Saahil Bhargava: Inspired by concept albums

Mama a track about a young woman trying to escape a hostile environment only to become like the people oppressing her is one among a series of unconventional songs that comprise Saahil Bhargavarsquos EP Ronin The choice of themes are always a factor one looks out for when consuming the work of the artiste who only months ago was competing against music legends like Paul McCartney and YoYo Ma at the LA Shorts International Film Festival where he earned a nomination for Kohima In this interview he talks about why storytelling forms the backbone of his processEdited excerpts from the interviewHow has your life changed after the LA Film Festival nominationIt added credibility to my work both as an animator and music artiste I now have something to point to to establish my success The idea of Kohima resonated with people and I want more of my songs to have that kind of impactYour choice of subjects has always been unconventional How do you arrive at themItrsquos not necessarily something I plan Some songs like Mama in this EP were wrapped up rather quickly right from conceptualisation to writing I try to read watch and listen to a variety of things and learn as much as I can The themes and ideas expressed through the lens of characters is what I think about I research a lot during the writing process Also my songs from the onset are visual so they lend to the making of good videosTaking Ronin as a case in point did the tale of grief and despair evident in songs like Wind and Mama stem from things you heard about in the pandemicA major chunk of Ronin was written before the pandemic and inspired by my visit to Osaka Castle in Japan I explored the idea of a samurai who questions the system he has been brought up believing in The pandemic led me to become introspective and that contributed to the making of songs like Mama and Wind The fact that people can link them to emotions they encountered in the pandemic shows how universal the feelings in these songs can be mdash regret grief and lossFrom a production and composition point of view how is this an extension evolution even of your past workIt is a culmination of all the work Irsquove done over the last year and reflects my training so far It is inspired by my classical and musicaltheatre background and combines those learnings with rock music It is storydriven and hinges on being cinematic rock The next stage of evolution in my journey will be intricate compositions that showcase the story moreWhat is the role that storytelling plays in your musicIt is the backbone of my songwriting process one that drives it It is inspired by my musicaltheatre training and my love for concept albums like Pink Floydrsquos The Wall or My Chemical Romancersquos The Black Parade I hope the atypical topics I write about coupled with my harmonicallydriven style of writing will help me stand out as an indie artiste When live performances begin I am looking forward to seeing how this music is receivedWhat are the challenges for an independent artiste todayTo begin with there are so many talented artistes that the competition is fierce and one must be at the top of the game to stand out Furthermore I write on lesscommon and lesstraditional topics so itrsquos tougher to have my music and performances mdash both recorded and live mdash catch enough eyes