Dubai-based band's new song a fitting ode to frontline warriors

Dhruv pays tribute to unsung heroes who have been working tirelessly to keep people safe during the pandemic

The ongoing pandemic has been tough on everyone, but no one has had it tougher than frontline workers who have been toiling tirelessly to keep people safe. Now, paying tribute to them is Dubai-based band Dhruv in the form of a song aptly titled Umeed (meaning hope).
"These souls deserve more than a beautiful song. But at Dhruv, we believe a song is not merely a culmination of words and chords, but it's also a piece of our heart going out to these brave warriors, who are still battling through the pandemic, giving us hope and reassuring us that this too shall pass," says the band's frontman Srinath KR (Sri).  
Umeed was released on August 15 and recorded at a time when there were stringent social restrictions. "All the musicians recorded their sections at home, except for the vocals which were recorded at Sienna Studio, in Sharjah. The track was mixed and mastered by Mustafa Mir in Pakistan and for the video, we used real-time clips of frontline workers sent to us from across the globe by our friends and well-wishers," explains the singer.
"Independence Day is a symbol of hope and so is Umeed," said Sri about the decision to release it on India's Independence Day.
According to the band, messages of gratitude had been flowing for members of the medical fraternity, but there were many other brave hearts fighting this battle and Dhruv thought it only right to compose a song and dedicate it to each and every frontline warrior.
"There are several other frontline workers who are toiling 24X7 to make our lives a little easier during this pandemic. There's the police department, first responders, construction workers, cleaners, food delivery services and so on. So we decided to dedicate this song to all these unsung heroes," said Sri.
While the pandemic has put the music industry on the back foot, artists, including Dhruv, have been trying out new ways to connect with the audience.
"We have put together a brand new line-up with Joston Pereira on the keyboards, Jason Dsouza on guitar, Rahul Kunder on bass and Abhijeet Padhi on drums. We did an online concert for Artist Aloud, Hungama, which was a fundraiser featuring over 70 independent artists from around the world, including artistes like Usha Uthup, Gino Banks, Palash Sen, Shaan and others.
The funds raised from the concert went towards daily wage workers who were affected by the pandemic. We were also working on Umeed, so that kept us quite busy."
With no live shows scheduled in the months ahead, bands will have to find ways to keep their music alive and Dhruv already has a plan worked out. "The 'New Normal' agenda will continue for a while and artists will have to resort to online performances, live shows with less than four artists on stage at a time.
Artists can perform at parties with a smaller gathering while maintaining social distancing. Online shows are always an option -  live shows on social media is a great way to connect with the audience. As for Dhruv we are more focussed on getting our original content out. Having said that, we are open to performing at shows and we look forward to things reverting to the 'old normal'."