MUMBAI: In the days when the young population is busy listening to mainstream music and making idols of astray teenage superstars, Neeraj Arya's Kabir Cafe breaks norms in all kinds of unconventional ways. The music project started as a solo assignment by Neeraj Arya, whose only mission was to re-incarnate the legendary poet Kabir's verses via music.

The folk fusion/rock band has thus, unofficially been around for six years, when Neeraj (vocals, rhythm guitar) would go around doing live shows and collaborate with different musicians. Mukund Ramaswamy (violin), Raman Iyer (mandolin) and Viren Solanki (percussion) joined him later and officially became a four-piece band in late 2013, after which they performed at Ragasthan 2014. While Neeraj brings his raw, rock-ish vocals and tunes, Mukund offers his long years of classical Carnatic training, and Raman and Viren enhance the quality of the band's music with rhythmic riffs, distortions and powerful percussions.

Currently based in Mumbai, the band has been performing live constantly and receiving positive reception from the young crowd. What makes them unique is their ability to bring to life Kabir's 'dohe' through melodious compositions that balance folk and rock sounds with ease. Their music is supported with narrations, explaining to the audience, the idea behind a particular poem and what Kabir stood for.

The philosophy of the group is very basic and simple and they believe that Kabir was the common thread that brought the four members together. Raman said, "We found that the content we had, i.e. Kabir's poems, is so powerful that it made us want the people to experience the kind of poetry he created and know the person he was. As musicians, it gave us something meaningful to work on, something with a sense of purpose."

He added, "The biggest challenge we face is to create music that is effective in bringing out the messages in the poems. We strive to do justice to his 'voice' that has been passed on for many generations."

Raman talked about what Kabir means to them and why he is such a huge inspirational figure to all four. He explained, "When Kabir existed, there was a lot of chaos in the society, prejudices and disarray. In that time of despair, there came a voice that said everything was okay and talked against all things wrong. He preached that we are all equally divine. It is relevant even now, and his poems still resonate the ideologies of the society we live in."

Even though Kabir's poetry has stayed in the form of folk and classical music all these generations, Neeraj Arya's Kabir Cafe makes it appealing to the young generation with its rock tunes and fresh energy. They have made it interesting for the urban crowd and endeavour to bridge the gap between the classical music generation and the youth. After all that, they still retain the folk fabric and infuse rhythms that are groovy and catchy.

The band has been performing tracks like 'Halke Gaadi Haako', 'Hoshiyar Rehna' and others and already has enough tracks to compile an album. Raman said that they are working towards releasing the album by December this year or early next year.

Big fans of reggae musician Bob Marley as well, Raman revealed that they are planning to experiment with the genre that grew as a result of social angst.

He said, "We believe that there are a lot of similarities between Kabir and Bob Marley, for instance, the things they stood for. So, we will look at infusing reggae with poetry and bring them together through our musical experiment."

The band will be opening for Papon and The East India Company at NCPA as a part of the initiative – One World Many Musics. They will also be performing at Vans New Wave Musicfest 2014 in Goa and in Pune for NH7 Weekender 2014.