For siblings Prachi and Raghav, music is as much about connection as it is about performance. Better known as Backstage Siblings, the duo have taken their Bhajan Jamming concept from intimate musical sessions to more than 200 live shows, giving traditional devotional music a contemporary, Gen Z-friendly energy.Their recent performance for Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who stayed for over an hour and described their show as “spectacular” — has added another milestone to their rapidly evolving journey. As they prepare to take Bhajan Jamming and their new Bhakti Dance Floor concept to audiences overseas, the siblings talk about live music, the rise of indie sounds, staying rooted while experimenting, and their dream of taking Indian devotional music global. Excerpts…
What do you love most about performing live, and how different is the experience of connecting with an audience in person compared to creating music in the studio?
They are two very different but equally beautiful experiences. We’ve done over 200 shows now, and somehow every show still feels different. We get our energy from the people. Seeing them sing with us, connect with what we’re singing, and leave the show feeling happier and lighter gives us a sense of peace that we haven’t felt anywhere else.Creating music has a different kind of calm to it. There is so much work that goes into making a song, and then when you finally take it live and see people connect with it, it all comes together. We recently released O Radhe, and now seeing people react to it and sing it with us live has been an amazing feeling.
Prachi and Raghav, the Backstage Siblings
Why do you think listeners are gravitating towards indie music right now?
Our generation is constantly looking for something new and authentic. The scope of music today is so wide that there is space for every artist to experiment and bring their own creativity. We see independent songs becoming huge purely because people connect with them, and that’s really exciting for music as a whole.
What was that experience (of the PM attending your show) like for you, and was there anything about the evening that particularly stood out?
The feeling is honestly surreal. We still cannot process that this just happened. It was an absolute dream-come-true moment for us. To have us and our show called “spectacular” by Modi ji is something we will remember forever. And what made it even more special was that this was not just a protocol visit. This was something he chose to attend. He stayed for over an hour, was extremely interactive throughout, played an instrument himself and genuinely became a part of the experience. He even posted three reels from the evening on his own page. For two young artists who started Bhajan Jamming with a dream of making bhajans more relatable to our generation, seeing the Prime Minister experience it, enjoy it and appreciate it at this level is difficult to put into words. Modi ji has always inspired the youth to be proud of our roots and take our culture forward, and that is something we connect with very deeply. We’re still processing this dream. Now the next one is to share the stage with him, and hopefully, we’ll do that very soon.
As Backstage Siblings, how has your musical journey evolved so far, and what are you hoping to explore next?
We are constantly evolving. We started Bhajan Jamming and today, seeing how widely the concept has grown is extremely special. We’ve now also introduced the Bhakti Dance Floor, which is another way of bringing bhakti closer to our generation. The next step is taking this global. We’re already on our international tour, and we want to take Bhajan Jamming to audiences across the world while continuing to experiment and make our shows even more connected to Gen Z. At the heart of it, we want our generation to know that you can be rooted in your culture and traditions and still celebrate, enjoy and have fun. That’s what we want to keep taking forward.