably figuring out your sound and you're not going to need a lot of things. 

But as you progress as a band, you'll want to have a specific setup for your band, like when it comes to your drum kit and like how many cymbal stands you need and like I need a specific amp and I need certain whatever it requires, like a stand for your keyboard and everything should basically, if you need to do a show professionally and you're a band of really high standards, then you will definitely have a very meticulate and detailed tech writer. And this is part of the advancing. So the artist manager usually shares that tech writer with the venue, the vendor, the organiser, and it's their job to kind of like reach an understanding on, hey, this is what we have and this is what we can give you and that negotiation is done. 

So that has to happen way before the show, like during the booking time is when you should need to do this tech advancing and finish your tech advancing. And then in India, as I said, since we don multiple hats, we start, like I have to create the ticketing page. I start putting out creatives for the show, the posters and all the different adapts. 

And then we start the promotional phase, which is now the like, okay, I've done the setup. Now comes the majority of the work, which is the promotion, which is just and like, it has to reach as many people as possible, because you're at the end of the day, you're a promoter and you're organising music and you need people to come and attend your shows to be profitable. So you promoted as much as possible different channels, different ways, social media, you know, figure out all your promotional channels, sell as many tickets as possible. 

And finally, the day before the show, ensure, you know, everything is set up properly, your artists are ready to come and they're going to, you know, they're all the logistics are sorted and they make it to the venue on time, you know, make sure all of that stuff happens. And then on the day of the show, first of all is making a schedule for the day. So that usually starts with, you know, what time we are going to do setup, do the sound setup, that starts first, that is usually like a couple of hours. 

It takes just like setup all your PA, your speakers, whatever is needed on the stage. And then we do sound checks with every band, every band gets a certain amount of time for sound check. And they do the sound check and we set up like make sure that everything is good to go for the show, have people at the gate if we need to, you know, have any like amenities like water or anything set up so that it's easy, you know, mark the entry so that people know where to come. 

Like this is a problem so far. We have to always put signs. Now we make a video from the main road, how do you come to the venue, you know, really make it simple for people to make it to the venue. 

And yeah, make sure communication goes out to all the ticket holders about, you know, anything that needs to be told to them parking this thing, whatever related whatever to the 

show. And yeah, you just pray people come after that point. Hope that everyone turns up. 

What for you is the most joyous and pleasurable part of this whole process? Of course. And also what is the most frustrating and the most challenging part? Okay, it both will be, I mean, promotion is definitely one of the most frustrating parts. Like, I don't think a lot of us really enjoy spending a lot of time on social media. 

We do it because we have to. Yeah. And the problem with social media is that it's very easy for people to just outpay you and just do better social media than you. 

So what happens is that even if we, you know, do, you know, make some videos, which are great, and try to push them and try to, you know, get the engagement that we need, there are people who just always pay more, and then your stuff gets pushed to the bottom anyway. So promotion is definitely a very annoying part of this having to constantly, hey, tell people, hey, the show is happening. Hey, the show is happening. 

But yeah, it is part of this. It's in part of this entire ordeal, it needs to be done because without it, you know, that's, it's just not gonna happen. Yeah, the show just won't happen. 

So that definitely is the most annoying part of it. I've learned to like, love it in my own way, like, try to be just unique and be yourself on social media when, you know, be while promoting just be, you know, we are, we are, be a little corny if you have to be, you know, talk about stuff, which will, you know, try to reach more people. And like, I was trying to make like memes with RCB and stuff this time, just to kind of push engagement. 

So you have to do what you got to do. The best part of it is, of course, like, when the gig goes smooth, and there's a moment like halfway through the set, just look at everybody who's come. And then, like, there's that moment where you just kind of really just are so glad that you did this, that all of this was worth it, you know, like all the work that has gone in, you know, in the last whatever, how long it took for you to put this together. 

It's worth it. Because this moment, you know, to be able to have this kind of an experience, a lot more people are happier with it than without it. So, yeah, I just wish more people came for shows and also understood that. 

And, you know, felt that way. So, okay, yes, that's the best part of a show. So in this whole thing, during the pre-production, the production on the day of the show, lots of things can go south, go wrong. 

So you, how do you handle it? You have to think on your feet, right? Yeah, yeah, you have to be on your feet. What is that? Do you get like flustered? Does it like affect you? Yeah, yeah, it definitely does. There is one adapt, improvise, overcome. 

