CHENNAI: Eight-month-old Chrome.O.Soul shot to the limelight in January this year at IIT-Madras’ Saarang, where they swept awards for best bassist, drummer, keyboardist, vocalist and also got to perform in two music events. The band of five is composed of Godfray Immanuel on the guitar who just graduated in BCom from MCC, Chennai; Reshwin Nishith on bass guitar and Rahul on drums, who are first-year Viscomm students at Loyola College, Chennai; Jerard Felix on the keyboard, a fresher from Loyola College who completed his Viscomm and vocalist Sharanya Gopinath who just passed out of NIFT, Chennai.
“The name Chrome.O.Soul fits as our music is from the soul and we’re experimenting with a colourful spectrum of genres. What started off as an experimental jazz fusion funk band, greatly influenced by gospel and Neo Soul, has now ventured into electronic music and metal too,” says Sharanya.
“It all started out when Jerard approached Sharanya to form a band, as it was their last year of college and they wanted to do something before they went different ways. Jerard called Rahul and Reshwin to try out for a Western event at Kilpauk Medical College. That is where we met Godfray, who decided to tag along for MCC’s Octavia. The rest is history,” they inform us.
They jam a couple of times a week at Reshwin’s place and sometimes at Amaranta’s The Dome (a jam space in Chennai). While they do a lot of covers, a couple of their original compositions are very catchy — Beef Biriyani and Don’t Walk Away. This young band also won the Nokia India Fest Launchpad along with other competitions held in the city and have had gigs at The Phoenix Mall’s Hard Rock Café.
“It certainly has been a delightful journey for us. The response from audiences has been great and our song Beef Biriyani is turning out to be quite a hit,” says Sharanya. Catch them live at the Moon and Sixpence, Hablis Hotel, Chennai on July 18.
— preethi@newindianexpress.com