Beats of harmony

Music is certainly an integral part of any culture since its universal. Music can affect your emotions and help you get through a difficult time. Drums are the baseline to any of our favourite songs and without them, those songs would just not be the same. They are not just a merry way to make you jump up and down; there is hardly any better instrument to bring social harmony. The spirit and magic of rhythm expressed on drums and percussion instruments cuts through all ages, religions, races and cultures. Underlining that idea, Afro-d-Asia, a band that is part of the Drum Events India, a project launched by Malayali musician Shyam Suraj, is touring around the world, creating harmony through their drum beats.

The Drum Events India conducts interactive drum circles, African drum shows, LED aqua drumming, rhythmic team building, fusion shows, musicians, DJs, MCs, and corporate training shows. The band, Afro-d-Asia, consists of artists from Africa and India. Apart from Shyam, who goes by the stage name Shamrock, Emmanuel, Osei Awuk, and David Duncan from Ghana, vocalist Roy Soulchild from Cameroon, drummer and keyboardist Thomas Nii Pantry from Ghana, lead guitarist Patrick Nkongolo from Congo, bass guitarist Immanuel Delphin from Ivory Coast and saxophonist San Panther aka Santosh Kumar from Bengaluru are the members. “With so much of talent from Africa, with its own music to share, the band is, literally, an international one and that helps us create a variety of music,” says Shamrock.

Shamrock says the best feature of the band is the drum circle, which allows the audience to interact with the musicians and perform with them. “The idea is based on communal drumming, which has been an integral part of African life for thousands of years as a means of celebrating life, love and unity. A guaranteed stress-buster, modern-day drumming is a great way to let loose, have fun and invigorate your mind while venting frustrations of your day. So, for the past few years, corporate companies are approaching us to have concert-like sessions at their facilities for their employees,” shares Shamrock.

The band has over 1,500 shows to their credit and transportation has been the biggest hurdle they are facing. “We have to provide drums, of different varieties, sizes, ethnicity and tone to the viewers so that they can perform with us. We have used a maximum of 4,000 drums. It always depends upon the number of audience that we are performing for,” he says. When asked how they manage to perform with the audience, who are basically not professionals like them, Shamrock explains, “Rhythm is a universal language, which is why drumming creates a unity that transcends the barriers of culture and is a very powerful tool for team-building. All humans have that rhythm within them, the rhythm of happiness. So, we just have to conduct an interactive session of 20-30 minutes duration explaining how to play drums. That’s how we do it. We also have sessions about African music culture. It is very different from what we have heard.”  The band has been performing in various parts of India and many other countries all around

the world. Wherever they go, they try to add regional music to their playlist.

“Drumming has a very powerful effect on people, and its extensive physiological and psychological benefits are increasingly being understood through scientific and medical research,” says Shamrock, who has a collection of different varieties of drums from all around the world. “We have developed a new project called Drumunity, which is basically meeting corporate companies at their spaces and with our help they would set up facilities for their employees to have sessions. A lot of companies offer sport and other recreational ways to its workers. So, why not have a fun-filled stress-busting session with beautiful vocals and drums?” smiles Shamrock.  He has also developed a special drum, which he calls Xtone, that can produce many tones. Some of the drums the band uses in their performances are traditional African ones including djembes, djun djun, gome drum, kalabash, balafone, talking drum, kpalongo and drum kit.

Shamrock believes music has a special ability to bring people together and the power to change the world. “Before this, I was in a different profession. But I found myself in the fullest way when I followed my passion to become a drummer and became able to form this band.”

He is now preparing to have a session at the forthcoming Tedx in Bengaluru.