I think that's very relevant for live events, you know, learning to kind of adapt to the situation. And yeah, you can't predict sometimes, you know. Could you like, give me some example of 

something's happened? Like a couple of things. 

This, I'll give you a couple of examples. We were at, I was stage managing Kowloon Point, the day stage in Kowloon Point last year, I think it was two years back or so. And the first day or second day, it starts pouring, right? And we have, like, of course, thought that there might be rain. 

So the stage is covered, the audience is also covered, FOH consoles, everything is covered, right? So there's a Shyam Yana, and it starts raining. Okay, it's fine. But then, in fact, we are even so well equipped that we can continue with the rain. 

There won't be any, I mean, everything that needs to be covered is covered. So as long as there is no problem, we can continue the show, show is going great. In fact, while it started raining, it was going really, really well. 

And then the rain just picks up and picks up and picks up and picks up and it doesn't stop. And then what starts happening is that the water has nowhere to go. Yeah. 

And it starts filling up even below the tent and the Shyam Yana and the stage and it's just filling up and filling up and filling up and filling up. And like, we are already now ankle deep in water. Standing in the audience. 

Yes. And yeah, at that point, we had to like kind of call it take a break. And we had to literally call somebody to help us dig a trench so that we can put, you know, direct the water into a gutter and kind of, you know, deal with that. 

And things got a little delayed and stuff. But, you know, how do you predict? I mean, OK, sure, it's going to rain. We have taken certain required like steps, but it was not adequate. 

It was not enough. So, OK, what do you do at that point? You have to take it, you know, call like decide on the go and decide whether you're going to stop this or continue or like if you make all these decisions real time, it's boring. You can't really make it from one place to the next. 

You have to figure out, make sure power is not, you know, compromised and don't want any shocks and stuff like that. So there's a lot of stuff happening and then you have to coordinate with that many people to make sure that, you know, everybody is safe. So, yeah, that is one way like you can't really predict weather. 

Weather is one which will always kind of kill your gig. And in Chennai, if it rains, people won't turn up for the show. Like, they'll just, they'll just not even turn up. 

So, like, it'll be fine. Three weeks will be fine. That day of the show, one hour before 6.30, it'll start raining. 

That's all. It's done. The show is done. 

Yeah, it is. The industry is still growing. There's a lot of room for it to go. 

But I don't know. I've always been pretty positive about it and with a hopeful future that I feel like there is a hopeful future in the live industry in India. Just need some time to kind of grow and I think we need to learn a lot of things from other people, which is slowly happening. 

And yeah, we'll get there. I've been asking performers and musicians what they expect out of an organiser or a promoter. And they've all come up with various things like, good, like communication, coordination, pay on time, etc, etc. 

I want to flip that on to you. And what do you expect out of a performer who works with you? Interesting. Okay. 

So, yeah, communication, I think, is the name of the game. And if you can't, you know, you as an artist or as a performer are not really great at communication and you'd rather have a manager, great, you know, that that's why the managers exist. So, as long as there's clear communication, because sometimes artists can be a little unreasonable. 

And that is something which, like, I understand it also from a like, from one perspective, because they have gone through a lot of experiences, gone through a lot of shit while trying to, like, grow, right. And then they have, they are a little distrustful towards organisers, which is fair, I think a little bit of distrust is healthy, is, you know, a little bit of, you know, distrust is healthy. But sometimes artists can be unreasonable. 

That's a tough one, like unreasonable with asks. Like we are doing an indie show, somebody can't come and tell me, I want five star hotel stay, I want steak, somebody had that in their hospitality rider. Similar to a tech rider, there is a document called the hospitality rider, which doesn't exist, like the idea of it doesn't exist in India, because hospitality in India, when it comes to musicians, and this is someone who I'm not just an organiser, I'm also an artist manager. 

So like, I face, I like, have to do this for other people at the same time, I also try to get the most for my artist, right. And when you're playing both sides of this, like, you get to, I just don't want to deal with artists who are unnecessarily unreasonable and being very particular with their demands and stuff like that. If you're ready to meet me somewhere halfway, and I'll make sure that, you know, you have a good experience. 

So yeah, just be kind of understanding towards what the organiser is also working with. If we had like a lot of money to throw, in this indie space, we don't, right? Like we had money to throw around. Yeah, sure. 

I'd love to give everyone five star hotel treatment and steak for dinner. That's what someone had in their hospitality. Someone was like, I want beef steak and mashed potatoes, something like that. 

