Now showing at The Ganesh Talkies

Expect a blend of shiny objects, Bollywood movies and Bappi Lahiri when The Ganesh Talkies, a young band from Kolkata performs in Mumbai tomorrow

With a sound that spans across genres and includes a mix of Western and Indian instruments, Kolkata-based band, The Ganesh Talkies, is well on its way to increase their fan following in Mumbai.

(From left to right) Suyasha Sengupta, Ronodeep Bose, Roheet Mukherjee and Sambit Chatterjee of The Ganesh Talkies

Talkies talk
Founded in 2011, the band has seen 11 members come and go since its formation, except for vocalist and songwriter Suyasha Sengupta and bassist Roheet Mukherjee. But its approach to music making remains the same. “Our approach is natural. We don’t pressure ourselves to create a unique or different sound. Every song that we have played or has been part of the band, came naturally; the arrangement was natural,” shares Mukherjee.

The band released its first EP — Three-Tier Non AC in 2013 and their first album, In Technicolor, in September 2014. The album was a mix of sounds from Western as well as Indian instruments and not limited to a genre, something, Mukherjee says will be seen more in the future. “We are a very young band. We are still learning, and not too qualified to stick to a genre. So, right now, we just want to play from our hearts, and approach each song based on the subject,” he adds.

As far as influences go, the band’s Facebook pages mentions a random list — from shiny objects, colours, Bollywood movies, Bappi Lahiri and Kumar Sanu to bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers and System of A Down. “We grew up in the 1990s, and Bollywood music is what we heard most of the time — on the street, in the neighbourhood and at home — Bollywood was everywhere. We began listening to Western musicians quite late. So, it’s a mix of elements that defines our identity. Besides, we are all movie buffs and can’t really help it,” admits Mukherjee.

While some of these random influences make their way to the band’s music, others like shiny objects end up in their getups, which was also a major highlight of the music video of the song, Item Song, released in 2013. “We experiment a lot with our appearance on stage, with shiny objects, mostly. We are always looking for shiny things that we can incorporate in our get up as well,” he adds.

Kolkata strings
When asked about the music scene in Kolkata, Mukherjee says that things were not great till a year ago, as the city had only one place where they could play original tracks from Indian bands. “But things are changing; we are getting more gigs these days. And hopefully, it will be better in the next few years,” he replies.

Apart from Sengupta and Mukherjee, the band’s current line-up includes Sambit Chatterjee on drums and Ronodeep Bose on guitars. Apart from Bose, a Tollywood actor, who keeps shuffling between acting assignments in Tollywood and music, the remaining members are full-time musicians and part of other music groups as well. The band’s singer, Sengupta dropped out of JNU to be a part of The Ganesh Talkies. Though, currently broke (Mukherjee says the band has no money of its own), he says the band is not ready to call it quits, as yet.

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