

“Maybe we’ll have a reunion tour in, like, 2060, when we’re all overweight and balding,” Arjuna said.īut for now, they’re enjoying the rewarding process of making music together, and they can’t wait for their upcoming performance at the 2022 True/False Film Fest. “He’s better than most people with one arm than other people with two arms,” Arjuna said.Īrjuna, Surya and Pasha don’t know exactly how long they’ll keep drona alive.
Songs in home the movie how to#
However, after much practice, Surya learned how to play his drum set with one hand, and he recently picked the guitar back up, as well. Three weeks before their True/False Film Fest performance date, Surya slipped on ice and broke his wrist.

The path to playing at the film festival hasn’t been without difficulty.

The band will also play before film screenings throughout the weekend. Sometimes, they even see classmates wearing their merch at school.ĭrona will play at Eastside Tavern tonight at 9 p.m., alongside Kyren Penrose and local band Elephant Foot. They design all of their own merchandise as well, selling the colorful T-shirts and sweatshirts on their website and at shows. The album art for their most recent EP, “Lovers and Droners,” exemplifies this, combining Arjuna’s 3D art and Surya’s floral designs. In addition to their musical abilities and academic rigor, all three siblings are active visual artists. “We have a lot of homework, so our pre-show is just doing homework,” Arjuna said. The siblings value their academics highly, and they aspire to go to medical school when they grow up. To prepare for the gig, they’ve been practicing rigorously before and after school - but balancing school and music can be tricky. Next weekend, they will be a featured musical act at the 2022 True/False Film Fest. “We’re the head roadies,” Betsy Raghu, their mother, said.ĭrona has played at Rose Music Hall, the Columbia Experimental Music Festival and the Darkroom Records Teen Artist Showcase, among other performances. Instead of forcing them to take lessons, they support them in other ways, such as by moving the band’s extensive equipment before and after shows. Raghu like to take a supportive, but not overbearing, approach to their children’s music. It blows me away - Pasha picked up the bass while we were getting ready to record it, and she just wrote a bass part that fits in with the time signatures.” “It started with Surya and I just doing a jam,” Arjuna said. One of their recent songs from 2022’s “drona LP1,” “Geometry Jam,” embodies this goal and their collaborative songwriting process. “But we do like to mess around with a lot of techniques … We have some songs … we just tried to sit down and say, ‘How complicated can we make this? Can we make it sound crazy with three instruments?’” “We don’t know that much about music theory a whole bunch of chords and scales,” Arjuna said. When they progressed past those basic tools, he did some research and bought them higher quality equipment and recording softwares - tools which surpassed even his knowledge and experience.Īlthough the band doesn’t always have access to industry standard gear - they record their albums in an upstairs bedroom - their instrumental ability and technical skill far surpass their young ages. All three lend their vocals, too, often contributing rich harmonies to their pieces.ĭeepak said the three siblings taught themselves how to use the recording equipment that was sitting around the house from his own music-making days. Surya tends toward drums and the guitar, and Pasha plays bass, guitar, glockenspiel and a ‘90s-style drum machine. To achieve this sound, the siblings all play multiple instruments. The band connects to more specific subgenres as well, such as “shoegaze,” “math rock,” “Midwest emo” and even “black metal.” “We mostly draw from ‘90s indie rock and alternative rock,” Arjuna said of their music, also citing bedroom pop and metal as inspirations. Just since the beginning of 2022, the Columbian siblings have released a 13-song LP, “drona LP1” and a short EP, “Lovers & Droners.” They also released another EP, “Friendz and Family,” in 2021.

Formed in 2020, the local band has since released over 30 original songs. Now, the three siblings (ages 16, 14 and 12, respectively) write, compose, record and produce original music for their genre-bending band, drona. “There’s always three or four or five different songs playing in different rooms ,” Deepak Raghu, their father, said. Arjuna, Surya and Pasha Raghu grew up with music in their home.