I will drink only sparkling Evian water. And I've read hospitality writers are like this. I'm like, yo, 

from indie artists or like Indian artists. 

And I asked him, do you know where we are? Like, your demands here make no sense. Like, I cannot make some things just we don't have the funding and financials to do it. So yeah, it is I am also bound by like, you know, the circumstances and what what you're working with. 

So also, this is never personal, like, at the end of the day, it is business and we are trying our level best to kind of do things in a good way, in a responsible way and make sure that everyone is properly compensated. So, yeah, be reasonable with demands. Meet us halfway. 

Don't pull tantrums. So do tantrums happen? Sometimes. Sometimes. 

But generally, as long as you have given, they've provided a good experience, artists don't tend to, you know, give too much tantrums. But yeah, there are there have been times, I'm not going to name specific times, but there have been times when the requests have just been unreasonable or at an unreasonable time, or like, you know, being overly pushy about something and I think one problem always is dealing with like, drunk artists. I can say this. 

Asking about this. Like dealing with drunk artists is a pain. I mean, there are people who drink and they're not a problem. 

That's great. I really appreciate those people. The problem is the artists who get drink and just be like, they just step out of their bounds and 

You know, you lose control of the situation, it's tough, you know, so that has been a tough thing to deal with sometimes. Unreasonable artists who is often inebriated. Yeah, okay. 

So you briefly touched upon the topic of money. So how is, is there like money to be made? Is it easy? Is it tough? What does, how has it been for you? It's been tough. I won't say it's easy. 

Like, um, it's not, it's not easy money. There's a lot of work that goes into it. Definitely. 

It seems to be this thing going on that the concert economy is booming in India and easy money to be made. That is at that level. Like what they have found is that there are a lot of people, basically, higher, like higher middle class who are ready to spend, who have grown up listening to a lot of English music and who are ready to spend money for. 

Not just English, even like Diljit. Diljit and stuff like that. Or Jit Singh.
 Anibro. Yeah, but, ah, that's true. Yeah.
 Anibro. But Anibro, Anibro is playing everywhere except Chennai. He is doing his tour. 

And, um, yeah, definitely there is money to be made. And the good thing is that it's like every... But it's only at that level. At a super high level of like capacities above, uh, 25 to 30,000, you know? And yes, definitely. 

There is like, if you're working in that kind of like concert space and concert circle, that is, I think, a very, um, legitimate way to, um, like monetise and make money from this. At the end of the day, it's like, it's like a game of, it's a game of numbers. Right. 

And, um, I can pull a lot more money into this if a lot more people are listening or buy tickets, you know, my audience is away more. So what happens is that artists who are already big, they reach a lot more people, you know, they're able, their numbers are just too, like, really, really good. Simply because of the fact that they make music, which is shown to more people. 

Like, for example, Tamil movies. I don't think we have had any good Tamil music in the last five to six years, like from movies. At one point in time, that's where, uh, all like music that we were consuming. 

I'm talking purely from like Tamil space. Right. And all the music was only from movies. 

And you can't say that that music was bad. Like they were great, like nineties and like ARM on early music. And there is so much great music, but I haven't heard any good music from a Tamil movie in the last five to seven years. 

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I, I honestly, this is your opinion. So this is my opinion. 

Yeah. I'm not here to correct you or. Yeah. 

So what has happened? Is it that like, I feel like it has just become again, the same social media's self fulfilling circle of like somebody who already has a lot of numbers can reach more people. Hence makes more money. Hence is able to do more things. 

And this kind of self fulfilling circle has, uh, taken the industry into a space which is not so artistically or creatively, you know, um, that it's not that like there's, there's no creativity in like Tamil film music today. And, um, I mean, there used to be a lot more, you know, there, it used to be way better. Now it's just a lot of derivative stuff. 

So, uh, it becomes, it becomes tough when you're an independent artist and you're just not shown to as many people. Like I am sure people will love CNR if one of his songs came in like a soundtrack of a movie, you know, how perception towards an Indian artist would change. Like people already really love his music. 

And those are people who have discovered him outside of this independently. Right. And, uh, if you ask any of them, they would say his music is better than any movie that has come in cinema in recent past. 

Would he ever be placed in there? That's why don't people do that? Nobody's placing his music there. It deserves that and more, you know, it simply because whatever it may be numbers game, they don't think it to be suiting the general mindset of like what people don't will not like it. What, what is the problem? Right. 

