Leaving Home- Dates and Show Timings

LEAVING HOME – the Life & Music of Indian Ocean.

A 115 min feature film.

Releasing exclusively through BIG CINEMAS all around the country on April 2nd.

India’s first non fiction film ever to release nationally on the big screen.

Here are the Dates and Show Timings for our fans in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad

Dates April 2nd – 8th

BIG Cinemas (Wadala) – 8.35 pm

BIG Cinemas (Mulund) – 1.05 pm

BIG Cinemas (Kanjurmarg) – 10.10 am

Metro BIG Cinemas – 8.35 & 10.45 pm

BIG Cinemas (Ghatkopar) – 10.05 am & 7.45 pm

BIG Cinemas (Vashi) – 10.00 am & 8.35 pm

Gold BIG Cinemas (Pune) – 8.30 pm

BIG Cinemas (Ahmedabad) – 12.20 pm

We hope all of you show up in big numbers and make this film a great success!

Cheers

Indian Ocean

Guess Who?

On the 21-22 of November the city of Mumbai witnessed something historical. The 5th edition of Unconvention (the first of it’s kind in India) was held in the British Council Auditorium at Nariman Point.

Unconvention – a conference aimed at the grassroots of the music industry featured discussions that looked into the future of indie music and how this industry can be developed in this dynamic technological age.

Rahul and Dhruv were both invited as panelists to share their experiences in the music business. While Rahul played an integral role in the Yellow Brickroad panel speaking about how Indian music can be exported abroad, Dhruv contributed heavily  towards  My Way or The Highway , a music industry value chain system oriented discussion.

This was overall an enriching experience for the band. Rahul and Dhruv’s participation also made Indian Ocean the only band in the country to have two panelists at Unconvention.

Cheers

Indian Ocean!!

The United States Experiece – Chapter I

Another amazing US tour is now more than half done.  We have 15 shows lined up of which 9 are done, and the last three have been in Central California, which has been unusually warm and brilliantly sunny. On Sunday last we played at Chico, a small town in Northern California about 3 hours north of San Francisco.  It was HOT (almost 40C), and we played 2 sets in the afternoon.  The audience was absolutely fantastic, most of them dancing throughout the set.  This was part of a two-day music festival, and we hope to be back here next year.  23rd night we played at Ashkenaz, the most famous club in Berkeley, home to many a radical movement and artist over the years.  For about three hours Ashkenaz became India, as the mostly Indian audience felt themselves transformed back into their college days.

A similar thing happens every time we play in Seattle – we’ve done so 4 times, and always at the same place, a bar called Nuemos up on Pike Place.  The audience in Seattle comprises almost completely of people working for Microsoft, and they jam right up to the stage, cheering loudly, dancing, singing along with all our songs.  It’s like we could have been in Someplace Else in Cal!

We played in three cities that were a first for us: New Orleans (performed at Jesuit High, at a stage where Elvis Presley and Pink Floyd have performed!) – great first show, very happy bunch of young people from Baton Rouge organized the show (Phani, Mahendra, Ashwat, Archana, Swati and so many more), and we had a really memorable after-party that went on till well past sunrise; Cleveland, where we had a really wonderful set of people organize the show (Thanks Divya, Nigamanth, Archana, Srikanth)and what a show it was, went on for almost three hours; and Pittsburgh, where we unfortunately got to spend very little time as it was the middle of a three shows in three days schedule.  Nevertheless we had a great concert and a great dinner after.  AND, very importantly for me, an attractive young professor of maths called Kavita, finally solved a probability question that had been bothering me (in a background sort of way) for almost thirty years!

We drove insanely on this trip.  New Orleans to Austin (About 450 miles) and then Austin to Raleigh NC, which was a mind-boggling 1350 miles over 23 hours (That’s like doing Delhi-Bangalore in a day).  Then we drove from Raleigh to Clevaland via Columbus, OH and finally to Pittsburgh.  We’ve been driving around in California too, but nothing over 3 hours or so, which feels like a stroll in the park.

