Swarathma

Swarathma ಸ್ವರಾತ್ಮ
Swarathma Press Photo c.2012
Background information
Origin	Mysore and Bangalore, India.
Genres	Indian Folk/Fusion
Years active	2002 - present
Labels	Independent
Website	http://www.swarathma.com
Members	Vasu Dixit Pavan Kumar KJ Sanjeev Nayak Jishnu Dasgupta Varun Murali Joel Milan Baptist
Past members	Abhinanth Kumar Arjun Dheeraj Joseph Montry Manuel

Swarathma (Kannada:ಸ್ವರಾತ್ಮ) is a Bangalore (India) based Indian Folk/fusion band. The current line up features Vasu Dixit (vocals and rhythm guitar), Pavan Kumar KJ (percussion and vocals), Varun Murali (guitar and vocals), Sanjeev Nayak (violin and vocals), Jishnu Dasgupta (bass guitar and vocals) and Joel Milan Baptist (drums). The band's sound draws from Indian Folk and Classical Music, blending it with Western sounds like Blues Rock and Reggae. Their lyrics are inspired by personal journeys as well as social and political themes.

Swarathma has released two full-length studio albums, the self-titled Swarathma (2009) and Topiwalleh (2012) as well as several singles and music videos. They were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine's India edition as well on their list of 25 Hottest Indian Bands. They swept the annual Jack Daniels Indian Rock Awards 2009, winning Band, Song and Album of the Year. They have toured Morocco, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore and are one of India's biggest folk rock bands.

Swarathma was formed in 2002 in Mysore when vocalist and songwriter Vasu Dixit met Abhinanth Kumar on guitars with the objective of creating original music. Joined by Pavan Kumar KJ on percussions and Arjun on the violin, they were the original line-up. Dixit left in 2003 to pursue a Masters in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, leading to the band taking a two-year break, but regrouped in 2006 with Montry Manuel on drums.