It, it, it's just simply a matter of getting like reach more people and people will obviously hear it and they'll understand, they will know, understand the value of it and they will treat it as such. So yeah, unfortunately at the level of like, if you were a major, uh, musician who can reach like lakhs of people, yes, the music industry is profitable for you, for you to do probably one show a year in every like major city where, which listens to your music, you could do that and you could make decent amount of money. Um, but indie is still in a very nascent stage. 

It's got a long, long, long way to go. Uh, it's getting there. I really believe that, you know, it's, uh, just the process of getting there. 

Um, and it'll get there. It'll just take its time. So you as a artist manager and a promoter have to depend on multiple streams of revenue to make it work for you. 

Yes. Always. Like, oh, from financial aspect. 

Um, yeah, it, then also with this music and art, it, it may feel like a 24 seven job, but for the longest time, like if people don't know what you're doing, uh, what are you, what are you up to? Right. Like it can just feel like a lot of days where nothing is happening. And then suddenly 

days, like days, which feel like months and then days, which feel like seconds, like they just go in seconds where you suddenly are, you know, in the middle of something. 

So, um, it is important to kind of like, um, make it easy for you to survive. You need to be able to break that, you know, in distributed across your calendar in such a way that, um, you keep yourself busy as much as possible during all the different times of the year, as well as, uh, financially, you know, keep things viable. Like for example, once, uh, October, November, December starts, what happens is that they call it festival season begins. 

And generally that means that there are a lot more opportunities because a lot of festivals are being organised and just a lot more events are happening. And you have to kind of, that's when I find all my artist friends are super busy. They all get, they have to do their corporate shows. 

They play weddings. They, at the same time, whoever is performing at like bigger festivals, they get called. And it just is that one, three, four months period sound engineers, everyone is busy for one, three, four month period. 

And then suddenly there is three months of nothing, right? So that gets over in January. And then after that for three months, everyone just sits and just looks at each other's faces and they don't even step out of home. So you have to make a well sunshines and, uh, there are, you know, the, it's not always the same. 

Every month is not the same. So yeah, you got to adapt to that kind of plan out, you know, what are you going to be focussing on in different parts of the year so that you stay financially, um, you know, good while you're trying to navigate the space. Cause at the end of the day, like it's very unpredictable and you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow in a sense. 

Is there lots of stress? Yeah. People think that this is like super, uh, this is, Oh bro, you have the best job. Yeah, exactly. 

Yeah. Yeah. You're organising music. 

I don't think you get it. Like these are people's lives. We have devoted our time, life and energy into pursuing an art, which does not make financial sense today. 

Right. It is in the hope that at some point in the future, our music reaches some end of people or like our event reaches enough people that it, it makes things financially make sense. It took Hanuman kind years to become, uh, like he spent years grinding. 

It took one hit and then his life has changed. Yeah. Right. 

And it would be great if we all got that one hit in our lives to kind of change our lives. But till then it's a grind. Some of us will never get that hit and it's fine. 

Like as an organiser, I'm not making music, but I hope to support artists who, you know, do make great music. So yes, there is stress. Like it's not the same kind of stress as a corporate job 

as someone who has worked a corporate job and who has gotten very stressed working at a corporate job. 

Uh, I would say that in life, like, uh, that, that kind of stress is just not needed. That's a different kind of stress here. You're stressed, but at the end of the day, you love what you're doing. 

So that kind of makes up for everything, but there is like definitely a stress, stress of failing, like fear of failure, fear of this thing, not happening. Event is not happening. Fear of the unknown, right? You can't control these things. 

So of course, uh, stress is there. Stress is always there. I think what you just have to find stuff worth fighting for, you know, and, uh, I was very stressed out while I was working in my corporate job and I've kind of learned to like, the stress will always be there, but how you get affected by it has to change. 

So learn, learning to, you know, take things as they come and, uh, you can plan about 80%, but 20%, you just can't, you have no control over. So plan as much as you can and hope for the best and have a good attitude about it at the end of the day, because yeah, it is what it is. There seems to be a serious lack of venues, right? Where, which are dedicated music venues and not bars that accidentally have a venue. 

So the problem in, uh, Chennai is that nobody thinks of, uh, live music as a very, uh, viable, like financial project. I don't know what it is from a ROI perspective. I don't think it makes a lot of sense because see at the end of the day, what do venues do? Venues, fine. 

