Unplugged and uncensored

When the Delhi-based rock band Them Clones first burst on the scene eight years ago...

Them Clones talk about their new sound and album

When the Delhi-based rock band Them Clones first burst on the scene eight years ago, one of the questions doing the rounds was, 8220;what does their name mean?8221; It8217;s a relevant question and the answer is an interesting story. Drummer Surojit Dev explains, 8220;We8217;re hugely into Alice in Chains and our name is a play on one of their songs Them Bones.8221; His brother and vocalist Prithwish Dev adds, 8220;It8217;s also a play on the fact that we8217;re all working guys and when we perform on stage, we8217;re more interesting and fun clones of ourselves.8221; They chuckle as they explain this and you get the feeling that they may have fielded this question a number of times, but they don8217;t tire of answering it. It8217;s like a private joke they share.

Them Clones was born in the Devs8217; house eight years ago. Prithwish and guitarist Joseph L had been jamming since school and they8217;d always wanted to form a band. They asked Prithwish to join them as a drummer and they had auditions to recruit another guitarist and a bassist. The current lineup includes Gucci Singh as the other guitarist and Romit Gupta as the bassist.

The band is in the city to perform at the Blue Frog on September 30 and October 1. While the second day is for their original compositions, the performance on the first day was an unplugged tribute to some iconic alternative bands from the 8216;90s, like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Incubus. Which prompts the question: given that rock is always associated with noise, was moving to unplugged performances a deliberate attempt on their part to tone it down? Prithwish explains, 8220;Playing unplugged involves a different level of intensity. It8217;s like feeling something without actually touching it.8221; Surojit says, in more prosaic terms, 8220;We wanted to show that we can also play unplugged. All these alternative bands had great success playing that way. Look at Nirvana8217;s Unplugged album. Also, we did want to mellow down our sound. When we first played this way two years ago, we were very well-received.8221;

The band has won almost every competition they8217;ve participated in including Channel V8217;s Launchpad, Jack Daniel8217;s Rock Awards and have also played in London. Next on their agenda is cutting an album by the end of this year. 8220;We8217;ll start recording this month when our producer flies down from New Zealand. It8217;ll be 53 days of non-stop recording,8221; Prithwish says. What about a music video? Surojit says, 8220;There will be no album without a music video. Even if we don8217;t get so much airplay, if the music is played for maybe two hours everyday, we8217;ll get enough exposure.8221;

This is not their first gig in Mumbai. 8220;Although Delhi has the home vibe, Mumbai has a lot of energy. After having heard us play so many times, people are beginning to remember our songs and are singing along,8221; says Prithwish, with obvious pleasure. They8217;ve come a long way, indeed.