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Spilling the Beans with Iyer’s Filter Coffee

7 Jul
L-R: Rushil Mishra, Sachin Iyer, Pushkar Ravindra, Dennis Dey

Garage band Iyer’s Filter Coffee has been making waves in India for a couple of years now. Back in 2018, their first track “Soma” garnered buzz among Indian indie audiences, and the song later featured on their crisp five-song EP coldturkey (2019). In May 2020, the band released their first, full-length album Is This How You Do It.

With references ranging from The Strokes to fellow Indian indie rockers The F16s, Is This How You Do It has quite a few high-energy tracks and some poignant, more mellow ones, too. A particular stand-out is boisterous, Arctic Monkeys-esque first single “Noize”, which caught our eye back in May. We also liked the subtler back-to-back tracks “Deytime” (spelling a reference to bassist Dennis Dey) and “Nitetime”, the latter of which served solid Comedown Machine vibes.

We caught up with the boys from Iyer’s Filter Coffee for a chat about their musical journey, managing a music career alongside day jobs, what’s behind their peculiar band name, and lots more – read on below!

Top Five Records: Welcome, guys, and thanks for doing this! Let’s start at the beginning. How did the four of you meet? How did you end up deciding to make music together?

Iyer’s Filter Coffee: Rushil [Mishra, guitar / vocals], Sachin [Iyer, drums] and Pushkar [Ravindra, guitar / vocals] went to the same college [BITS Pilani] where they were part of the music club and played together quite a bit. After all three of them landed in Bangalore, we started to jam in early middle 2017 with vision to eventually be able to perform in the Bangalore pub circuit. Dennis [Dey, bass / vocals] and Pushkar happened to become flat-mates around the same time. Since Dennis was also a musician, he joined us in these jams and eventually Iyer’s Filter Coffee was born.

TFR: Interesting! And when did your interests in music begin? When did you start honing your musical skills?

Pushkar: I was forced, like a significant number of South Indian kids are, to learn South Indian classical music by my parents. This happened between the ages of six and 13. And then I discovered metal. My parents bought me an acoustic guitar right after my Class 10 exams. I learnt everything I know about the guitar via the Internet (though a background in music helped accelerate the process). Bought my first electric guitar a day before my AIEEE [All-India Engineering Entrance Examination]. It’s been going on since.

Sachin: I started playing the drums soon after my Class 10 exams – my childhood friends wanted to form a band, and they were short of a drummer, so I decided to fill in. I’m largely a self-taught drummer, so the Music Club at BITS was great not only for the opportunity to play live quite often, but also for the chance to learn from some really talented musicians.

Rushil: My father got me classes for the keyboard when I was around five. Since my family moved cities every two to three years, I couldn’t continue with it for long. I did briefly learn some tabla and classical singing (which I absolutely hated). I did keep playing some keyboard until I got to BITS Pilani in 2010. That’s where I started with most of the “technical” skills – playing the keyboard correctly, learning my scales, and working with synths. I also started playing some guitar there, and got a bit better after college because of how accessible it is (and because I thought it was a bit cooler to be honest; I was wrong). I started writing music with some friends in 2015 using GarageBand and a really basic setup. “Lazy Day” [which appears on Is This How You Do It] was one of the first tracks we wrote back then, and has been rewritten multiple times since then. This is the first group that I’ve sung with though, so I’m pretty new to singing right now.

Dennis: Lucky for me my dad is also a guitarist, so I grew up listening to Dire Straits, Scorpions, Eric Clapton and other amazing artists. Initially, I started with keyboard but switched to guitar around Class 10 (after realizing the aforementioned coolness factor). Initially a rhythm guitarist, as Dad was shredding most of the solos, I picked up lead and bass guitar in college (IIT Roorkee 2010). Bass guitar was something that stuck with me even after college and I bought a used bass guitar with my first salary. Also, I was a part of the church choir at Roorkee where I learnt how to harmonize, something that I’ve been using for backing vocals with the band.

Happiness is rarely found in a day job, and hence the music career. Money is rarely found in a music career, and hence the day job.

TFR: You have mentioned the Black Keys and the Strokes as your influences, and we certainly hear those references in the contrasting tight / laidback elements in your tunes. What are some other influences to your music – musicians or otherwise?

IFC: We have always had an ear out for alternative genres of music. The Strokes, Black Keys and the Arctic Monkeys most definitely inspired us to lay the foundations on our sound, which you can see on coldturkey [their 2019 EP]. Apart from that, I think we have a newfound love towards newer indie artists like Rex Orange County, Boy Pablo and the F16s, who have inspired us to find a new direction for our sound. However, all four of us have listened to our share of rock music from the 90s and the 2000s which has definitely contributed to how we play and how we write on an individual and a group level.

Also, the post-punk-revival sound was something we wanted to build around – bands like Muse, Libertines, Two Door Cinema Club and Franz Ferdinand. That fused with a bit of the new wave of indie music is what most of our sound written as a group sounds like. Of course, we all also have our own influences which we keep adding into the process as we finish the songs up.

TFR: How have you navigated the journey from Engineering to indie rock? How has your experience been, balancing your day jobs with a burgeoning music career?

