Something special

“It was our trombone player Arneet Panesar who planted the idea in our head. He’s lived there all his life and he knows what a big deal the festival is. He was insistent that we send in a sample of our music to the organisers,” explains Stuart D’Costa,the band’s bassist. It was the international feel of their music that got them selected. “That’s a great compliment. We’re definitely an Indian band,but we would love to reach out to other countries as well,” acknowledges D’Costa.

There’s no denying that they have already connected with people beyond India’s borders. STR’s funky mix of rock,jazz,blues—what they refer to as ‘urban fusion’—seems to have found listeners everywhere. Tanmay Bhattacharya,guitarist,recalls their successful concerts in South Korea and Indonesia last year. “No one in the audience spoke a word of English,but they loved our music. You could see that language is really not a barrier if you play good music.”

At Edinburgh,where the seven piece band is sent to play 25 gigs from August 5-29,they hope to make further inroads into the global music scene. “It’s not just an opportunity to find new audiences,” explains Bhattacharya. They are also hoping to collaborate with as many people as possible and will be performing tracks from Feels Good 2 B Live and will also a include a whole new set of songs,which will find their way into STR’s second album,which is ready to be recorded.

Apart from,networking and performing,STR will try and produce a live album of the tour and shoot a music video. Also in the works is their very own studio. Complaining about high rates in rented studios,D’Costa says,“It would be cheaper if we have our own space for recording. At the moment,we’ve only finalized the location. We’ll call in architects to build something along the lines of Blue Frog’s state-of-the-art studio.” Bhattacharya also indicates that the band will be opening its own teaching academy in the future. “It’s something we’ve long wanted to do. There are only a few popular instruments that are taught in this city. For instance,not many people teach the saxophone. That’s a gap we’d like to fill.”

These are,of course,big plans. Seeing how they’re making their way to a global stage,the dreams might just come true.