Got the Blues

Blues band Soulmate will perform in the city on October 27 as a part of the series of concerts,Divas of Rock 2.

Blues band Soulmate will perform in the city on October 27 as a part of the series of concerts,Divas of Rock 2

Ten years ago,Tipriti Kharbangar walked into guitarist Rudy Wallang’s studio to record a song. Wallang,a Blues enthusiast was blown away by Kharbangar’s fiery style and smooth vocals. The duo from Shillong combined their love for Blues,Soul,R&B and Funk in their Blues-Rock band,Soulmate. While their music was widely appreciated,most people assumed the niche band from the quiet city Shillong would not survive. Ten years later,the band continues to perform in cities across India and in countries such as USA,France,Germany,Sweden,Indonesia and Norway and has already cut two albums,Shillong and Moving On. On October 27,the band comes to Pune to perform at Vivanta by Taj,as part of the Divas of Rock 2 series of concerts. Following their Pune gig,on October 28,the band will add the brightest feather to their cap as they open Carlos Santana’s F1 Rocks concert in Delhi.

Tipriti ‘Tips’ Kharbangar (29) and Rudy Wallang (50) form the core of the band,Kharbangar’s fire and attitude setting off Wallang’s icy cool in the tracks. While both write songs,sing and play the guitar,Kharbangar is the lead vocalist and Wallang is the lead guitarist. The set-up also comprises Raveen Pandey on the Hammond Organ,Shaun Nonghulo on drums and Wallang’s son,Leon on the bass guitar.

The songwriters listen to legends such as BB King,Van Morrison,Bob Dylan,Jimi Hendrix,Ella Fitzgerald and others but are proud of the fact that they always write and perform their own songs. Our set list is usually 90 per cent composed of our own songs and we sometimes perform some covers depending on the mood, says Wallang. In fact,when Soulmate first came into existence,it was one of India’s first Blues bands to compose original music.

Our music is a combination of Blues and Rock. Blues is about feelings,which is why they say ‘you’ve got the blues’. Blues-rock is a bit like Jimi Hendrix playing Blues, explains Wallang. The band likes to call its style of music Soulmate Blues or Shillong Blues. In the US,every place has its own style; there’s Chicago blues,Texan blues,Mississippi blues and more. We’re not pigeon-holed into one particular type because we’re not in the US. We like to call our style Shillong blues because that’s where we are from, he adds.

According to Wallang,Blues touches everybody,including those who have never heard the genre before. He recounts an anecdote from one of their tours in Patna and says,It was part of a North-Eastern cultural exchange and in the audience there were all kinds of people who had never heard our kind of music but they were still singing along with us and some of them were on their chairs,taking thir shirts off,really enjoying the music.

With their first two albums already out,the band has been writing songs for their latest untitled album. In the past,Wallang did most of the songwriting for the band,however,the new album will feature more work by Kharbangar as well. They hope to have the album ready by Christmas this year. Until then,they have the Santana concert to look forward to. This is a dream come true for us,especially me because I am such a great fan of his, says Wallang.

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(Soulmates will be performing in the city on October 27 at Vivanta by Taj Blue Diamond from 7.30 pm onwards)

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