IFC: It has been fun honestly. Happiness is rarely found in a day job, and hence the music career. Money is rarely found in a music career, and hence the day job. Like we mentioned in our TEDx talk, it’s been One for the kitchen, One for the soul for us!

Honestly though, writing and producing music would happen a lot faster if we did not have the day jobs, because there’s more time to channel the creativity, and an ample amount of time because the group isn’t forced to jam on weekends only.

TFR: What’s the story behind the name? Is [drummer] Sachin [Iyer] the inspiration?

IFC: We couldn’t think of a good name for the group at all. There were many below par suggestions. We tried out names like 1023 (when we still did not have gig), Geek Chutney, and many others that were thrown away minutes after inception.

All suggestions from Iyer, who probably was channeling his inner Alex Rose, seemed contain his name. These included “Iyer Learns to Rock” and “Iyer Learns to Groove” and “Iyer and the Boys”. Iyer’s Filter Coffee, one such suggestion, seemed to stick because it does not sound like a band’s name. It sounds like the name of a cafe (which is the backup idea if this music thing doesn’t work). So yeah, it just sorta stuck and we seemed to like it.

As a side note, we have other joke names for ourselves in the same fashion. “Mishraji ka Paan Bhandaar” after Rushil Mishra, and “Robindro Sangeet” after Pushkar Ravindra. Dennis Dey might be a little disappointed that “Deytime” has now become a song!

TFR: Your EP coldturkey [Ed. Note: Our review here] released last year on Apple Music’s New Artist Spotlight program. How did you get that opportunity? And more broadly, what advice would you give to young and upcoming artists such as yourselves that want to break into the Indian indie scene?

IFC: Tejas Menon connected us with Apple Music, and after listening to the EP, they got back to us with their New Artist Spotlight program which enabled us to have a two-week exclusive release on Apple Music. Our distributor OKListen was quick to help and worked with the launch dates accordingly.

For new artists, we would like to say just put your music out there. Soundcloud and YouTube are great free platforms to do so in the beginning.  Also, videos matter a lot too. Dennis has this habit of recording our live gigs, which in turn helped us get more gigs and eventually became parts of our music videos. So just shoot videos or ask (bribe) your friends to do that for you.

TFR: Congrats again on the new album! Can you walk us through your process writing and recording Is This How You Do It? How was your experience working with Vivek Thomas?

IFC: We were writing even while we were recording coldturkey. We had almost a third of this album back then itself. The lessons learnt from coldturkey allowed us to revisit these songs, and improve and polish them further before we hit the studio. Also, in that time, we learnt more music, listened to more music and consciously tried to expand on our writing as well, which is reflected in this album.

Working with Vivek [Thomas, producer] was an amazing experience. He is a delightful and cheerful personality that makes working with him feel natural and a lot of fun. He understood our sound from the very beginning, not only with the way he dug through our inspirations but also with how well he knows and understands the scene. His touch really added a whole new dimension and color to our work.

TFR: Our favorite track from your album is first single “Noize” – we’ve already talked up the Josh Homme-era Arctic Monkeys vibes here on Top Five Records. Can you fill us in on your inspiration for this song, both musically and lyrically?

IFC: “Noize” was a unique song in that it was the only song that was written from the drum riff up, which is never the first thing we put on paper while writing. Pushkar brought his Morello-inspired wah guitar on top which was complemented by Dennis’ very melodic bass line.

Lyrics wise, it is loosely based on a prose that Rushil wrote which was condensed into a lyric so as to put something on top of the instruments.
We’ve been covering Arctic Monkeys for a while so we’re sure that someone who listens to “Noize” can hear elements of “Crying Lightning” or “Fake Tales of San Francisco” or maybe even hints of “Brianstorm”. The drums and the lyrics are very Monkeys, definitely.

TFR: Another favorite is the instrumental “Nitetime”, probably because it somewhat reminds us of that oft-forgotten Strokes gem, “Call It Fate, Call It Karma”. How did you end up putting such a stylistically different track on the album?

Rushil: Comedown Machine is such an underrated album! [Ed. Note: Agreed.] I really like the synths they use in the whole album – very vintage, analog, 80s, Stranger Things vibes – and this was similar to Julian Casablancas’ solo projects. 

“Nitetime” has a bit of an interesting story though. Since we don’t play keys in jams, I had a rough idea what to play for the song – some piano through the song, with some airy sounds towards the end of the song. For the album, he wanted to do a short extension to the song with a similar sound palette. I ended up knitting a few short pieces I’d written over time in the studio, and arranged it in the studio. 

I think the chord progressions in the two songs are somewhat similar, and the synths are similar to the Strokes’ / Julian’s work in some of their more ambient songs, too.

TFR: Naturally, you probably did not expect your album to release in the middle of a global pandemic. But now that it’s here – how are you getting the word out about Is This How You Do It in the COVID era?

IFC: We were ready with the album early March and were working towards setting up a country-wide tour. However, those plans took a backseat due to the pandemic. As a launch tour wasn’t an option in the near future, we decided to put the music out for the listeners.

