The pandemic has impacted us all gravely in myriad ways. We heard stories of people and the many hardships they had to suffer. But in that hardship, we also heard stories of how they resurfaced, found unique creative solutions, and figured it out for themselves and the people around them.
The entertainment industry was one of the industries to be hit during these tumultuous times. As theatres and public spaces shut down, people found ways to manoeuvre through this, using the one thing at their disposal —the Internet.
Amongst those creative-heads who tried to get the best out of the persisting situations was Raghav Meattle, a Mumbai-based Indie singer-musician. Meattle has been around in the Indie scene for nearly five years now, and recently released his second Hindi original ‘Zindagi’ with Rohan Shetty aka Shor.
The pandemic induced lockdown kept him away from performing live at events and concerts, which is why he resorted to Instagram to find ways to engage with his audience. In this process, he met over 800 artists from across the country.
He started with an Insta live series, accepting join requests from random people. This continued every day through the lockdown, lasting an hour and a half every night — a clear indication of how productive this process was. The interaction series continued for months and led to the inception of a ‘Conemunity’ of artists and artists-in-the-making.
Eventually, they started organising showcases wherein four artists every month would get a chance to perform on zoom. For the first four editions, Raghav says 120 people made bookings to watch these performances, and paid Rs. 300 each.
This gave young artists, mostly under 25 of age a chance to explore the world of professional music whilst making some money for sustenance. For some, this was the first time they were getting paid.
Taking a cue from this, now, workshops are also being conducted and are being joined by budding artists who want to learn the nitty-gritty of the world of music. Recent workshops have been based on educating artists, singer-songwriters, and musicians the basics of music theory, 101 ways to release music, and learning how to work with a music producer.
Raghav says in an interview with The Hindu, “When I started out at 22-23 years old, it was hard because the music industry doesn’t have a recognised mentorship process. Some of this information is tricky, and you need to hear from someone who has already done it”.
They also have created a playlist on Spotify, the link to which is available on their sister page called ‘Conemunity Unplugged’. In the interview with The Hindu, Raghav points out to the recent boom in the number of new releases during the pandemic which is the driving factor behind the inception and the success of Conemunity. He says, “I want to take it to a level where it almost becomes a one-stop-shop for all young musicians and artists who are getting into the industry and need to upskill faster. If one of us puts out a song, 40 people will share it: that’s the kind of vibe I want this community to have.”
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