“In Guwahati I can’t get down from my car and buy a chicken roll. I get caught up giving autographs.”
When I asked Papon what he thought of the The Story So Far‘s release being pushed to this January, when it had been ready for several years, he’s prompt to reply with, “There’s this whole thing I believe in, that what happens, happens for good.” By his own personal admission, Papon believes that a track like ‘Duur’ (an album highlight), had it been released when it was produced seven or eight years ago, would’ve been way ahead of its time. He doesn’t hesitate to add that it still sounds fresh and interesting, based on the feedback he’s received.
Over the last couple of years, Angaraag ‘Papon’ Mahanta’s popularity has reached new heights. Rooted essentially in folk music, and propagator of a catalogue of regional music albums during his early careee, Papon has dabbled in several projects in recent years, collaborating with Midival Punditz, Karsh Kale, Rabbi Shergill, and recently scored three hit songs in Bollywood in the year 2011 alone. With the years, Papon’s sound has also seen a shift from folk-sy tunes to more electornica-based tunes. He has also played several shows with his band, Papon & The East India Company in the same span of time – taking his sound live. Similarly, his fan base has grown exponentially, as evidenced at his live shows (photos from the Mumbai album launch here).
Papon @ Blue Frog, Mumbai
The Bollywood hits, and success, including ‘Jiyein Kyun’ from Dum Maaro Dum (which he didn’t expect to become such a big hit when he first sang it), ‘Banao’ and ‘Naina Laagey’ from Soundtrack (deets here), and the lesser known ‘Zindagi Aisi Waisi’ from I Am Kalam don’t add much to the album’s popularity. “Bollywood does, now, take my name a little beyond my regular fan base which is on the internet,” he says. “I’ve been travelling with (Papon &) The East India Company and Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale, so I had my thing happening anyway. So, Bollywood’s just given me a few extra years.”
Stream ‘Jiyein Kyun’ below.
Having worked with New Delhi electronica giants Midival Punditz for almost a decade now, Papon credits the chemistry the New Delhi eletronica duo and he share, and places their relationship at the same pedestal as their music. “When you share such a good chemistry, (that’s when) you can actually accept and reject things within each other,” he explains. “And, that’s when collaborations, and conversations – when you’re not open to each other it doesn’t help. We’re like family now. And, I think that’s why our collaborations work better. Also, through them, I’ve been introduced to a lot of people who wouldn’t have otherwise heard of my music. So, it’s definitely been a joyride.” On the other hand, working with Karsh Kale has been different, says Papon, “there are different sets of sensibilities.” He describes Kale as the more cinematic, structured and melody-based composer, which “is a good space to explore, experiment as a singer”. Papon contributed to Karsh Kale’s latest album Cinema, on a song titled ‘Absence’ (stream here). Of his recent collaborations with Bickram Ghosh and Rachel Sermanni (read our interview here) for the folk supergroup Troikala, Papon spoke with great awe of the chemistry which they developed in just an hour.
Angaraag Mahanta, better known as Papon
For the uninititated, Papon is treated with a God-like status in Assam, and in most parts of northeast India. When we discuss how he reacts to crowds at home, and across the rest of the country, Papon laughs and says,”I just be me. The only difference is, over there (Assam) I have to run away, straight after the show; there are cops and cars. On stage, it doesn’t make a difference if there are five people in the audience, yes, then I can converse with them, like a mehfil. But, I’ve played to audiences of five to eight-ninety thousand; everyone singing most of the songs. Beyond the stage boundary, it doesn’t matter, because then I’m just singing to an energy.” He does confess that if he overthought this, he’d never be able to perform well.
Check out this video of Papon performing on Coke Studio India
It’s no secret that Papon is a big fan of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, as evidenced by the singer’s covers during East India Company shows, which are generally note-perfect. “When I first heard his music, it excited my thought process about how sub-continental music, and how it can go into a psychedelic space,” he says. “That somehow worked for me, and that opened up a lot of things for me. The way he sang, from deep within – even when he sang, while trying extempore jams, he would hit wrong notes at times, but he taught me this – no matter what, you don’t have to hit the right notes at all times and stuff like that, but he would go into a different zone because he was on a discovery trip.” The legendary singer helped Papon push his boundaries as a singer, his body of work encouraging Papon to discover new spaces.
Papon at Coke Studio Minicert @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai
Talking of his collaboration with Rabbi Shergill on The Dewarists (watch the episode here), Papon mentions how it was a good experience working with someone who listeners perceive as similar singers, but upon meeting Shergill, he realized they were different in their approach. Upon the insistence of Shergill, they worked on a song that was based in nature, because he expressed how there was a lack of that kind of greenery in the cities. Over here, Papon let me in on his songwriting process when he meets someone new. “First, you have to know each other, and give some space and time to figure out what pace and space the other person is from,” he explains. “Then, if you can mould yourself, it’s better. If you give each other enough time to understand the approach, then it’s just about seven notes as I told you.”
Papon in a pensive mood at his home studio
His debut Hindi album, The Story So Far, has a healthy mix of rock ballads, electronica and folk-sy tunes and Papon explains how he’s comfortable working with any genre based on “the mood and time of the year, or time in my life dependent on what I’m doing. I don’t know what these genres are, but let’s just call it Papon genre.” Talking of the album, Papon explains why rain plays a strong undertone of a theme through and through, because of his personal fascination with rain and fog. He also drops hints of a ghazal album in the offing sometime in the future, as a tribute to the music he grew up listening to – but definitely with an added twist of his own.
Check out this fan video from the album launch @ Blue Frog, New Delhi
One of Papon’s victories as a musician has definitely been bringing folk music to the mainstream. Until a couple of years ago, he had only a stronghold in the northeast, but seeing how people from the region flock to any of his shows across the country, besides the local audiences is only representative of his surge in popularity. For his next album, which he admits is a couple of years away, “I need to start working now. It’s a very slow process.” As we’re done talking about his plans for the year ahead, he fiddles with his phone when I mention how he’s taken to Twitter quite well. He laughs it off, dismissing my claims, saying he’s still trying to understand the medium.
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