Blue Friday

All the members – Roy,Mark Mowry (vocals,harmonica,guitar),Sushant Thakur (guitar),Kapil Chetri (harmonica,guitar),Rahul Sengupta (drums) and Devang Baheti (bass) – bring in influences from different genres that blend in with blues. “Blues is such a wide genre. In fact,it is the mother of jazz and rock-n-roll. I’m from the classic rock-n-roll background while Mark and Kapil are old school blues. So there’s a mix of Led Zeppelin,Jimi Hendrix,Elmore James and Robert Johnson influences,” says Roy.

The group usually play covers and originals. “We strike a balance because listeners relate more to covers. It sort of ups the popularity quotient,” says the singer. The band has six originals which it will play in Pune along with songs by Eric Clapton,Muddy Water,Buddy Guy,Led Zeppelin,Jimi Hendrix,Elvis Presley and others.

Roy,Thakur,Sengupta and Baheti knew each other even before the band was formed and had even jammed together at different events. “And when Big Bang Blues came into existence,we were constantly compared to Soulmate. If people spoke about Blues,they referred to Soulmate. We didn’t mind it at all since we were greatly inspired by the band,” Roy says. But in the last two years,this blues outfit has developed its own fan following. “And we’re on a tour of Mumbai and Pune to spread our music beyond Delhi. We heard that Pune doesn’t have the audience for blues as rock steals the spotlight here,but we believe that blues is for everyone. Pune has such a strong college crowd. Earlier,when youngsters would turn up for our gigs in Delhi,it would be quite a surprise. But now they are taking to this kind of music,” she adds. The band will be releasing its first album by the end of this year.