we have seen our songs bring broken families together and help strangers connect: Sanam

There would be hardly an Indi-pop fan in the country who hasn’t heard their music. We can say this with conviction because their official YouTube channel has over 2 million subscribers and a staggering 563,180,725 views! While they’ve contributed to a slew of Hindi film OSTs and come out with some hit covers and mash-ups, their composition Main Hoon — the
Indian anthem for the Amazing Spider Man 2 — made them a force to reckon with in the indie music scene.No brownie points for guessing that we’re talking about Sanam, the hottest new boy band around, and winners of the ‘Best Music Content’ award in the national category at the recently-concluded Social Media Summit and Awards in Vijaywada.
In a tête-à-tête with Hyderabad Times, three members of the band — Samar Puri, Keshav Dhanraj, Venky S — spoke about why they changed the band’s name from ‘SQS Supastars’ to ‘Sanam’, how composing music is an egalitarian concept for them and why they don’t really like to be called the ‘One Direction of India’. Excerpts.
Congratulations on winning the award. Everything seems to be going pretty well for you guys as a band — millions of followers, B’wood projects, high-flying collaborations et al…
Samar Puri: Honestly, awards are very subjective. As a band, we don’t think that awards define an artiste or his work; art is art. We respect and look up to all artistes, no matter how big or small. There is always something unique and new to learn from everyone. Having said that, it surely feels good to be appreciated for our work. Seeing our songs bringing broken families together and connecting new people around the globe is what inspires us to continue doing what we do.
Keshav Dhanraj: It feels good to know that so many people enjoy our music. We feel blessed and fortunate to have found each other. Our focus is not, and has never been, on the number of followers. We only focus on our work and of course, on doing things that make us happy.
Your band name was changed from SQS Superstars to Sanam. Was it because you thought Indian indi-pop fans will be able to relate more to such a lovey-dovey name?
Keshav Dhanraj: SQS Project was initially Samar, Quesh (an ex-member), Keshav and Sanam. It was an abbreviation of only three of our band mates’ names’ initials and didn’t represent the band properly. The funny story behind our initial name goes back to when we met our manager and fifth member, Ben Thomas. Despite the kind of experience and reputation he has in the industry after working for years with some of India’s top artistes, when he put a word out for the band many people misunderstood us to be some construction company or business venture.
SQS Project has a very corporate feel to it, don’t you think?
Venky S: The band name ‘Sanam’ was chosen after filtering more than 300 other names. We were discussing names and suddenly realised that the word ‘Sanam’ represents us completely — both as individuals and a collectively. The word is used in many languages and cultures. In Hindi it means ‘beloved’, which represents the kind of music we make and also our goals as individuals and as a band. And to top it, our vocalist and frontman is Sanam Puri. So, we collectively decided to call the band that.
Your second album was called ‘Samar Sanam’. So, do Sanam and Samar Puri call all the shots for Sanam?
Venky S: Every member of our band is equally important and has equal responsibilities. We are a team in the real sense of the word. After our first album ‘SQS Supastars’ was released, we were left with a number of unreleased songs both Samar and Sanam had put together. Our band technically came into being much later, when we met Ben. The album ‘Samar Sanam’ was a compilation of those songs by Samar and Sanam.
You are called the ‘One Direction of India’... That must be flattering...
Samar Puri: Well, One Direction was a great boy band and I’m sure they will get back together over time. We enjoy all kinds of music and respect all artistes. Having said that, there is a difference between us and them — apart from the fact that they have disbanded. One big difference between ‘One Direction’ and us is that they were five (later four) singers whereas we are a band of musicians. We collectively compose, record and program music. Each of us are multi-instrumentalists.
You are such a talented bunch of musicians; how does it work when you get together to compose music? They say too many cooks spoil the broth; has such a thing ever happened to you?
Samar Puri: We all take up different responsibilities at different times. But we always sit together and work everything out. We respect each other’s ideas and always make sure we release something only if all four of us are happy with the product. We do have different musical influences and do go through many changes as we compose, program and produce. That’s the final product you get to hear; a blend of different musical influences in every song.
Most of your bandmates have composed and sung for quite a few Bollywood ventures. Will we ever see you coming to the Telugu film industry?
Samar Puri: I have actually sung a Telugu song called E kadha by Mickey J Meyer — it was fun. The music being released these days in the South, especially the Telugu film songs, are really fresh and interesting. If something exciting comes our way, we will be happy to collaborate. Currently though, we are swamped with many projects. But if opportunities come, why not?