Sound Sense

For the last five years,music band Bandish has rocked the crowds with their stylised and intense songs. Goonj,from their debut album Kaise Kahoon shot up to No 3 on the MTV World Chart Express in 2006 and stayed their for 10 weeks. The group that was nominated for the Best Band of the year at the Jack Daniel’s Rock Awards 2007,says they are now riding a new wave thanks to the internet. On the sidelines of a recent cultural evening at the SJOBA Winter Fest 2010,vocalist Deepk Nair talks about “downloads,mobile captures and netscapes”.

“Internet is a saviour. Be it painting or theatre,all forms of art have become increasingly accessible to the public. The opening up of the arts offers immense potential for performers,” he says. With their new album,also titled Bandish,having been launched recently,the group is set to release a video on YouTube. Clearly,Bandish is not worried about internet eating into their CD sales. “YouTube takes time to play and there are hiccups,but the reach is amazing,” says drummer Chris Powell. “A few years ago,television was the best medium. But now,music channels will charge us several crore rupees to play our music. This makes internet very helpful.”

Besides Powell,a former Euphoria musician who founded Bandish,and Nair,the band comprises Ulrich Gomes on the keyboard,Adi Manuel and Desmond Powell on guitars,Rohit Kumar on Indian percussions and bassist Brennon Denfer,who is also a jazz musician and has played for several Bollywood films. While Powell and Nair have their roots in rock,Gomes is grounded in pop.