A musical mash-up: Meet Penn Masala

Fourteen guys, no instruments and beautiful music influenced by Eastern and Western cultures… that's what South Asian A Capella group Penn Masala is all about. "Dressed in Indo-Western outfits, Penn Masala really got the audience going; it wasn't long before people were dancing away to their music, including their new releases," says Yogi Bhimani who attended Penn Masala's recent concert at a Mumbai mall; the group was in the city as part of their tour to promote their new album Yuva. "They were quite friendly; after the show they happily posed for selfies," adds the 24-year-old fan.

Started in 1996, when four students from the University of Pennsylvania were inspired by other A capella groups, to start their own, Penn Masala is known for their Hinglish mash-ups. "The fact that we like to bring the masala of our Indian origin to our music is the idea behind the Hinglish mash-ups. We do unique songs that truly blend the East and the West," says Hari Ravi, one of the current 14-member group.

Their mash-ups are inspired by singers they've grown up listening to since childhood, like Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik, and contemporary singers like Arijit Singh. Known for mash-ups such as Fix you/Ishq bina, Without you/Teri jhuki nazar, Clocks/Koi hai toh sahee, "there's a lot of thought that goes into our song selection. We consider a host of different factors between songs, including musical and lyrical fit, and audience appeal", says Atman Panigrahi, adding that "we try to unify our albums and content under a style that has come to define Penn Masala". Though they've never done a full song in a language other than English or Hindi, they look for opportunities to incorporate other languages into songs, like Bengali in Fix you/Ishq bina, and Punjabi in Nashe si chadh gayi.

Penn Masala members change each year as veteran members graduate and new members join after an audition. "This is a positive element, as it allows our sound to remain fresh each year and brings unique, new voices to the group. While it takes some time to get freshmen onboard, we make sure they learn quickly so we can sound our best," adds Ravi. Their journey to stardom has taken Penn Masala to the White House, where they performed for former president Barack Obama, and to the sets of Pitch Perfect 2.

MEET PENN MASALA

Since 1996, Penn Masala has released nine full-length studio albums: Awaaz, 11 PM, Soundcheck, Brown Album, Pehchaan, On Detours, Panoramic, Kaavish, and Resonance

The current members are Praveen Rajaguru, Kashish Hora, Pranay Sharma, Hari Ravi, Brendan McManus, Vishnu Rachakonda, Atman Panigrahi, Sanjit Chakravarty, Anvit Reddy, Ajay Vasisht, Anirudh Bikmal, Yamir Tainwala, Nikhil Raman and Wrik Sinha