CHENNAI: Tamil folk is cool. And if you disagree, you may want to argue it out with La Pongal. Taking up the cause of Tamil folk music in the city, this music platform has made quite a mark over the last few years. Their eponymous album released earlier this year met with tremendous response. Add to that a three day Pongal thiruvizha (no prizes for guessing why they picked this festival), which had a footfall of over 2,500 people, and you know they have a huge market. While it is impressive that the folk music outfit drew such a crowd via word of mouth and social networking, Darbuka Siva, the man behind this movement, says it still isn’t enough. “We want to reach the masses, and not everybody is on Facebook. The auto driver down your street — that’s our target audience — and we hope everybody joins the party.”And what of the other extreme in society? Clubs are not known to play any Tamil folk, save for the occasional Kollywood hit song of the month, perhaps if it is of the Kolaveri calibre. “It may take a while to change this mental block that Tamil folk isn’t ‘cool’ but that’s the plan,” responds Pradeep Vijay, who sings and plays the guitar for La Pongal.In fact, one of their favourite tracks is the opening piece by Trichy-based folk performer Anthony Das. To keep up the thiruvizha theme, Das has made a typical festival introductory announcement like those one hears over a public announcement system in a village. Says Siva, “We wanted to keep it as authentic as possible.”Across the 11 tracks, all traditional naatupura songs passed down over the ages, folk rhythms like the Naiyyaandi Melam, Karagaattam and Periya Melam are predominantly heard. And it isn’t all Tamil as there are a few Bengali collaborations as well. “There’s a Bengali version of a thaalaattu (lullaby),” says Pradeep. The core members of La Pongal — Siva and Pradeep — hope to expand beyond Tamil folk and infuse sounds and culture of other states as well over time.So why did they not try writing their own lyrics? “Looking back, when we tried to sit down and write lyrics for this album, we failed terribly,” laughs Siva. In most bands composing music is the tough part because it takes time and inspiration. “But with La Pongal, the music is already there. It’s about just finding it,” he says. “After all, its in our roots.”
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