About a week back we guys were talking about putting up an India Ocean Wall of Fame and Love, comprising of pictures of people who look after us here.  It’s amazing how much love we get here and we’d love to acknowledge these people.  First off, there’s Satish Kolluri and Sangeeta and Katya and Sufi in Maplewood, NJ.  This is our home away from home, where we head to unerringly whenever we have any time off.  Then there are Dipti, Manoj, Raoul and Raven in North Carolina, where we’ve been 5 times and had laughter-filled days each time.  In Seattle, the amazing Venkat (who’s sometimes like a mom to us!  We love him so!), Sangeeta and Elvis.  We stayed at Venkat’s house the first time we went to Seattle and fell in love with each other, now it’s inconceiable that we go to Seattle and NOT stay with him. In Austin, Shobha and Sukku and their families are central to our being so relaxed in Texas(!).  In LA, Bhuvana, Dipankar and the girls (Though, unfortunately we don’t get to see them this trip).  The list goes on and on.  In NYC, there’s Elise and Meenakshi and Ravin and Ram, in the Bay Area I get coddled by Brij and Burny….anyway, soon enough we’re going to have everybody’s photos up on opur personal Wall of Love.

Right then.  Today we play at Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University for the memorial service of Dr Rajeev Motwani, one of the most-loved computer science professors, who mentored the e-bay start-up guys, the google guys and so many other people we only know of as websites.  Dr Motwani was a big Indian Ocean fan, and his friends requested that we play at the memorial service.  Then the next day we are the concluding act at the Globalbuqurque International Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

About the next half of the tour after we return to India (YES!) on 14th October.

Rahul Ram
Indian Ocean

Spasiba Russia

We recently finished the first leg of our on-going World Tour playing a bunch of shows in Russia and moved to the United States to play another series of shows. The Russian experience was simply unforgettable.

As part of the Year of India in Russia Programme organized by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), we were invited to play four concerts in Russia.  Getting some sense out of ICCR is tough at the best of times, but some sheer persistence from Dhruv (our manager) made the shows possible and with a pretty nice schedule as well.

Being guests of the Indian Government and ambassadors of cultural exchange we were well taken care off. We had a transalator with us at all times, which is pretty essential if anything needs to be done in Russia.  So thanks, Olga (Russia); Dilhara (Kazan), Libby (Ekaterinburg) and Alexei (St Petersburg). Also, many thanks to the efficient Natalia Petrova, who was our coordinator for the first three shows.

We opened our World Tour with a show at the famous Gorky Park in Moscow. Even though the weather was murky, we were in high spirits as it was our first ever show in Russia. The turnout of four hundred odd was a mix of Indians and Russians. It was fantastic to see so many of our Indian fans singing along to our tunes so far from home.

The loveliest part of the concerts was the amazing support we received from the Russians.  After Moscow, we had almost no Indians at all in the audience at Kazan, Ekaterinburg and St Petersburg.  Yet the shows at Kazan and Ekaterinburg were packed and we got standing ovations and had to spend almost an hour after the concerts giving autographs and posing for photos with the audience.  This was no hardship at all, given the amazing beauty of a lot of Russian women!

We got to roam around the cities for a bit, hanging around at the Red Square in Moscow, taking in the amazing mosque at Kazan, visiting a wooden monastery in the forests outside Ekaterinburg, walking through the beautiful streets of St Petersburg along the neva River.

The food was very tasty too, specially the salads and soups and we had vast quantities of salmon.  Russian beer turned out to be a nice surprise and of course the vodka was splendid! Suffice to say that we had an absolutely fantastic tour and would love to go back to Russia and will hopefully do so in the near future.

We learnt several words and phrases in Russian and started understanding the Cyrillic script as well, so we would like to sign off this blog by saying Spasiba (Thank You) Russia, for giving us such a wonderful experience. And, of course Muy Lubim Russiu. (Figure this out yourself, it’s very straightforward)

Cheers

Indian Ocean!!!

