This rare blend of ‘coffee’ appeals to the auditory senses. Meet the multi-city band of youngsters, who have been brewing a perfect concoction of music under the name – Masala Coffee – since its germination two years ago.
Having a respectable track record of Indian and overseas performances and manifold compositions comprising own works to covers, the band is all excited about its next big bite, a Kollywood entry with three compositions for the Nalan Kumarasamy production Uriyadi.
They are simultaneously working towards their maiden album, which is likely to be a bouquet of 10 songs. “Like the name signifies, our team is a medley in every bit,” says co-founder and lead vocalist of Masala Coffee Sooraj Santhosh. “None of us belong to the same place and similarly our music does not stick to any particular stream. We let ideation take its own course, which in a way retains some unpredictability in our music,” he adds.
Explaining that the formation of the band happened in an upside down fashion, Sooraj says they formed the band post a performance at Music Mojo, a music show hosted by Kappa TV in Malayalam.
After playing a couple of numbers at the show, they decided to work together as a band. Hailing from cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram, the crew members differ like chalk and cheese in their musical upbringing too. And having people well-versed in Carnatic, Hindustani and Western music styles in vocals and instrumentation, is what enriches the repertoire of the band, Sooraj adds.
“This is why we have taken up global music as our mission. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, we daub in the arenas new to each of us to keep on improving,” says Sooraj.
The eight-member band also includes vocalist Gokul Eknath, Varun Sunil on percussion, Joe Jacob on drums, Preeth PS on the guitar, Paul Joseph on bass, Sunil George on the keyboard and Arshad Khan on the Esraj.
With all of them being full-time musicians, a get together is never hard, for they are ready to fly from one city to another for jam sessions or performances.