“My ideal world would be a world where judgement was more patient, and respect was more permanent; where everyone valued each other for who they were; and everyone stuck to who they were; where the people appreciated each & every effort made”. Sana Khan from Acrimony talks about how her life in music is an intellectual journey.
ON YOUR MUSIC
Eight Octaves: What was it like growing up as a girl interested in music?
Sana: It felt absolutely normal, because I grew up around like-minded people. I have a best friend who I’ve known since childhood, a girl, we were seen as the “social outcasts” in school for listening to “weird” music, but that’s okay, I had her, my brother, and a few other friends who never made me feel weird about anything.
Eight Octaves: Was your family supportive?
Sana: To an extent, yes, as long as my academics didn’t suffer. They felt stressed at times when they thought I was stepping a foot or two away from my grand plans. There were few path-breaking moments: when my parents attended my gig and stuck up their cell phone cameras proudly, pushing and shoving through the crowd to make way, to capture their daughter playing. After all these years, we know the truly indispensable elements of each others’ lives now, and we accept and appreciate those elements.
Eight Octaves: Is music a full-time career for you?
Sana: I have struck a balance between my career with the band, and college studies. Eventually due to loving them both, I see myself pursuing two careers simultaneously, both of which are incomparable to each other – Music as well as Fashion Designing.
Eight Octaves: Do you feel it is a viable career for women in our country?
Sana: Definitely. That drive to want to play and make music my entire life, is as strong as anything can be. And I don’t think there is a question of gender here. Because a man will, just like a woman would, often face the same jeer and denial from the society. The question is the same for all, do you really want this? If you know the answer to that, you’re well on your way.
Eight Octaves: Who is your biggest inspiration? Any women you look upto.
Sana: That would be my mother. Irrespective of where I use the derivations off her, I owe a lot to her. She is the strongest person I know.
Eight Octaves: What is your take on Women in the music industry in India?
Sana: With regard to the Indian indie music industry, women to me are among the strongest, compared to anywhere. It is one thing to rise out of a place as the “next big thing”. But it is still “astounding” to find a woman play in a band, especially on one of the instruments; in a place where often judgemental eyes would still only see how you looked or posed than what you just played and how! I know how difficult (& seemingly out of place) it can get, and so, I admire these women above all, for continuing to believe. The prominence of women in indie music is rising undoubtedly, and people are rising to the changing times. I personally have seen how warmly the “metalhead” crowds attending Acrimony’s gigs have greeted and treated me and that speaks volumes in itself about what’s coming.
ON YOU
Eight Octaves: Describe yourself in 5 lines.
Sana: I believe, keep believing. I stick to the task, which usually comes with the feeling of letting it slip at some point, but to stick around. Sometimes I make it difficult on my own self, but then, I make sure it works out by not snapping. That is what I attribute to myself the most. I am grateful for what I have in life, yet content with nothing ‘cause there’s a mountain to climb.
Eight Octaves: What clothes do you ideally wear?
Sana: It depends on how I am feeling that day. Usually I prefer tees and 3/4th pants. I also pair 3/4ths or jeggings with a kurti sometimes. Though most days are get-out-of-bed-and-run-to-college-days, some are also the prim-and-proper ones.
Eight Octaves: Are you the same person you are on stage or do you have two separate identities?
Sana: The obvious emotional variations apart, I do not remember feeling like somebody else on stage at all! In fact, I am more and more myself with every gig, all that letting go of everything pent up is only taking me more towards my inner self. The only difference is that on stage I am expressing everything that I may not in routine life.
Eight Octaves: Your idols?
Sana: Not sure about idolizing, but there sure are a lot of people who have inspired me. When I was a kid, I felt my first real surge while watching ‘The Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance on Vh1; irrespective of their “emo” tags, controversy and everything, they started it all for me. Then, I was significantly influenced by listening to and watching videos of Anathema, Be’lakor, Synyster Gates, Porcupine Tree… It is a long, long list!
Eight Octaves: The band is made up of?
Sana: Dhairya Anand on lead vocals, Yash Vasaniya on bass guitar, Shwetang Shankar on drums, Samar Mehdi on guitar (lead/rhythm), keyboard and ancillary vocals, while I am on guitar (lead/rhythm). Samar and I play leads and rhythms in parts.