More than us, our friends and fans helped us put the word out for the album. There were a lot of Instagram stories shared with the songs from the album. Also “NewNew” made it to the Spotify playlist Rock in India which also helped in getting new listeners. We are also releasing music videos for the songs slowly and are planning to do a livestream launch gig too.

TFR: With an EP and an album under your belt, what’s next on the radar for Iyer’s Filter Coffee?

IFC: Interestingly, we think the band would have gone into a temporary hiatus if not for COVID, because of personal situations of certain members that would have geographically separated the group. So, COVID was a blessing in disguise in that way, because we are still together and writing more.

We are trying to improve in the craft and bring in a lot more to the table than we did in the past. It would be best to get some writing done now before we eventually start gigging again. As of now, there is no clear picture of what is coming next. But stay tuned to your social media because you never know when we decide to drop a single!

RAPID-FIRE QUESTIONS

TFR: Who’s an Indian artist that you’d love to open for / collaborate with?

IFC: Open for: TAAQ. Collaborate: Peter Cat Recording Co, Skrat, the F16s.

TFR: What would be your Desert Island discs?

  • Pushkar: Led Zeppelin I by Led Zeppelin;  Is This It by the Strokes
  • Sachin: By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers; Chapter V by Staind; Undertow by Tool
  • Rushil: Random Access Memories by Daft Punk; Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not by Arctic Monkeys; Mm.. Food by MF DOOM
  • Dennis: Avenged Sevenfold by Avenged Sevenfold; Being So Normal by Peach Pit; Absolution by Muse

TFR: What’s been your favorite gig so far?

IFC: It’s between Oasis [BITS Pilani’s cultural festival], Zomaland 2020 or the coldturkey launch gig at the Humming Tree.

TFR: What’s an album or song on heavy rotation right now?

  • Pushkar: “BTFL” by Abhi the Nomad 
  • Sachin: Tourist History by Two Door Cinema Club
  • Rushil: “Memory Box” by Peter Cat Recording Co
  • Dennis: Apricot Princess by Rex Orange County

Visit the Iyer’s Filter Coffee website to stay updated on the band!

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Peter Cat Recording Company – Bismillah

21 Oct

Over the past decade and a half, India has seen a remarkable growth in the sheer number of independent, non-Bollywood music. From electronica to indie rock to hip-hop, we now have it all. But as the scene develops, many homegrown artists understandably sound a lot like the global artists they’re trying to emulate. There are a few exceptions, of course – artists who are truly, unmistakably, confidently homegrown; and Peter Cat Recording Company easily rules over them all.

Delhi-based quintet Peter Cat have been a beloved part of the Indian music scene for nearly a decade; Sinema (2011) especially was all the rage for a particular cross-section of indie fans that came of age in that era. They’ve always been ahead of the curve, but perhaps by too much – fully-formed and original in a nascent and sometimes derivative industry. In many people’s opinions (including ours), they deserved so much more than the tiny listening audience and a four-city gig circuit that the country could afford them.

Luckily for all of us, Peter Cat seemed to have been thinking along the same lines. Recently, they signed on to French label Panache Records, which promptly released a nine-song anthology of the band’s greatest hits (Portrait of a Time, 2018). Happier still was the news this year that the band would be releasing a full-length album – the official “debut” – with Panache. Peter Cat were finally getting the management and international exposure that their brilliance deserved. Would they live up to it?

The short answer is: yes.

Peter Cat Recording Company is not just a great band; they’re a great Indian band. Their sound blends easily across jazz, gypsy, disco, you name it – but at their core, Peter Cat is undeniably desi. On Bismillah, that thankfully doesn’t change.

Take, for example, “Where the Money Flows”, which opens the album with diegetic sounds of the homeland – the birds, the distant honks, a spluttering engine. Between gentle guitar strums and handclaps, the lyrics paint a picture of trade-offs between money (bad) and love (good). But the music video makes their intent much more explicit: they’re talking specifically about that great Indian experiment, demonetization. The fact that the music video was released days before the final stretch of India’s historical general election made the link even clearer.

Other songs on Bismillah reference India in decidedly less political terms. With its Technicolor throwback and old-world croon, “Heera” could be an erstwhile filmi hit (barring the English-language lyrics). Disco jam “Memory Box” is would fit right in on a best-of-Bappi-Lahiri special issue with the busy guitars and dramatic violins. “Floated By” is a nod to the celebrated big-brass sounds of Indian weddings; you could almost imagine the trumpets and the melancholy vocals serenading the wee hours of a wedding reception somewhere. Indeed, the music video is set in a real wedding – Sawhney’s own, in fact.

Of course, the brilliance of Peter Cat lies in their ability to seamlessly fuse their Indian sensibilities with great music from elsewhere. One touch-point, especially, is the minimalist vibe espoused by the likes of the xx. “Remain in Me” is built mostly on the Sawhney’s lilting voice and a sparse drum-guitar line, joined by forlorn horns in the chorus. “Vishnu ❤” is a hypnotic, chillwave gem, interspersed again by Peter Cat’s signature brass. Moody psychedelia, a la Tame Impala, is another key influence, especially on the expansive album closer “Shit I’m Dreaming”.

