Ocean makes new waves!

By Hindustan Times

New Delhi, July 22 -- They are known for their melodious fusion of different genres of music, such as sufi, jazz, chants, Hindustani classical and rock. Tonight, India's oldest independent band, Indian Ocean, promises to heat up the stage with the new 'involved sound' of their latest album - 16/330 Khajoor Road.

"It's an ode to our 14-year-long association with the place in Karol Bagh where we created our albums, right from Kandisa to Black Friday," says the band's lead vocalist and bassist Rahul Ram, explaining the unique name of the album.

He adds, "It's both classical and rock - the signature style of our band. And we're moving on a multi-city tour. UTV World Movies wanted us to join them as a part of their initiative to start cultural dialogues and we're all game."

Quiz them about whether they see themselves as a fusion band and Ram throws back the question, saying, "What about Rahman's music? It's fusion, right? I would call us nothing but just Indian Ocean."

Maintaining their uniqueness this time too, the band is giving away all the seven tracks for free mp3 download. "Getting into a contract with a music company is troublesome. So many issues crop up - the royalties, copyrights, etc. So we thought that we should have a direct interface with our listeners, hence the free download. And nowadays, who wants to buy an album anyways," says Ram, or 'logic baba' as his friends call him.

The band doesn't have many Bollywood numbers to its name, but Ram doesn't regret it. "It's not our fault," he says. "In fact, our new album consists of those film songs that I, along with Asheem and the gang, have made in the past five years. But for some reason, the movies got shelved."

But the band has recently done two songs for Aamir Khan's production Peepli Live. An old composition, Desh mera rangrez, from their album Jhini, is the title track for the film and the other is Darte Ho (the last recorded song with Asheem, Chakravarty, the band's lead singer who passed away in December).

Speaking about Asheem, Ram says, "He lives in our music... he is with us." Catch Indian Ocean in concert on July 22, 9 pm onwards, at Hard Rock Cafe, 1st Floor, DLF Place, District Centre, Saket; Tickets: Available at the venue; Rs 500.

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