The bassist and banterer-in-chief of folk rock veterans Swarathma talks about keeping your audience in mind, crafting a setlist, adapting with technology, and more. Oh, and Ga*nd Mein Danda, of course. For the inaugural episode of To Your Heart's Content, we are delighted to have Jishnu Dasgupta with us. His band, Swarathma, has been making a fun-yet-poignant brand of folk rock for close to 2 decades. They've delighted audiences across the country (and world) with music laced with social commentary and political messages. In this episode, Jishnu speaks about how Swarathma maintains that balance, and how democracy in the band works. He gives us his perspective about audiences, and how it's the tougher crowds that help the band evolve. We speak about technology as well - how as artists they have adapted to the reality of the streaming economy. And we get his opinion on generative AI as well. We talk about Swarathma's various initiatives - from playing to underprivileged audiences, to them powering their recent concerts with renewable energy. This is not just an interview that Swarathma fans will like. It's something that anyone who is looking to become a creator will learn from. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:40 The Story of 'Ga*nd Main Danda' (GMD) 00:08:28 Philosophy, Fame and Impact of GMD 00:18:10 Evolution of Swarathma's Voice 00:22:05 Story of the political song 'Beta Sweater Pheno' 00:24:25 How Swarathma uses their differences creatively 00:27:51 Magic of Live Performances 00:35:45 When Swarathma used ChatGPT to write a Swarathma Song! 00:41:34 Connecting with Challenging Crowds 00:47:15 Art of Audience Banter 00:51:40 Playing for Shubha Mudgalji's mother in her village 00:58:11 Why Swarathma made a graphic novel with their album 01:04:23 Musicians adapting to changing media landscape 01:11:01 20 years on, why does Swarathma still create Music? 01:21:42 Why Live Concerts Matter 01:28:22 Dealing with Cynicism 01:32:45 Future of Live Concerts: Sustainability TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT This is a YouTube interview series hosted by Utsav and Deepak aka Chuck, about the aspects of content that really matter - the craft, the process, the thinking, the ambition. We interview experts to understand creation at its core and uncover the hidden gems behind this journey. From breaking down the process to diving into their minds as they go through this start to finish. Expect nuanced, sharp conversations with creators, industry folks and entrepreneurs. THE 6% CLUB India’s first creator coaching program, designed for people with full-time jobs. Developed by mentors who built global 2% ranking content projects while balancing demanding careers. It features live sessions, 3 masterclasses from creators who have cracked it (Amit Varma, Krish Ashok, SneakyArtist, and more planned), personalised mentoring sessions, peer reviews, a vibrant community, and much more. Check out the program and sign up for the next cohort, here: https://www.thesixpercent.club/ Links: Swarathma on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/6spTcexl1jDSkDzuewoQbX?si=eTTZ0tNyQfqAjS4XswN4Bw Apple Music https://music.apple.com/in/artist/swarathma/312249820 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@UC2-tJ7n-kqLuKRDO--Wk6sA Swarathma - official website https://www.swarathma.com/ Swarathma's albums on all platforms Swarathma (2009) https://lynkify.in/album/swarathma/MmjFqiMe Topiwalleh (2012) https://lynkify.in/album/topiwalleh/7iGRV9fd Raah-e-Fakira (2018) https://lynkify.in/album/raah-e-fakira/9ck4SH3v Gaand Mein Danda by Bodhi Tree on all platforms https://lynkify.in/song/gaand-mein-danda/0eJLB1I3