n their last album Tandanu , released in June 2014, popular band Indian Ocean tried a unique concept, collaborating with some of India’s leading musicians representing different genres. The project received fantastic response, and songs like the title track, ‘Roday’, ‘Behney Do’, ‘Charkha’ and ‘Gar Ho Sakey’ were adored by fans.
The group will play a mix of these songs and older classics like ‘Kandisa’, ‘Bandeh’ and ‘Ma Rewa’ at their show at Dublin Square in Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla, on Saturday, January 23. Their appearance is part of Daddy’s All Barr Jamm, where other groups will also perform at locations across the venue. Besides Indian Ocean, the evening will feature Colour Compound, Bombay Bassment, Kanchan Daniel & The Beards, M Mat and Jehan.
“We will also play a song from our proposed new album,” says vocalist-bassist Rahul Ram. “We are working on more songs and should get going on the new record this summer, so we can release it next year,” he adds.
Ram and drummer Amit Kilam are the only two members from the classic line-up, which also had tabla player and vocalist Asheem Chakravarty, who passed away in 2009, and guitarist Susmit Sen, who quit in 2013 to pursue solo projects. While vocalist Himanshu Joshi and tabla player Tuheen Chakravorty came in place of Asheem, guitarist Nikhil Rao took over from Susmit.
“There’s a lot of joy playing together now,” says Kilam. “There was a time when there was little growth but that has changed now. In our next album, the sound will be Indian Ocean-ish but yet different.”
For ‘Tandanu’ , Indian Ocean had collaborated with singers Shankar Mahadevan, Shubha Mudgal and Vishal Dadlani, Mohan veena exponent Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, violinist Kumaresh, kanjira exponent V Selvaganesh and percussionist Karsh Kale.
How did the idea come about? Says Kilam: “Initially, we thought of doing only one or two collaborative songs. But slowly, we felt it would be a good idea to do more. Musicians love collaborating with each other all the time, and we were lucky to have some of the biggest names. They were really friendly and cooperative, and made it easy for us.”
The next question naturally revolves on how they have adapted these songs for live performances, especially when the other artistes won’t be with them. Says Ram: “Barring ‘Longing’ , which featured Kumaresh on violin, we have been able to play the other songs with some changes. In ‘Charkha’ , which had Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt’s Mohan veena, Nikhil has tuned his guitar in a special way to make it sound more Indian.”
Ram says similar efforts have been done with some other songs. “The title track originally had Shankar Mahadevan. Now, Himanshu sings those parts. In fact, we had been playing that song even before recording the album. For ‘Cheetu’ , which had Selvaganesh, Tuheen has learnt some kanjira from him, but plays a shorter solo. On the Shubha Mudgal song ‘Gar Ho Sakey’ , we play it our own way,” he says.
Right from their self-titled debut album in 1993, through ‘Desert Rain’ , ‘Kandisa’, ‘Jhini’ , the ‘Black Friday’ soundtrack and ‘16/ 330 Khajoor Road’ up to ‘Tandanu’ , the band has been admired for its eclectic fusion of Indian folk, classical-based tunes and rock. Despite the line-up changes, the fan base has remained strong, and spread both within the country and among Indians abroad.
How does the band approach song-writing? Kilam points out that most of the time, everyone pitches in. “It starts over one idea and moves on to another. Ultimately it’s a collaborative effort,” he explains. Ram adds, “While rehearsing, we usually do a lot of jamming, and many of our songs emerge from there. There is no fixed format for writing songs. Except for Amit doing ‘Mann Kasturi’ from the film Masaan , we’ve always worked on songs together.”
Emphasis on new songs
That brings us to film music. Besides the score for Black Friday score, Indian Ocean has composed songs for Gulaal, Peepli Live, Satyagraha and Masaan . According to Kilam, they often wait for offers. “We get a film project once a year or two. Some filmmakers like our kind of music, and if their films need us, they talk to us. We don’t go out looking for film work on our own.” Ram points out that they would definitely like to do something on the lines of Black Friday again. However, he clarifies that the main emphasis is on shows and new songs for albums. “We do about 70 concerts a year, which is quite a lot for a band. People are familiar with our songs across India, and we keep getting requests. We did nine shows in the US last year, and there too, the crowd consisted of many Indians familiar with our music. An Egypt tour is lined up this year.”
Both musicians are thrilled about playing in Mumbai again. “We played at the NCPA in October and the response was phenomenal. We’re looking forward to another great one,” says Ram. Once again, fans are in for a super treat.
Indian Ocean will perform as part of Daddy’s All Barr Jamm at Dublin Square at Phoenix Marketcity Kurla from 7 pm onwards. Free entry for all.
(The author is a freelance music writer)
