Let There Be Rock

Thinking of pursuing music full-time,Pradhan quit engineering. “I called up Suraz and put forth the proposition of starting a rock band,” he says. But there were a few digressions. “I spent some time in Gurgaon as a music teacher and also some time in Delhi performing at local pubs. After a while,I felt I was losing sight of my goal,so I came back to Gangtok only to leave for Nepal right away,where I spent a year,” he says.

In Nepal,Pradhan immersed himself in the thriving rock scene there. Looking back at the experience,Pradhan says,“There are really good rock musicians in Nepal and I got to learn a lot from them.” He was drawn back to Gangtok after his younger brother,Yogesh,after having finished sound engineering,suggested they record some of their material. Yogesh,originally a drummer,plays bass guitar in the band.

Although the future bandmates had been jamming on and off since 2005 and had written original music during these sessions,the band was formally formed in 2009. Drummer Nagen Mongranti was roped in and they started participating in college fests. “We performed first at IIT Guwahati’s festival Rockophonics,and finished second. I won an award for the best vocalist. After that,we started playing all over the Northeast,” says Pradhan.

Within a few months of formation,the band auditioned for a European music festival called Suncane Skale,and got to represent India at the festival. They finished second among bands from 26 countries. “After we came back,we started headlining festivals across India,” says Pradhan.

During its Pune act,Girish and the Chronicles opened a portal to ’70s hard rock on stage. As they say,“We are true to the genre”. Their songs have crunchy guitar riffs played by Karki on his rouge Les Paul,along with his Jimmy Page-like moves. Yogesh’s bass-lines are hard-hitting and lock seamlessly with Mongranti’s groovy drumming. Pradhan,the frontman,hits notes bordering on the upper limits of auditory range. They have packed all of this in their debut album,which releases later this year.