Peter Cat’s strongest suit, however, is Sawhney’s rich, emotive voice. He is fully in control of his considerable talent: perfectly complementary to the instruments in one moment, a sublime falsetto on the next, and maybe a quick aalap here and there. His voice sways, croons, reaches and swoons; but always adding to that iconic Peter Cat sound.

Bismillah is a kaleidoscopic journey through genres and time periods; experimental, creative but always on brand. It’s their best work yet and, honestly, one of the best albums we’ve heard all year (Indian or otherwise).

Best tracks: “Where the Money Flows”, “Heera”, “Floated By”

Check out Peter Cat Recording Company’s website for more information.

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Tarun Balani – Dharma

27 Jul

The first thing to strike you about Dharma is how good an ear for sound this band has. Track after track has something clean and sharp enough to make you sit up. There’s a surprising and clear horn in “Planet Hunter” that’s citrus-like in feel. It’s an album with the confidence to take things at the pace it wants and the skill to make fantastic music on its own terms.

However, this point also makes for the major flaw of the album. There’s just not enough here in terms of thought. Particularly egregious is the album’s habit of repeating a phrase multiple times to make sure that we’ve got it. It comes off as almost a tic and adds an unfortunate drag to the album. “Brooklyn Bound”, which should have started the album strong, ends up slightly tiring as a result.

With “Here We Go”, this flaw even makes for a light contrast with the title. The song keeps building up and makes promises for what is to come, but then pulls back to places that we’ve already understood. Right before the end of the track, it moves forward very cleverly, but retreats for the finish and the whole song ends up deflated as a result.

Despite that though, it’s a very jazzy piece with an excellent piano solo midway through. There are some very unexpected flourishes there that make for little jolts of brightness and the track is very pleasant to listen to.

Similarly, “Samsara” is beautiful every time and I do always love jazz that’s able to pull off a laid-back look. “Impermanence”, which precedes it, has a little more pace to it, but is no less skilled and is a stand-out worth paying attention to. Tarun Balani’s drums do a fantastic job underpinning this album and sets grooves that are effortless to sink into.

The highlight of the album is clearly “Malala’s Dream” though. The guitar and trumpet solos are fantastic and the bass work is quite noteworthy as well. I unfortunately still have to quibble a little with the time spent on essentially reiteration and there are a couple of small miscommunications, but those are minor, minor issues in a very strong jazz track.

This skill and nose for clever sounds leave a lot to recommend in this album. It’s a shame then that the result is just too predictable for my liking. Had Dharma had more imagination and a little more tightness, it could have been a masterpiece. As is, it’s still a worthy listen and an instant recommendation – for people seeking some accessibility in their jazz or for people interested in the exciting new things coming out of the Indian jazz scene.

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Iyer’s Filter Coffee – coldturkey

9 Apr
Artwork by Saloni Sinha and Vishal Gulve

Disclaimer: the writer has a long personal history with three out of four of the band members of Iyer’s Filter Coffee.

The early/mid-2000s were a great time to be an indie rock fan. There was a perfect balance between good bands, access (thank you LimeWire and Myspace), and discoverability. The fact that so many of the stalwarts of that early scene have gone on to become mainstream monoliths in their own right shows how much that era of music still resonate today.

Bangalore-based Iyer’s Filter Coffee and their debut EP, coldturkey are a throwback to that early indie rock sound. The four-piece band stick to the basics of two guitars, a bass and drums (with the odd keys) to deliver up a solid first release.

First up is “Elanor.” What starts off with an Audioslave-esque lead by guitarist Pushkara Ravindra ends up in a freewheeling melodic shred-fest, with front-man Rushil Mishra’s vocals and rhythm guitar harmonising to tie together a sound that stops short on the right side of self-indulgent.

Up next is “Beach,” with its easy toe-tapping lazy groove that gets me smiling every time (thanks to namesake Sachin Iyer). The real pleasure lies in the final third of the song (a common thread throughout the album), which has this delightful break down/sine-wave thing going on for it that’s just sonically gorgeous.

“Soma” is IFC’s signature song, a wailing mix of wah-wah filled fuzz and three-chord guitar grunge with a driving bass that’s bound to get the crowd pumping, even if I’m not completely sold on what the song tries to do. There’s something about the mix that I can’t quite place that undercuts some of the guitar riffs, but I doubt that’ll matter when you’re three beers down, so…

Soma, from coldturkey

The penultimate song, “Moonlight” opens with a most Indian-indie-sounding riff, before switching things up and veering towards an AM-circa-Suck-it-and-See sound. It’s a surprisingly mature and well-crafted piece, and displays a range and depth to the band that bodes well for their future releases.

“Why Don’t You Come Over” rounds out the nostalgia trip with a dream-pop/shoe-gazy reverb-laden late-night call to lovers past. It’s mellow, it’s airy, it’s a delight to listen to.

coldturkey doesn’t reinvent a genre, nor does it break from long-standing musical traditions, but it ultimately doesn’t have to. It’s a solid debut by a good band that’s slowly etching their mark on the Bangalore music scene, filling a niche and gaining an organic following in the process. They’ve also got a brilliant album cover, which is always a bonus.

coldturkey is available on Apple Music, Soundcloud, and Spotify. Go check them out!

