26th, The Fifths plan to showcase their creative juices with fresh takes on some popular and very special tunes. For The Fifths, it is all about the music!
The Fifths were formed in 2012 as a natural amalgamation of music-crazy individuals eager to leave their distinct mark as musicians. With Rohan Raghavan and Aditya Vaddiparthi as lead singers, Apurva Nargundkar as the percussionist, Sarang Mujumdar as the pianist, Harsha Sree as the rhythm and Arnav Dayal as the lead guitarist, The Fifths blend a unique range of classical, modern, alternative and experimental Indian and international music.
Like their influences, their sources of inspiration too are varied, ranging from Mozart to the Chilli Peppers to A R Rahman and Pandit Jasraj. Together they’ve performed at a number of events across Melbourne, with their more recent gigs including brilliant performances at Oorja’s New Year dinner and dance party at the Hilton and CHOBAA’s biannual fundraiser.
They will be making their next appearance at the Melbourne Town Hall, opening Udit Narayan’s first-ever Melbourne performance this May.
The Indian Sun: How did The Fifths come into being?
Rohan: As individuals, we’ve all been quite active in the local music circle for a while now. Consequently, we kept meeting each other from time to time at functions, shows or parties where we had been invited to perform. I believe it is our alignment in the kind of music we enjoy and the passion we share for the art that has brought us together. Once we started jamming together, it seemed like the formation of The Fifths was a no brainer.
The Indian Sun: Where did the name ‘The Fifths’ come from?
Sarang: We’re not a five-piece band, yet we call ourselves The Fifths. ‘The Circle of Fifths’ is a term describing a fundamental relationship between musical tones, where every note is directly related to the fifth note above it. Replicate this pattern and you will eventually reach the original note. You just drew a circle! Conceptually for us, this symbolised ‘what goes around comes around’. Ever wondered why a keyboard has seven white keys and five black keys in a repeating fashion? Well now you know!
The Indian Sun: How do you pick your songs?
Aditya: Our selections are guided by some simple questions that we ask ourselves – is there scope for improvisation? Is it musically rich? What is the audience going to take away from this song? We’re not afraid to experiment and with every gig aim to bring to life some classics that don’t get their fair share of stage time. The mood and feel we bring to a performance is dependent on the occasion of course but we try our best to keep the audience guessing. We’re also a multilingual unit, so expect the unexpected.
The Indian Sun: What impression would you like the audiences to leave with?
Arnav: If they leave our gigs reminiscing personal memories with the songs we’ve played, I think we’ve successfully made a connection. We endeavour to spice up every rendition with a pinch of The Fifths, so hopefully that comes through when we perform too. When The Fifths are playing at a party, make sure you wear comfortable shoes and something lose so you can dance till you drop. Yes, there will be lots of it and don’t say we didn’t warn you. The goal is always to have fun and ensure our guests have even more fun.
The Indian Sun: What are your plans for the future?
Harsha: While Indian music and dance seems to be commonplace in Melbourne we were pleasantly surprised that there aren’t many bands playing the kind of music we’d enjoy listening to. As Melburnians we all love fresh music, which is what The Fifths hope to keep offering. People seem to be taking a liking to the music we’re producing and we’re seeing this through a steady supply of gigs with parties, weddings, corporate events and musical shows thrown in the mix. We have a couple interesting projects in the pipeline too that we’ll stay tight-lipped about for now. In addition, we’ve started work on a few originals.
The Indian Sun: Anything you’d like to broadcast to those coming for Udit Narayan?
Apurva: To all you fabulous The Indian Sun patrons, we hope to see you singing and dancing with us 26 May. Come ready for us to take you on a musical adventure!
The Indian Sun:
See what The Fifths are up to at www.facebook.com/thefifthsmelbourne
Alternatively, you can contact them on thefifths@live.com
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