Ep 28 Tenma - The Artivist

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Join us on Stage Matters as we sit down with Tenma—composer, bass player, and the driving force behind Chennai's most vital musical movements.

From his beginnings in a Pursavakkam church choir, soaking up jazz and the sounds of Anglo-Indian string players who worked with Ilaiyaraaja, Tenma’s journey is a powerful exploration of music as both an art form and a political act.

In this deep-dive conversation, Tenma shares:

• The Bass Awakening: How picking up a Yamaha bass for a school farewell, after years of singing, defined his path, and the moment a complex funeral performance revealed the true depth of music.
• The Cultural Vacuum: His frustration with the decline of Chennai's original music scene and the hyper-competitive, yet creatively limiting, college rock circuit.
• The Inseparability of Politics and Performance: Why the performance space in Chennai is still structurally exclusionary and how the fundamental problems of caste and gatekeeping stifle creative evolution and growth.
• The Militant Maestro: An exclusive look at the intense dynamics of running the 19-person Casteless Collective—a band that merged rock, rap, and Gaana music. Hear about the unconventional methods, including fines for "bum notes," he used to mentor diverse musicians and elevate their performance to a near-flawless level.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of music, culture, and social change. Tenma doesn't just talk about music; he talks about building a movement.

Tune in for a raw and insightful discussion on escaping the aesthetic status quo and finding the collective groove.

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