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Mosko – Teeth

10 Feb
Gorgeous artwork by Rudraksh Banerjie and Khyati Trehan

Mosko’s debut EP, Teeth, has been a long time coming. The Delhi dance-rock band’s initial duo of Kavya Trehan and Moses Koul have been touring under the moniker since 2014, and their EP release last month has come after three years of work and a reworked lineup (now featuring drummer Suyash Gabriel and bassist Amar Pandey). After so much energy, and effort, and labour, is the payoff worth it?

Short answer: yes.

Teeth is a solid showcase of the band’s unique energy. It’s a mish-mash of ideas and inspirations, jumping around not just across songs but within songs. The album plays fast and loose with the hyphen between the band’s two genres, shifting between danceable rhythms and headbanging beats. It’s far, far too short a release, but offers so much in that small amount of time.

First up is “Smooth,” which perfectly describes Mosko’s sound. The whole song alternates driven grungy guitar riffs (think Nirvana circa “Lithium”) with a more poppy, whirly 3-3-2 organ rhythm. The song is constantly shifting rhythms and beats, but instead of sounding disconnected it just works, because of the way Gabriel’s incredible drumming and Pandey’s competent bass-work backs up Trehan’s powerful vocals. I can only imagine how much of a crowd-puller this song would be live, just by virtue of how far it carries its energy.

Up next is “Mosey Pants,” one of the two tracks co-written by the band’s earlier bassist Abhinav Chaudhury and drummer Karan Malick. It’s upbeat, with some highly infectious guitar licks and solos, yet with just the right number of breath-catching moments to help you keep up. Perfect crowd-puller.

“Ydek” shifts down a gear or two in tempo and beat, while maintaining the energy levels. It’s a measured gathering-of-the-clouds sort of sound, which never quite breaks the levee but never quite needs to.

The final track, “Drance 109,” starts off sounding vaguely Arctic Monkeys and ends up sounding like organised chaos (in a good way). Trehan’s weaponised voice is the lynchpin that ties the explosion together, with space left over for Koul’s guitar work to fill in the rest with a sound ranging from the sharpest electronica to the muddiest of metal.

Mosko performing “Smooth” on Balcony TV

The one drawback to Teeth as an EP ends up actually being the strength that’s going to ensure Mosko’s continuing success: it’s an album that’s guaranteed to sound better live. Mosko are forging ahead as primarily a duo, but the EP promises a duo that will fill up the stage. Teeth is an absolute tease of a release but in the best possible way, a promise of something more when aided by a bunch of massive speakers and a roaring crowd.T

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Fresh Voice: A Conversation with Srijit Bhowmick

6 Oct

Sri My Indie Playlist With Sri Vol01 Image 01_Srijit Bhowmick_PC Jyotirmoy Gupta

Srijit Bhowmick is a promising young singer-songwriter from Mumbai. In August 2017, he released his three-track EP Sri, a lilting mix of solid songwriting and good musical instincts. Bhowmick has a unique voice and wields it bravely. Although his tone itself is pleasant enough, his distinction lies in the way he makes his voice glide, shorten, elongate and stretch around the music.

Barely a month after his EP release, Bhowmick was featured on an Apple Music playlist celebrating Indian pop for “Am I Here”, an elliptical, wistful track that showcases his vocals – he makes a growl mutate into an echoing shout and a falsetto transform into a haunting whisper with seeming ease. (Funnily enough, we found “Am I Here” to be the least likely contender of the three songs for a pop music list, but what do we know about lists?)

“Yesterday’s Child” is a short but well-written ode to the growing pains associated with a disappointing middle age – bills, mortgages, all of that fun stuff. Bhowmick’s soothing guitar melody is supported well by piano, played by his associate Hrushabh Talapadatur. “Helpless” is our favorite track, though. The guitar work is deft and well-arranged, and Bhowmick’s voice is tethered within ranges that most people would consider pleasant. The lyrics are pretty good too, with clever lines that easily bring to mind a lost love. Maybe it’s the Dylan-tinged nostalgia that set it off, but we definitely got a whiff of Jake Bugg here.

We recently caught up with Sri for his take on his eponymous EP, his musical influences, and more. Check it out below!

So, let’s start at the beginning. Tell us a bit about yourself! 

I’m an indie singer-songwriter and I write songs about life. I was born in Calcutta but grew up in Bombay from the age of seven. Studying for Engineering/Medical was the stereotypical middle-class expectation, so I picked up the guitar as a replacement in high school. I always liked music and could always sing. And so, it began.

I have been writing for almost eight years now. It wasn’t until 2014 that I felt my solo material was taking some form and shape, something I could be really proud of. By 2016, I felt I finally had good enough material to go live with and so, I’ve been at it ever since.

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We listened through your three-track EP Sri a few times already, and we love it! To us, your music seems to draw influences from Dylan-era sounds as well as newer artists like Alex Turner – but we’d love to hear from you. What would you count as your greatest influences, musical or otherwise?

