Meet Anurag Mishra, The New Voice Of Independent Music

Meet Anurag Mishra, The New Voice Of Independent Music

At a time when music composers are happy remixing classics and not-so-classics to show their craft, independent music makers are making their mark too with their talent. Odia guy Anurag Mishra recently released an album ‘Project SWA’ which is an example of that creativity.  

‘Project SWA’ which is fetching the great response from the audience, is Anurag’s original creation where he brings out eight different general yet not much expressed human emotions in a frame of ‘8 songs, 8 tales’. While one song ‘Chal Pada’ speaks about the victory over depression, Maa’ portrays the unspoken words of love and affection towards mother.

An ECE graduate of NIT Rourkela, Anurag started off his musical journey during his job days in TATA steel, Jamshedpur and later while studying at IIM Indore. “I hail from a middle-class family in Rourkela, Odisha. And none of my family members was into music. While working for TATA, I used to do shows during their events. But it was during my MBA time wherein one such big public event, I performed really well and was hugely appreciated. That boosted my confidence on stage. Luckily, I got posted in Mumbai and that’s when I thought of taking up music professionally.”

Shedding light on his journey, he continues, “After clearing all my loans, I decided to pursue music as a full-time profession. However, my family was skeptical and concerned about the implications of such a decision.” 

Anurag started with his own musical covers and then went on to approach production houses for work received moderate response. He, however, decided not to give up and planned to launch himself with his originals. And that’s how ‘Project SWA’ came into the picture.

“It not possible to just relax after releasing an album of eight songs. You have to let people know through social media and ask them to listen to your songs. In short, you have to become your own cheerleader,” says the talented composer. 

Speaking about the significance of the title of the album ‘SWA’, he says, “The word ‘Swa’ or ‘???’ means self. The eight songs in this album describe every genuine emotion that an individual undergoes in his lifetime. It means the same to me, the same to you, and the universe too.” 

Anurag envisions to broaden his arena as a multitasker in music. He admires singer Ronkini Gupta as a mentor and guide. 

“I regard Ronkini Gupta as a great inspiration. In the future, I would love to work with legends like Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal, and Sunidhi Chauhan. I don’t believe in running after money or fame. I want to keep learning. I guess, the main purpose of my life is to learn as much as I can.”

To the young aspirants of the music industry, Anurag advises, “First, one has to free oneself from being on parents’ payroll. Honestly, in our society, the generation gap plays a big role as it often gets difficult to convince parents about pursuing your talent or passion. So, financially you have to free yourself. Secondly, you need to have a lot of patience because that counts a lot, in the long run, to stick to your goal. The other important aspect is originality. One should never give up on originality and go the copy-paste way because it is trending. An original piece of work has its own beauty, and it reaches people, no matter what. Of course, the last bit of advice would be to respect time rather than wasting it uselessly.”

After releasing ‘Project SWA’ on YouTube, Anurag feels that the digital platform is the new stage of entertainment. Sharing his future plans, he adds, “Today, reality shows on television are left with no reality. And I never wanted to be a part of that duplicacy. Moreover, reality begins when you come out of the show to face the world and sustain there with your talent. Well, after digital platforms have taken over the entertainment space, television viewers have come down. I have a few things in making which would be featured soon on the web.”

Listen to his new release here: