04 January,2018 11:14 AM IST | Mumbai | Shunashir Sen
(From left) Aswekeepsearching members Gautam Deb, Shubham Gurung, Robert Alex and Uddipan Sarmah
Strip their songs off their Hindi lyrics, and Aswekeepsearching (AWKP) might sound like a post-rock band from any corner of the world. Their melodies are in the same vein as international acts like Mutemath and Explosions in the Sky, putting them in a different mould from Hindi indie bands like, say, Indian Ocean whose music has an outpouring of desi influences. And that, says front man Uddipan Sarmah, is why AWKP took a different approach when it came to marketing their sound.
Uddipan Sarmah
"We branded ourselves simply as Aswekeepsearching, and never as a Hindi or English band. We are also one of the only people who sing in Hindi and still play with acts that have never shared the stage with vernacular bands. Plus, we fit into any festival out there, even if it is a western one, because our sound is international and the lyrics anyway form only about 30 per cent of the songs. With these reasons put together, we decided to brand the band with our name, and not the language or genre," explains the Mumbai-based vocalist.
The band after a concert. PIC courtesy/SHAWN MENZES
The approach has evidently served them well, since the band has steadily made a name for itself not just in places like Delhi and Mumbai, but also in tier II cities like Bhopal. In fact, they recently went on a mammoth 16-city tour to promote their second studio album, Zia. "We got an amazing response in cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Indore and Shillong. And we are heading for a tour to Ooty and Mysore soon," Sarmah says, adding, "We are shifting our focus to tier-II cities at the moment."
He continues, "See, what is happening now is that promoters who are from, say, Bhopal have come to Mumbai, seen the place, and are going back and trying to change things in their own city. So, I think that in five or 10 years from now, the indie scene outside of the big metros will definitely take off." Be that as it may, AWKP are slated to play a gig at a Lower Parel venue later this week. The other three members of the band - Robert Alex, Gautam Deb and Shubham Gurung - live in Pune, and Sarmah travels down there for a few quick rehearsals before every performance. But they had to spend some extra time practising for this particular concert, since it's a whopping two hours long. "The duration gives us a chance to play the entirety of our two albums [Khwaab, apart from Zia] since we are the only band on the bill," Sarmah informs, indicating that the audience will thus have AWKP's complete post-rock oeuvre - with its smattering of Hindi lyrics - on offer.
On : Saturday, 9 pm onwards
At : Levi's Lounge, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel.
RSVP : insider.in
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