That feels great, thank you! Dylan-era sounds have influenced me quite a bit in terms of songwriting. Such a defining period in the history of music – I believe the 60s influenced almost everyone directly or indirectly. Having said that, it’s always a difficult thing to answer, because I’ve had a so many different sets of musical influences over time in phases that they must have consciously or otherwise become a part of my “musicality”.

Growing up, I had the stereotypical Indian mainstream influences coupled with what my Bengali roots provided. I picked up the guitar in high school, and so that became such an important time for discovering more music. Since then, my biggest influences have been Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Dire Straits, Guns ‘n Roses, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Cat Stevens, Oasis, Iron Maiden and various others, alongside some Bangla rock acts and a lot of urban Indian indie music. As for my writing, many movies have played a huge part. I was lucky enough to have enjoyed Satyajit Ray’s films since a young age; Rashomon, Hazaroon Khwaishein Aisi and Schindler’s List have also touched me deeply.

I would always sing at home, but with the introduction of guitar in life, I could improvise and jam with myself and I think that was a turning point. All of it was self-learned. I did the same with words, experimenting, pouring out whatever that came to my mind, and I think together those things sort of synced sometime around 2014.

I think tastes and attitudes are partly affected by our surroundings. As we know more, we are able to choose the ones we’d like to keep, and discard the rest, and figure out where to look for new ones. That is how the evolution of my musical influences has been, and I think my music reflects that. For example, “Yesterday’s Child” has got a little bit of a folksy vibe, almost like American folk music, but “Am I Here” and “Helpless” have maybe a bit of rock ‘n roll seeped in. Of course, it’s up to the listeners.

Tell us a little about your songwriting process. What comes first – the music, the lyrics, or something else altogether?

Usually, it’s a bit of this and a bit of that. I may have a musical idea and then try scribbling something down. And then I add some more musical ideas. Or the other way around – it really depends on the mood, or what’s on my mind. Did I read something that affected me or observed something or someone or pondered over things or just imagined situations? There’s a lot of to and fro to it. You arrive at a moment, or you try to go back to that musical idea you wrote months and years back as well. There are songs I have written in 10 minutes and there are songs I have literally worked at for days. The whole thing is almost maddening to the outside world but there’s an underlying process I’ve chalked out over the years.

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Your song was recently featured on an Apple Music list celebrating fresh new voices in Indian independent pop. That must have felt awesome! What do you have lined up to promote your EP and spread the word going forward?

It felt really great! I think “Am I Here” is still on there and that’s amazing, given that it’s from my first-ever EP and that it’s alongside such stellar Indian indie acts.

Most importantly, I’d love to play as many gigs as I can, take my music to new places, and hopefully plan a tour. My music is best experienced in the quiet embrace of a listening audience as it allows for my art to flow. Having said that, I’m an indie musician and if you pay me to play to your dog and cat, I will. Plus, cats and dogs are such amazing creatures, so why not!

I would also like to interact more with people on the business side of music. It always helps for an artist to stick to music and grow as a musician, while having better choices and help when it comes to handling the business side of it. I would also love to work on a music video or two. And if there are musicians who really like my music and are interested to work with me, I’d be glad to explore those possibilities as well.

And finally, let’s do a couple of rapid-fire questions!

  • Favorite album of all time? 

I am not much of an album person – when I was younger, I would listen to a song continuously for days and months even, until the shine wore off, before moving on. I believe that each song has got a universe of its own. That being said, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska was an album that has had a huge influence on me and on my singer-songwriter craftsmanship.

  • Last song that you heard (that wasn’t your own)? 

Warfaze’s “Purnota”, Dire Straits’ “Why Worry”, and Parvaaz’s “Ghaib”

  • Dream venue to play your music, anywhere in the world? 

Nowhere in particular. Wherever I get paid with a good listening audience is perfect for me.

—

You can check out Sri on SoundCloud and Apple Music

 

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The F16s: Kaleidoscope

28 Aug

Top Five Records is no stranger to the Chennai Music Scene; we’ve done our best to highlight the polished, challenging, unique indie sound that comes out of a city that normally has a less-than-stellar reputation for indie music. Bands like Little Babooshka’s Grind, Junkyard Groove, Adam & the Fish Eyed Poets and the Shakey Rays have challenged that notion time and again over the past year or two, and now it’s the F16s’ turn to challenge India’s perception of what the southern city’s young musicians can come up with.

The F16s
The F16s’ debut album, Kaleidoscope, is a mix-and-match of styles, genres, sounds, stories and inspirations (although somewhat skewed towards a mix of Arctic Monkeys and the Strokes) that comes together in a burst of colour and shapes, and ideally beer. It’s almost overwhelming. Heady, carnival-inspired post-break-up indie? Check. Guitar-fuzzed, anthemic garage rock? Check.  Smokey-back-room-inspired depressing alt rock? Check. Kaleidoscope works as the perfect showcase for one of the few Indian bands who can rightly claim the tag “genre defying.”

It also doesn’t hurt that the EP is accompanied by absolutely gorgeous album and single art.

