Founded in January 2011, Sweet Poison is perhaps the only rock band in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar with a female vocalist as the lead. The band was the brainchild of lead guitarist, Ashish Roshan Tete, who was inspired by his cousin’s band Feedback. While undergoing training in western classical music at Abyss School of Music here, he met the people who would eventually become a part of Sweet Poison.
The band comprises six members —Pratikshya Priyadarshini the lead female vocalist, Shakti Nandan on vocals, Alok Ranjan as the rhythm guitarist, Subir Nanda on the drums and Sandeep Edward Kindo on the piano. While Tete, Priyadarshini and Nandan are students of Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, Ranjan, Nanda and Kindo are pursuing engineering at different colleges in Bhubaneswar.
The band has performed at many tech fests in the city like KIIT Holocaust, Rubaab-2011, MBC Reality TV Show and Peace Rock Concert in Ravenshaw University. They also won the Monsoon Drops rock competition in Cuttack. The band members have also organised some shows in Bhubaneswar.
Having come out with their original compositions — The Girl in the Blue and Sometimes in Life We Have to Let Go — the band members say their strength is in Hindi and English songs. Plans to cut an album are also in the pipeline.
Tete says since the members live in different cities, they do not get more time to practice together. “But we make it a point to jam every Sunday and on holidays. We have rented out a room in Windsor Palace in CDA, Cuttack, where we jam every Sunday,” he adds. Expenses of the band are mostly met through the pocket money that the members save. “We also utilise the money that we earn through competitions and college shows,” he adds.
The band is inspired by Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Iron Maiden, JOE Satriani, Dream Theatre, Sona Mahapatro and AR Rahman. The students plan to stick together even after graduating. “We hope to go live for MTV and Vh1 someday,” smiles Tete.
— diana@newindianexpress.com.com