Gone are the days when music enthusiasts would wait in a long queue to get their preferred CD or cassette to listen to their favourite artistes. With short reels on Instagram a habit, the audience today wants everything short, crisp, and available in just one click. No wonder many bands are moving over to two to three-minute music videos instead of their earlier four to six-minute content. And that becomes a challenge for Ashish Chauhan, the lead vocalist of Delhi-based multi-genre band Delhi Indie Project. It has not completely made the switch to cater to today’s tastes.
“There was a one-minute song challenge that took place a few days back where the artists had to wrap up their composition within a minute. It seemed weird, but this is how it is. We also cater to our audience on social media through our songs used in reels, but at the same time, we are working on those old-school compositions. Our next, ‘Laksh,’ will be a four-and-a-half minute song; part of the song will also be in Instagram reels. That’s how we are meeting both ends,” says Chauhan.
Chauhan believes the scope for band music is increasing day by day. Stepping into the 10th year, the band sees more opportunities at present than it used to 10 years back. “Nowadays, a lot of OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime are giving opportunities to bands and musicians. Their songs have been taken into films and web series. Moreover, bands are now necessary at every college fest and social. So the going is good,” he adds.
A passion for music
“I grew up listening to rock music catered by bands like Pink Floyd, Metallica, and Guns N’Roses. I had an LP player on which I liked playing original LP records. Later, after completing my diploma in Western music from Trinity College, I started playing instruments for various bands. However, I never got the opportunity to share the stage as a singer. So, from there, the idea of starting our own band came to my mind. I met like-minded people, and the band’s journey started in 2015,” recalls Chauhan.
Band members come from diverse musical categories. This allows multi-genres in their compositions. “I am influenced by blues, jazz, punk, and rock. My keyboard player Ayush Gupta is influenced by rock and rock ‘n’ roll. My two vocalists, Nysha and Srijita Konar, also come with diverse musical backgrounds. While Konar is a trained classical singer, Nysha has tried her hand at Punjabi, Bollywood, and pop music. So, our compositions are fusions involving Hindustani classical, Western jazz, and many others. In addition, we also compose music in different languages as our members are culturally diverse. Till date, we have composed our albums in languages like Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, and Punjabi. We also cater to audiences of different age groups,” he adds.
Male-female duo
From their inception, the band aimed to innovate. They have a male-female duo as lead vocalists. “Since starting my career as a musician, I have always seen male domination in the band music industry when it came to the selection of vocalists. In the beginning, we collaborated with female singers like Shilpa Rao and Shruti Pathak. Later, in 2017, Jasmine Kaur joined us as the first permanent female vocalist. For five years, she worked with us. In 2022, after she shifted to Mumbai, Nysha came, as we were looking for a female vocalist, and later, Konar came. So, from the beginning, we aimed to break the pattern and promote female leads in band music,” he adds.
Over the years, the band has proven its commitment to its motto. As Nysha adds, “The best part of the band is its collaborative approach. It wants to break free from the pre-existing norms and structures. And our audience loves that. Our bags are always packed, and we are ready to travel anytime”. Her sentiment is echoed by Konar; her classical training is an add-on here. “We often do several things that primarily look contradictory. For instance, in a stage show, we start with an open alaap and then move into a Bollywood song. That makes both interesting. We are doing this so that our generation takes interest in classical music that many find boring,” she says.
As the band gears up for its 10th anniversary, this year will be big. It is all set to launch a new album in October; its title will be decided in April. “The songs are going to be multi-genres. We have a pop song, a jazz one, a rock one, and a classical one. From day one, we have tried to be unique and different. We did not want to follow any tried and tested path in music, and we hope our next album will also follow the same path,” Chauhan says in conclusion.