Sounds of the ocean

What does the word ‘ocean’ bring to mind? A myriad things, you may say. And indeed the ocean appears to us in a variety of ways – a stormy green, a calm blue… just like Indian Ocean’s music.  Like the ocean, their music is free flowing and smooth. This Delhi-based band has experimented with raga, rock, pop, jazz, folk, reggae and more. Why? Because they want to ‘reach out to as many people as possible’ through their music.

 

Who are Indian Ocean? For starters, this is the first Indian band to be invited to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The band, formed in 1990, has four talented and determined musicians - Asheem Chakravarti (tabla, percussion and vocals), Amit Kalam (drums, percussion and vocals), Rahul Ram (bass guitar and vocals) and Sushmit Sen (acoustic guitar). Initially, there was just a drummer (Shaleen Sharma) and a bass player. Later, Rahul, Sushmit’s schoolmate, joined in 1991.

After much persuasion, HMV signed on the band. Their self-titled debut album, thought recorded in 1992, was released only in 1993. Since no publicity was given to this album, the enterprising band wrote a press release and did the rounds of newspaper and magazine offices. The reviews were encouraging and the album sold nearly 40,000 copies. In the meantime, the band members made music for commercials, serials and documentaries. They also did several live shows that were well appreciated.

It was in 1997, however, that Indian Ocean, got the proverbial break. After hearing them playing at the Sahmat show on New Year’s day, Naresh Bhatia, a music distributor based in Delhi agreed to release this album on an independent label specially created for this purpose. And so, Desert Rain was released in March 1997. This album was important for the band because of the extensive press coverage that the band got. They also appeared in television shows including the Amul India Show and Good Morning India apart from being special guests in Star News. At the Khajuraho Millennium celebration, they played before the President of India.

They efforts were rewarded when Times Music signed them on an exclusive contract in 1998. It was under this album that they released Kandisa in 1999.

It was not an easy climb. The group members admit that there were times when one or the other wanted to leave the band because of the bad times. Today, they are glad that they stayed together. They consider being invited to play in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as the best honor accorded to them. The festival showcases the arts including theatre and music from all over the world. This is their first tour abroad and they are taking no chances. They are fine-tuning Jine Re, their new composition, which they will play with their other popular tunes.

They do not feel the need to categorize their music. Rather, they make ‘instinctive music’. It seems to have worked out for them. Here’s hoping that Indian Ocean will makes waves in the global arena just as it has in India.