Sound wave

Laya Project collects folk music from the tsunami-hit shores of the Indian Ocean.

When, four years ago, Sonya Mazumdar set up EarthSync, a Chennai-based audio-visual production house, along with her partner Yottam Agam, she knew what she was taking on. In a country like India, if one genre of music works down south, it doesn’t in the north, and vice-versa.

So, the idea of getting together folk and traditional artists from several countries and producing an album was a risky business proposition. “We knew, though, that good music would be appreciated, at the end of the day, irrespective of where it comes from.”

Laya Project was created after a research team travelled for two years through traditional communities in regions affected by the 2004 tsunami, in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar and India.

The artists are people from coastal and surrounding communities, and the music was recorded on location. The recordings were then mastered and enhanced at Clementine Studios, EarthSync’s in-house recording studio.

The result? A bunch of awards at international music festivals, a record deal with music label EMI to promote the album in the country, and similar collaborations lined up for the audiences.

“It was never going to be easy to find these people,” says Mazumdar, “but we know that the music is so wonderful that it will captivate listeners.”

Laya Project, officially released in India two months ago, has sold around 3,500 copies so far. But Mazumdar says that they aren’t looking at numbers as of now. The album is a two-disc set with folk songs from Myanmar, India and the Maldives.

Apart from the audio CD, there is a documentary as well, on the making of Laya Project, which talks about the singers as well as a small number of the tsunami’s many victims. The documentary was aired on the National Geographic channel.

After Laya Project, EarthSync is planning to release a couple more albums by unknown artistes. In the pipeline are Nagore Sessions, which has three dargah singers singing devotional Sufi songs in the local Tamil language. Then there is Voice Over the Bridge, which has two traditional vocalists from Myanmar in collaboration with Western musicians.

The company will also release the albums of Spanish band Ojos de Brujo (“Wizard Eyes”), who have a Latin Grammy to their credit. “We are glad to bring this band to the country and hope that the Indian audiences would appreciate them.”

Yet the company remains quiet on the promotional front. Mazumdar says that right now they have the policy of “let the work speak for itself”. Still, live shows and a Laya Project tour are on the cards. The company conducts its annual music festival in Chennai where it showcases its works. “It’s extremely difficult to get all these people together on one stage, but we are in the process of doing so.”

Mazumdar knows that this genre of music will have a niche audience, so he is content with the kind of progress EarthSync has made. “We want to continue to bring out good quality music and hopefully Laya Project is just the beginning.”