The ’90s brought with it a fresh wave of music, films, fashion, and more. One will recall that it was also a period where one witnessed the rise of homegrown indie music bands, with a steady stream of new musical outfits entering and exiting the scene. It was during this time when Indian Ocean, one of the city’s—and India’s—foremost and initial Indian fusion rock bands, made their entry. Known for blending Indian classical music with rock, jazz, and other genres, the band has not just established their unique sound over the years, but also stood the test of time.
Nineties kid or not, Indian Ocean remains one of the country’s pioneering bands in this genre. From Bandeh, which was in the film Black Friday (2004), to Darte Ho (2012), the band’s songs have always resonated with the Indian listener given their themes. Indian Ocean—the band now comprises vocalist and bass guitarist Rahul Ram (also the longest-serving member), vocalist and percussionist Amit Kilam, lead guitarist Nikhil Rao, lead vocalist Himanshu Joshi, percussionist Tuheen Chakravorty—is now out with their latest album Tu Hai. Released on May 5, this is an album launch by the band a decade after their last album Tandanu (2014).
Rise of indie music
Ahead of their performance at Green Park-based Molecule Air Bar on Saturday, the band members discussed the evolution of the indie music since their formation in the 1990s. Rahul Ram—he has been an environmentalist since his school days—shared, “Indie music existed before the 90s. When music channels such as MTV India became popular, and people were exposed to different types of music, it sparked the interest of many musicians and performers. A lot of people came during the boom, but only a few survived the first wave. Big bad Bollywood eventually reasserted its supremacy, and many interesting bands disbanded as people went away to Bollywood.”
Adding to these thoughts, Amit said, “I believe that all these other forms of music that already existed started coming to the forefront. That’s how we saw them.” When asked about their creative process, Himanshu—he is also a poet, photographer, and filmmaker—chipped in, “It is quite simple. We have no agenda in mind. Someone comes in and starts playing a riff, and someone else joins in and starts doing something interesting. Then, a sound emerges, and that sound becomes a song with lyrics. It is a very organic and honest approach.”
A decade and counting
Their newly-released six-track album, Tu Hai, comes after a decade of music-making hiatus. Engineer-turned-musician Nikhil shared their process of making songs, “We keep making songs whenever we sit down to jam, and that takes a fairly long time. We lost a few years because of COVID. Pre-COVID, we thought we had enough songs to release an album. When we make seven songs, we feel it is an album. And, we had seven songs ready. But, for various reasons, this album ended up having only six because we released Akhiyan Udeek Diyan as a single in the first month of COVID.”
In conclusion, Rahul shared how the band has stood the test of time—34 years and counting, “We have a distinct sound, instantly recognisable as Indian Ocean. It is a sound that is not Western or purely Indian but unique to us. We managed to acquire it without consciously working towards it and have maintained it over the years. People have told us that we influenced them and that our music inspired them to believe that it is possible to create original music in India and succeed without copying the West.”
