Association with India's indie music scene my first true love: US-based musician Shubh Saran

The independent music scene has been growing steadily in India, says New York-based Indian guitarist and composer Shubh Saran who describes his work as a "modern jazz sort of idiom".

The 28-year-old, who toured India recently with performances and workshops in Mumbai, Goa, Gurgaon and New Delhi to promote his latest album "Becoming", said he received an "overwhelmingly" positive response from the independent music community here.

"The music scene in India and the Indian independent music scene has been growing. There are always pitfalls created by the economy, lack of venues and musicians but the indie music scene remains steadfastly in an upward direction," Saran told PTI.

Being associated with the independent music scene in India has always been his "first true love", he added.

While Indian classical music is an institution, parallel independent music in the country also needs nurturing as it breeds free thought and creativity within young people, Saran said.

"Becoming", Saran's third album, is a confluence of modern jazz and his early musical influences. It is also about embracing one's different identities.

"I compose in a modern jazz sort of idiom, but I decided to revisit the music I grew up with as a teenager... it was Blink-182, punk rock, Green Day, the kind of music you don't associate with 'serious music'," Saran said.

"I decided that instead of pushing that away, I should embrace it and create a record that sort of merged my early and later influences. The theme is about who you are as a person, as a musician, and embracing the past that has led you to the present."