It also doesn’t hurt that the EP is accompanied by absolutely gorgeous album and single art.

So, on to the album, then. “Prelude” first tiptoes and then charges onto the scene armed with a driving guitar riff, pressing drum beat and tinged with acid techno. A little over a minute later, however, “Light Bulbs” strolls in: a swinging, off-centre electric piano groove, with drawling guitars and drawling vocals. Full of a painful, morose sort of ennui, it’s almost impossible not to imagine a depressed 20-something in a Delhi restrobar with her friends, trying to stay afloat in the gloomy bar-hopping culture of young corporate India. Appropriately enough, the song ends with a vocal harmonization that rivals that heard in Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida”. It does have way more cowbell though, so I suppose in some respects it’s even better.

The depression doesn’t abate as the EP slides into “Avalanche”. We love the original acoustic version, but it’s great to hear it fully realized in electric: subtle organ shifts and a catchy syncopated guitar rhythm (anyone else hearing A Certain Romance?) strengthen a song that’s about trying to run away from your troubles.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech allows for a bizarre but  fun segue into “The King’s Dream”, a song that starts off sounding like Jet and ends up sounding like The Fratellis. Fuzzy guitars and a very danceable beat make for  the kind of music that’s perfect for non-IDM-saturated hipster parties; their groove just won’t let you stay still. Don’t worry, though: the Reverend’s spirit lives on in the song through its lyrics full of rebellion (although admittedly from an upper-middle-class youth perspective). 

“Who Robbed the Rogue” moves The F16s’ sound into new territory yet again, flying through the Strokes’galaxy with a minor stopover in MGMT’s world. The song’s outro is a universe apart entirely, and builds up into a crescendo of what we can only describe as Wagnerian rock (think early-2000s Muse).

“My Shallow Lover” is a great follow-up song after “The Rogue”. Ostensibly a song of discovered adultery with none of the tears and all of the middle fingers, “My Shallow Lover” doesn’t beat about the bush:

“I don’t give a fuck about who you love and who you want and who you are, because I’m more important than you.”

High on cheek, sugar, and rotary organ keyboards, what sets this song apart from all the others in the EP is its super-awesome carnival descent at the end of the track: A heady mix of shoe-gaze and dream-pop that sounds exactly how I imagine dropping acid and riding a merry-go-round would feel.

Wrap your head around that for a second.

“Nuke” slows things down a bit, for a second, before turning up the fuzz slowly. First comes another Arctic Monkeys-esque drum groove (revisiting “Whatever People Say I AM” territory), before Josh opens his pipes again to belt: “Can you take control?” The song’s outro returns us back to Kaleidoscope’s initial techno-ish feel, albeit with a heavier, more industrial sound, before we’re left to our own devices surrounded by a fading hiss of static.

Kaleidoscope does have its rough parts: not all songs are for everyone, and it takes a rather unique listener to be able to appreciate each and every song. We’re talking about a release that jumps from genre to genre, from inspiration to inspiration, and from story to story almost every other minute.  Still, each jump brings you to newer territory and more awesome sounds, so the aural exercise is definitely worth it.

Go listen to the F16s on their SoundCloud account and buy their EP over at OK Listen. And check out the band’s Facebook Page for lyrics and absolutely gorgeous album/single art!

Also, a huge shout-out to Harshan Radhakrishnan for making keyboards sound cool!

– Karthik Manickam

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Skrat: Skrat in the Shed

25 Jul

If Chennai can claim any resemblance to an established alt rock scene in the city, a good chunk of that credit has to go to a band like Skrat. They have held out, survived the blizzards of lineup changes, a dearth of good audience and the hazards of taking a break in a very weak environment. They have taken their time to make music which screams in your ears that it’s Skrat, and nothing else: for example, take ‘Black Hammer Man’ or the ever-popular ‘Stay Wild’. Skrat is a band that has been courageous enough to take the time to find its own ‘sound’.

And that’s exactly what the band did, with Skrat in the Shed.

 

Skrat in the Shed is essentially a seventeen-minute, five song video showcase (see above) of Skrat playing five new songs, shot and recorded in front man T. T. Sriram’s ‘garage’, the jam room for many Chennai bands. Their first song “Tin Can Man” starts on a promising note with well-matched vocals and a foot tapping chorus. If that wasn’t enough to catch your attention, then the fast paced “Smoke a Cigar” grips it. The song is well-written and accompanied by catchy riffs, and the change of pace in the middle of the song is just brilliant.

It does look like all songs were performed in one go, with only a few tight seconds for demarcation. After “Smoke a Cigar”, we settle down to a nice and leisurely “Big Bad Bombs”. At just about four minutes long, this track has some soulful vocals and restrained drumming to go with it.

The next song “High” already seems like the next crowd favorite. Its low toned, deep and measured riffs sound like Tony Iommi cured of his lymphoma and back from his Sabbath-ical. On Skrat in the Shed, it is this song that reminds us most about just how much Skrat has striven to evolve and mature, tired of everyone telling them how to play their music. This slow paced song, presented with elegant vocals and good bass, is sure to have your heads rocking slowly in harmony with its title.

