MUMBAI: On 7 November talent first platform of India, Artist Aloud had their second edition of Arise. Arise is a joint IP between Artist Aloud and Hard Rock Cafe. The aim was to make Tuesdays as the new night with happy extended hour along with some amazing music.

The second edition featured Mumbai based folk and fusion band Folk Masti. As the name, the band has strong forte as folk music and they also infuse western elements to it. Over the year the band has done quite a lot in music. Talking about their achievement, vocalist Vipul Panchal said, “It wasn’t that easy to do so many things but we enjoyed what we did. The kind of music we do is popular among a niche audience. Our only aim was to convey a good message with good music that creates vibes. We were consistently giving performance last year. The memory to cherish is we released our debut official video with MTV Indies. The song was Aamchi Mumbai. The song was about our love for the city that we were born in. It’s close to our heart as we did something on our own. Soon after that, we had One FM calling us to feature the song. It was a happening year for us.”

The song kicked NCPA Mumbai and they invited Folk Masti to perform.  They luckily had with them the sound person from MTV Unplugged who helped in making the song. Their second song Jaago India was an inspiring track for the youth of the country released by MTV Indies. It was their first video shot outside Mumbai. Their recent release Life Is Crazy was released with Balcony TV. After almost waiting for a year they approached the band to perform for them. Folk Masti was ranked 28th in Sennheiser’s Top 50 battle of the bands. The band is right now working on originals inspired by Kabir’s poetry, Indian Ocean and Raghu Dixit. At Hard Rock Cafe, the band performed around five originals and some indie covers.

Coming to Arise S2 is clear indication of the band’s collaboration with Artist Aloud. Vipul Panchal confirmed, “Yes it’s true! Our first audios (Aamchi Mumbai and Jaago India) were released with them. They really appreciated us for that. Nothing made us happier than receiving our first cheque from Artist Aloud. It’s a great feeling to be on board with Artist Aloud as they are doing so much indie music.”

About the particular genre folk/fusion, Vipul explained, “We are happy to do this genre as it is rising upward these days and people valuing it. We have a festival called ‘Paddy Fields’ that is all about folk and fusion. The festival is incredible and has already done two seasons. We follow 50 per cent of our folk music and in the rest 50 per cent we incorporate with western elements so that we build a good musicians community.”

He also added, “Folk Masti is an indie fusion band and we make non-filmy music. We have to make music that is impactful.”

 It’s a four piece band which includes Vipul on vocals and guitar, Sachin Guldagde on keys and melodica, Roshan Aade on percussion and Prince on bass. The band is also associated with NGO Natural Street of Performing Arts. From the last two years, the band has been playing for them at various places like Andheri Metro Station, Dadar Station, Vikrohli, Juhu and more. They promote independent folk music and plays. It’s a busking performance where you have to scream aloud while performing. But it’s so much fun when you see a bunch of people gathered around to see the performance.”

Artist Aloud did its first launch Arise gig with North East sensation, Alobo Naga on 26 September. He released his second album Kini with Artist Aloud. The album is available for all streaming platforms.