If there is a pure music venue, that's one thing, but everything else, they are not selling the music. They're selling some ancillary item, either it is food or it is alcohol or it is some like instruments or like it is an experience, you know? So, uh, what has happened is that again, priorities, when you do this, the idea is about making money and it's not about the music. That is the problem. 

And, uh, for, for venues, it's, it's no more about having, yeah, it's no more about having this, like any, they don't stand for anything. They just want to make money at the end. That is kind of like, why would you hire a band when I can hire a DJ for a quarter of the price and I don't have to spend for, you know, hiring sound and hiring an engineer and, uh, doing all of that. 

And it's just so much at the end of the day, there seems to be a serious problem with people, bands with drum kits nowadays. Drum kits are the enemy, basically, because they, yeah. So it just so happens that it does not make it financially viable to host live music anymore. 

It doesn't, it doesn't make sense. Like if I were a bar venue, I would not think of live music as my first option from a purely financial point of view. No, it does not, does just, does not make any sense. 

I would rather spend on getting some DJ and, you know, like it would bring in the same amount 

of money in terms of like how much food or alcohol that I sell in the night. Right. And this is the issue. 

Right. Because when you're, you're not in prioritising this, the art form is just going to die off. Like there is no financial incentive for it anymore. 

At some point, somebody should say that, hey, music is not for making money off food and alcohol. We're here for music's sake. I understand. 

Like I'm not idealistic. Yeah, I understand that people have to make money. Yeah. 

You have to make money because they have invested in their building a business. So I get it. But at the same time, you're trying to make, I'm trying to make something else like a different kind of culture build in the city. 

And all I can say is that audiences will be different. So a lot of challenges. So it gets a little tough. 

Chennai, the venue problem in Chennai is, yeah, it's an annoying one. I just hope somebody solves it sooner rather than later. That'd be really nice. 

Enough of the bleakness. Yes. Thank you. 

So what do you think is so beautiful about a live performance that is not there in any other, say, a recorded medium? I guess what you do, right? I mean, sure, you can enjoy music. And this is something I also tell the bands which I manage, like your live version of the song need not be the perfect recreation of the studio version of the song, because at the end of the day, they are two different things. The studio version of the song, unfortunately, we are making music today in today's with a very with an audience which has a very poor attention span, dealing with an algorithm which does not prioritise music, which has certain aspects, which apparently if you a lot of people skip the song within the first 30 seconds, your song is very poorly ranked. 

It gets destroyed by the algorithm. So the first 30 seconds, the first 30 seconds skip rate is a very important metric by which they like this decides the success of a song or not. Yeah. 

So what I really like about live performances versus the studio version, if a band has really like puts in the time to kind of make their live performance stand out or like give, especially people listen to the same track again and again, you actually give them something a little different. Right. It could immediately catch their attention. 

So something that makes it interesting, you know, things which make live music interesting are that those little moments, the connection, the artists playing off each other. Right. So, yeah, those things prioritise those things or just like just recreating the song. 

So how do you define success or failure of a show or of a band? Hmm. They're very like it's a very tough one. I know artists feel very different because I always I speak coming from your 

point of view. 

Yeah. As long as people are happy at the end of the day, I think I'm happy with that. And that's people listen in the audience. 

So that could be the audience, the artists, the venue. Right. Like these are there are way too many people to keep happy. 

You're an organiser. But yeah, that is the that is this is how it is. You have to ensure my venue has done decently well to be profitable, to make sure that your show has not been a failure for them. 

I need to make sure my artists had a good show with regards like technically sound wise, they were OK, they didn't have any issues like technical issues and at the same time were able to do a good show. And then there is the audience who had a good experience and they had a good experience or not. So it's like I have to make sure everyone is happy. 

It's the toughest job, actually, amongst all the three. Like artists, when I talk to them, how do you like how was the show, you know, if they have had a good show or not? They sometimes like artists are able to connect with the audience and then like do stuff which connects to the audience, but they might not be internally happy with what they've done. That happens a lot of a lot of time, a lot of times, like from my experience, I feel like I've had a shit show, but everyone in the audience loves it. 

Right. So that so for you, your thing for you, what you're looking for is different. You're looking for that kind of like that connection with your bandmates. 

And that if you don't if you don't feel like you're locked in properly during the show and stuff like that, that stuff can get you definitely make sure make you feel like it was a failure. But I as an I've often as an organiser, I hear this and I'm like, oh, OK, I mean, you guys look fine. Sometimes you can hear it like, you know, and like the artists are having a terrible time and it shows and they're not able to do anything about it. 

