Journalism of Courage
Jumpstart as an album signifies the band’s rebound. Tungztn,a city-based band,has been in the scene for over a decade,having launched their first album in 2000. Having performed for a couple of years after the launch,the band went for a four-year hiatus after their vocalist’s departure,emerging from it in 2007. The remaining three: Shitalchandr Kulkarni (guitars),Abhijeet Ranade (bass and vocals) and Dhananjay Bhogale (drums),wrote original music relentlessly,the fruit of which is Jumpstart.
We had gigged a lot from 2000-02,playing a mix of original compositions from our first album and covers, says Kulkarni adding,But after the hiatus our focus was primarily on original music. We played songs from our first album and started writing new music.
Kulkarni gives the example of their song Don’t Go Away saying It is a song about asking your girl not to leave you. During the climax,where Dhananjay does well with expressing the feeling of the song,we have added a sample of a choir,comprising 40 children.
In another song,Alone,which,as the name suggests,deals with loneliness,is a ballad. We have used a philharmonic section in that song to project the song’s emotions, adds Kulkarni.
The band spent a copious amount of time in post-production. In today’s times when you launch an album in English and release it online,you should be conscious that you’d be competing with English-language bands from around the world. While the sound,concept and composition have been recorded live in the studio,we have used digital cosmetics to beautify the overall sound. We recorded the album on a software called Protools and used state-of-the-art engineering. For the final mastering,we sent the album to the USA, informs Kulkarni.
To promote the album,the band has shot a music video for their song Tantalizer,which according to Kulkarni is a canvas to portray the bands musicianship. In this song,we have included the brass section,which will compete with the guitars. The video is interesting and will be aired within two weeks on the television and the internet.
The album was released last week at Hard Rock Cafe,Tungztns venue partner,in Mumbai. The band will perform in Delhi on August 22 and Pune on August 29,at the respective cities Hard Rock Cafes.