Bringing things to a fast paced end, leaving you craving for more is “Shake It Off”. Again, good guitar work does the trick here. Although old timers might question Sriram’s vocalizing of the lead tune, it’s still fun: and still Skrat in its own way. And what more, it worked with the audience which sang along when they performed at Alliance Francaise, Chennai recently.

All in all, Skrat in the Shed is a great album (and a neat video) by Skrat. They look all set to hit the mainstream and play regularly to bigger audiences. You have to be very determined and lucky if you get to make a successful comeback and reinvent yourself in the process. And Skrat looks like they’ve given their all.

– Prasannaa

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Susmit Sen: Depths Of The Ocean

18 Jul

Susmit Sen has been India’s foremost acoustic guitarist for over two decades now. Founder-member of the great Indian band Indian Ocean, the band’s signature sound is built upon Sen’s unique guitar sound: Indian sensibilities, but a purity of scale that reigns supreme. Heavily influenced by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Nikhil Banerjee (sitar) as well as the great John MacLaughlin in equal measure, he has developed his own unique sound which, albeit not technically pure, is extremely clean. His compositions are in the classical mold, but not in method, where melodic lines are woven around the whirr of open strings.

Over the years, Indian Ocean’s sound has changed. The first album had only instrumentals, which was almost unheard of then in the Indian music industry. As the years have progressed, the band has incorporated vocals and lyrics, folks and roots playing a huge influence, with the numbers generally being more pacey and more mainstream in its attire. And somewhere along that line, the inherent classicism of its first album has been somewhat lost. And this is where Sen’s album comes in. Susmit Sen released his solo debut album Depths of the Ocean earlier this year – an album which has been in the making for the last ten years.

The album kicks off with the track “Rejuvenation” with his bandmate, the great late Asheem Chakravarthy on vocals and tabla. At a little under ten minutes, the track starts off with Susmit building up the mood with some neat jazzy riffs and then Asheem takes over with his tanas – Kumar Gandharva’s influence is crystal clear. As Asheem and Susmit feed off each other in a jugalbandi of sorts, it’s a distinctively early Indian Ocean. And it’s rather sad that this might be the last time one gets to hear Asheem’s soulful voice on record.

Next up is “City Lights” featuring Shubha Mudgal. Much darker in mood, it is unlike anything Rana’s ever done before. The first distinct feature is Shubha Mudgal’s whispered and restrained vocals, which are as majestic as her usually more vigorous style. Though it’s more than 11 minutes long, it’s all good: the sudden mood changes and fillers, accompanied by some beautiful flute and fluent keyboard playing, makes this track the majestic best of the fusion genre. The track ends with some dark but poignantly beautiful note phrasing, and is an absolute classic.

The title track “Depths of the Ocean”, incidentally one of Susmit & Asheem’s earliest compositions, features Parikrama’s Nitin Malik on lead vocals and other vocalists. It harks back to the era of Indian Ocean’s earliest days and its debut album. With some very agreeable vocals, the guitar parts have been woven in very intricately and you can hear traces of quite a few numbers from the debut album in the various jumps and turns the songs take.

“Tribute” is a solo Susmit Sen guitar track and it is easily the most moving piece of this album. It takes one back to the times where to experience music meant sitting alone in a dark room and letting the music seep into the soul, with inner peace as the foremost objective. The beautiful aalap creates a wonderful mood as it segues into the main composition with a beautiful jhala. Again it is a long composition, and again it never gets repetitive. Sen comes up with some beautiful fillers without ever changing scale.

Next is the folksy “Wild Epiphony” featuring the Assamese folk musician Papon on lead vocals. Though Papon is pretty good on the vocals with some powerful delivery and with Rana in full form, it doesn’t quite have the majesty of the earlier collaborations on the album. Following that is the track “Intimacy” featuring Sen’s cousin Sari Roy. It is another beautiful track with some very melodious riffs and fills, and Sari Roy harmonizes along quite beautifully with the strains of Sen’s strings. And it does create some mood – imagine sitting around a moon-lit terrace, a tad intoxicated and listening to a couple of friends singing and playing the guitar. Except, of course, your guitarist won’t be as good as Rana.

The album ends with “Six String Salute”, Sen’s take on our 100-year-old National Anthem. Stripping the anthem somewhat of its patriotic fervour, it brings out its oft-neglected spiritual and tranquil calmness and enhances its melodic classic-ness even more. Susmit Sen truly does this piece full justice.

Depths of the Ocean is an absolutely stunning album. Susmit Sen comes across as a musician at peace with himself and his guitar. It’s the fruit of his arduous twenty plus years with his band, the sounds and sensibilities definitely contributing to the beauty of it. This album makes an emphatic statement: Susmit Sen is still India’s best acoustic guitarist. There’s an ethereal and spiritual connection with his music, that can take its listeners places, and this album crowns Susmit Sen in all its glory: not only as a great guitarist but as a great musician.

Verdict: Indian Oceans fan you might or might not be, just shut yourself in your room and listen to this album. And drown in the Depths of this Ocean of sounds. And peace out!

– Sayid

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