Idling with Indie
- Varsha Babu vatul
- Sep 9, 2020
- 7 min read
The Indie scene in India has really picked up these last 4 years ranging from simple heart warming tunes in movies to Internet scorchers with their soothing flowing music (Ironic isn't it), Let's have a sneak peek into the world of the emerging independent genre of India Indie.
Indie in India has been on the rise since the humbling nostalgic times of 2014 (Yep. It really is that long ago). Indie music has been restricted to just being a very bohemian genre characterized by artists emulating Bob Marley or Arctic Monkeys or even Bob Iver.
Indian Indie however adds a refreshing spin by creating soulful compositions, meaningful lyrics and a conceptual addition to music. With a guitar, their voice and the audience, the rustic appeal of Indie is criminally underrated. Here's to exploring the new voices of the emerging youth, presenting you some of the most prolific individuals dominating the Indian Indie scene.
PAREKH AND SINGH
The duo of Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh, identify as an Indian dream pop duo. Based out of West Bengal, Their tunes have a dreamy, calming vibe to it. They are steadily growing a fan base which has not gone unnoticed by leading streaming platforms such as Spotify, Gaana and Apple music.
(Parekh and Singh: a still)
Parekh attended classes at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, before returning to India to make experimental music. The group's breakthrough was by their independently released album "Oceans" in 2013, was critically acclaimed by the Rolling Stones as one of the best indian albums of the year.
The subsequent additions only fueled their quiet rise to fame, including the iconic "I love you baby, I love you doll" being shot as a music video. The video was aesthetic and was remarked as a big win for the Indian Indie scene, garnering nearly 20,00,000 views when it first debuted. With upcoming releases, the duo is just getting more popular by the day. Personally I would reccomend you to listen to, "Hello", "Summer Skin" and "Ghost".
Check their music out on spotify in the links given below;
Summer Skin
Hello
DHRUV VISHVANATH
The wandering wonder child Dhruv grew up among dynamic influences and used his collective experiences to work on his craft: MUSIC. His unique style of playing the guitar led him to be mentioned as one of Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s 30 Great Guitarists Under 30, alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran, Newton Faulkner and many others.
(Dhruv Vishwanath in action)
Under VLT records, Dhruv released his Debut album “Orion” in 2015. His release, “The Lost Cause,” released in 2018, was crowdfunded and released independently, debuting at #2 on iTunes Apple Music’s top 50 albums at the time of release. His style of playing the guitar allowed him to develop a relationship and an endorsement with the Dehradun Guitar Company in 2018, resulting in his own custom guitar calls, Willow.
His continual experiences haven't gone unnoticed wherein he worked with the likes of AR Rahman and Vishal Bharadwaj for "Sonchiriya" respectively. His earthy voice and cohesive melody works wonders on a chilly morning or even an afternoon siesta.
Check out some of Dhruv's Bestselling tracks on the links below;
Humble Bee
Wild
Standing Still
THE LOCAL TRAIN
The local train has amassed a semi cult on its own purely owed to the music served and let me tell you, its fresh. The band which originally started in 2008, in Chandigarh, has since then been indispensable in the music scenes of both cultural and indie festivals in india. Apart from being active at prominent college fests all over the country, The Local Train also frequents well-known musical hotspots such as Hard Rock Café, Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Social, Humming Tree, Farzi Cafe, SULAFEST and more.
(Raman, Paras, Ramit and Sahil, menbers of the local train)
The band got recognized by the Senheiser talent hunt in 2015 and there has been no looking back on their rise to popularity. Their acclaimed album "Aalas ki Pedh" was received very well and was touted to be the highest selling album on Apple music in 2015 and 2017. The song 'Khudi' went on to win Platinum Film Of The Year (2017) in the Music Video category. "Dilnawaz" and "Aaftab" are also singles from the same album, which attracted huge crowds.
Listen to The Local Train soundtracks linked below;
Khudi
Aafthaab
Choo lo
THAIKKUDAM BRIDGE You know when music comes from God's own country, its got to have some mojo in their music. Reputation preceeds Thaikkudam Bridge as one of the most well received indie music groups in the southern realms of India. Founded in 2013 by Govind Menon and Siddharth Menon. The band first became famous through the musical show Music Mojo, which is telecast on Kappa TV and their own composition "Fish Rock", which became popular through social networking sites and YouTube.
(Nostalgia by Thaikkudam Bridge)
The group creates authentic music, perfecting the intonations and bringing a medley of melody in Malayalam. Rhyming? Thaikkudam Bridge makes me do it. Blame it on the music folks. The likes of AR Rahman have really admired and supported the rise of these emerging bands.