And it's a bad experience for everybody. There are times when that happens, you know, and that definitely makes it feel like a failure. But there's a lot of things that like there can be a situation where the artist is unhappy, the crowd is happy. 

There is a situation where a crowd is happy, artist is unhappy and most situations the venue is unhappy because they'll be like, we didn't make enough money. But yeah, you just failure is at the end of the day, I don't know, you just go home feeling better about yourself at the end of the show. Well, combination of all these things. 

Yes. Do you feel hopeful about the future? Oh, definitely. Yes.
 Because we are being bombarded with various new technologies which are taking away. I 

mean, AI stands no chance with live music. This is what I want to hear. 

I don't think. I mean, I use AI for a lot of things. I use AI to help me write stuff, to help me write captions, help me do, you know, like conceptualise things and stuff like that. 

So it's not like I don't use AI, I think people should use AI, even the musicians should use AI. What's the point of like having tools which are there for you, which will help make your life a little bit easier. But don't use like, don't rip off using AI and it's not like it can make great music either because they're like training AI with terrible algorithms to make popular music. 

It's not going to last. Right. So but at the same time, if you don't use AI, like you're also at a small disadvantage, just in from a way of like pushing out a lot more content or like getting things done. 

Right. Take the help that you need to get shit done, like, but use your primary time and focus to focus on making something creatively good. And I know people who use AI to help come up with lyrics, which is a very questionable, questionable thing. 

But if you are, it's not like the, I mean, the lyrics, you can copy lyrics from other artists. And if you probably, AI is probably just doing something like bringing a bunch of different sources together and making something. So use AI for ideas, but try to make it your own, you know, always make it your own. 

Without a good starting point, you can't go anywhere. So first you have to have a very strong idea and conceptual starting point. But if you need help to kind of flesh that out and like make it real, then take all the help that you can get. 

What you do live, I don't think live has a lot to worry about. Honestly, in fact, I don't see at any point that we are going to have like robot, AI artists. Apparently they're going to do that in Last Coachella, they're going to have a hologram to come and sing. 

I don't think that will do much beyond like being a technical spectacle. Everyone looks at it and like, oh, that's crazy. Like from a production point of view, that will be there at most. 

But I don't see any AI artists taking over, you know, I think it takes a lot more to kind of talk about the human experience, which is what an artist does. He talks about the human experience in a way that is relatable to you in the musical form. And at some point, like you can have AI write the most, they can come up with ideas and stuff like that, but they will never be able to have or like have that human experience which makes music relatable in the first place. 

And so, yeah, so I think, but don't completely just like, oh, all technology is bad, it's not going to take you very far either. So, yeah. Brilliant, Shrikant. 

Just one last question before we sign off. If you can encapsulate the essence of performance in one line or one philosophy, what would it be? And what are your hopes and wishes for this 

industry for the future, for the near future? I need to think about the phrase, but hopes and wishes. I think one thing I'm really hopeful for is definitely the growth of the Tamil independent music industry. 

And maybe like I would love to see like independent artists kind of reach more places, you know, within Tamil Nadu and other Tamil speaking countries or even, you know, other spaces. So that is one thing I'm really hopeful for, which is going to happen, I hope, in the next couple of years. In Chennai, from the city's perspective, there's a huge amount of talent here, like incredible talent. 

And, you know, my hope is that a lot of this talent is able to make it because it's a tough, tough industry to kind of be in. And it gets difficult without support. So my hope is that we kind of either rally together or we get the kind of support that we need to continue doing, you know, the talent here is supported. 

So those are my hopes, believing in Tamil independent music industry and hope that all the talent in Chennai, like they make it. So, yeah, those are my hopes. How would I encapsulate live performances in one phrase? That feeling, that moment that, you know, just being in that space while you're watching someone be, you know, artistically original. 

Right. That's the energy. That is the energy of just being there in that place. 

So I wish there was a more poignant way to say this. I will get there. Brilliant, Srikanth. 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming here and talking to me. 

Thank you, Arvind. Thank you for having me. I hope these wishes all come true very soon. 

Yes, I hope so too. I can't wait to listen to all the other people also on the podcast. I think we've got some cool people on here. 

Very interesting. So, yeah, looking forward to this. Looking forward to hearing this. 

Thank you very much for listening. I really hope you enjoyed the show. There'll be new episodes every Tuesday, so don't forget to come back.