(Thaikkudam Bridge: a game changer)
The name Thaikkudam bridge is attributed to the group formed on the Thaikkudam bridge in Kochi. The authenticity is spell binding and absolutely unlike mainstream music which is a sound for sore ears where people are used to jarring, OTT music from mainstream movie soundtracks.
DO NOT MISS OUT ON THEIR MUSIC. PSA.
The songs by Thaikkudam Bridge is linked below;
Kanne
Kaanthaa
Navarasam
PRATEEK KUHAD
As one of the most noticable and proliferated name in mainstrean Indian media, Prateek has made a name for himself in the music world through his work. Prateek Kuhad is an Indian singer-songwriter and a musician who makes independent music. He has gained international notice since his 2015 debut album, In Tokens and Charms.
(Tune Kaha from In tokens and Charms)
Prateek grew up in the city of Jaipur before moving to the United States for college. After graduating from New York University, he returned to India, releasing a few songs before releasing his debut album.
(Into the Night garnered amazing coverage for Indian Indie music)
The album earned Kuhad an MTV Europe Music Award, Indie Album of the Year honours from iTunes, Best Pop Artist at the Radio City Freedom Awards, and first place in the prestigious International Songwriting Competition.
His debut in bollywood was through "Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan" in Baar Baar Dekho; "Kadam" and "Saansein" in Karwaan gained him a massive fan following. His easy lyrics, breezy melody and simple voice adds a studio Ghibli vibe to his discography.
His latest album Cold mess in 2018 was a massive hit and his 2020 lockdown launch "Kasoor" had everybody crooning over it. With such a powerful base, Kuhad still grounds himself and continues to create magic with his craft. Need I say more?
Catch the entire discography of Prateek Kuhad on the links below:
Prateek Kuhad
ABHILASHA SINHA
Rising star Abhilasha Sinha has made her mark in the Indian Indie world through her debut track "Tum Ho Yahaan". Her mellifluous voice, rustic chords and the easy flow sits well on a sundrenched yard, while you eat a relaxed Sunday brunch or just when you sneak in 15 minutes of self care in your busy schedule or whenever you feel like taking a break.
(Abhilasha Sinha: a still)
Making it in a crowded industry is hard, but Abhilasha has proved that its only a matter of time and hard work until you get noticed. Her new album Honey Bee has released just recently. With only a few tracks under the belt, Here's wishing her the best of creativity and luck.
Abhilasha's Music is available on;
Abhilasha Sinha
Honey Bee
VAIBHAV MALHOTRA
A new facet to Indian Indie would be Vaibhav Malhotra. His song Raahi has been the talk of the town during its release and he has continuously elevated his performances through his music. He has a massive music presence in all leading music apps including Spotify, Gaana and Apple music.
Raahi has a very chill exposition and the lyrics do a quick take on life,
"Yeh zindagi, raahi si, Kaagaz pe behati, syaahi si"
The lyrics are heartfelt and relatable. Its that song you listen to if you feel down or on a road trip or if you want to feel the nostalgia of good old times. Vaibhav has certainly done exceedingly well in his debut and we continue to see more exciting music from him.
Check out Vaibhav Malhotra's music on;
Vaibhav Malhotra
WHEN CHAI MET TOAST
The new band on the block with a funny name, the quirky group has certainly made a name for themselves. A group initially started with 2 members, consisting only of Achyuth and Ashwin. The duo met in 2014, Kochi when Achyuth was doing an internship. He asked Ashwin to do the vocals for some music he was recording. That’s when the two realised that they worked well as a team.
The name when Chai met toast is a euphemism for how both the east (Chai) and the west (Toast) seemingly incorporate very well with each other. A brief break up and a better reunion followed with Palee and Pai joining the existing duo for the band that we know now today.
While the band itself is only over a year old, When Chai Met Toast has gathered a loyal fan base with their pleasant, relatable music. Their music video Fight has been doing well too, having garnered almost 70,000 hits on YouTube in less than a fortnight. The mix of vernacular and western influences hit a lovely chord with the crowds without sounding too aggressively western or too mellow.
Listen to more of When Chai met toast on;
When Chai met toast
This brings us to the end of all the fill of Indie music you can get. Go on, explore, you might just hit an underrated goldmine that will eventually be the music maker you see the potential in. Until then, do share this article with your families, friends and people who you know would like to read content like this.
The pictures in this blogpost are not owned by the owner. All credits go to Instagram, Google Photos and Shutterstock respectively.
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