Moscow Gig

Our first gig of this extensive Word Tour that we have planned was in Moscow. We got the exact response that we had expected. Indians outnumbering Russians in Moscow.

The venue for this particular show was the historical Gorky Park or as the Russians like to call it Park Gorkogo. Our set comprised of most of our popular tracks and it was the perfect start to a World Tour that will  include many more fantastic gigs to come.

Here are some on stage  up close photos from this amazing gig, with which we kick started this tour.

The Band

Asheem Chakravarthy- Tabla, Percussions and Vocals

Rahul Ram-Bass Guitar and Vocals

Susmit Sen-Guitars

Amit Kilam-Drums

Soundcheck

Complimenting Each Other

Goodbye Moscow

Backstage after the electrifying gig

Watch out for more pictures from our on going World Tour.

Cheers

Indian Ocean

Laying the Tracks

Composing soundtracks for movies is an experience in itself. The last album that we released post-Jhini was a soundtrack for the critically acclaimed Black Friday. All the credit goes to those wonderful directors and producers for approaching us!

It all started way back in 2001, when we met Anurag Kashyap right after our gig at IIT Bombay. Anurag was shooting Gulaal at that point of time and he approached us to compose a song for his film. Though that song never materialized Rahul and Asheem ended up contributing vocals for the tracks Raat Ke Musafir and Yaara Maula from the Gulaal soundtrack. The songs turned out great as one of our favorite composers Piyush Mishra was in charge of the project. Gulaal which was released recently can be dubbed as a masterpiece.
But before all of this came a song named Jhini, which we composed for the movie SWARAJ. The first time we were composing a song for a full length feature film.Jhini, was later released as an album which comprised of seven songs. We will forever be grateful to Anwar Jamal, a fellow resident of Delhi for giving us the chance to work on this project.
SWARAJ was followed by the intense Black Friday. If there is one man who deserves all the credit, it is the producer of Black Friday, Arindam Mitra. We will never forget the script reading sessions and then watching the rough cut of Black Friday. We were completely blown away by the movie. Anurag , briefed us about the parts, where he wanted the tracks to go in and the mood of the film as well. Bandeh, became an instant hit thanks to all you guys. But we love the other compositions of this film as well. Amit was in killer form. He came up with most of the compositions and did an excellent job with the sequencing. As a project we loved everything about it. The people involved, the film itself and even the logistics.
Currently we are composing three songs for a movie that will be produced by Aamir Khan. The movie scheduled to be released next year is a dark comedy and features some very very famous actors. Anusha Rizvi, the director is on the lookout for some funding to get this project on the road. We wish her all the luck.
Also in the cards is a film titled Bhoomi. The soundtrack composition of which is already over. With Bhoomi we will be launching half a dozen new songs!
So every band has a story with soundtracks and that was ours!
Cheers
Indian Ocean
P.S. We would also like to thank all the music channels in India for continuously playing our music. Bandeh to a large extent is a hit today for these channels. Peace, Love &More Music!

Ecstasy of The Fringe

The year 2001 remains extremely special to us. This was the year we got our passports made, took care of our visas and well played our first lot of shows abroad. All of this can be credited back to Sanjay from Teamwork, who helped us tie up with the Visiting Arts Council of United Kingdom.

We were three albums old at this point and it was the right time to take our music to a global audience. After the Ford Foundation helped us sort out the ticket issue, it was just a matter of time before we landed in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Situated in the south-east of Scotland near the North sea the Gothic settings of Edinburgh leaves you speechless. This is one destination we would love to go back to because playing at the Fringe was one of the best experiences of our lives.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in one word is massive. It goes on for three weeks, across two hundred and fifty venues that cater to one thousand acts. The audience is by the million. The general population of Edinburgh is around half a million which doubles during the Fringe.

Fringe as you would have figured out from the word itself is the home of the alternate. You get fringe theatre groups, fringe music groups/bands (that’s us by the way), fringe writers and even fringe philosophers. It is a sanctuary for anybody who thinks out of the mainstream.

The fourteen days that we spent at Fringe saw us play eighteen shows. Our set list included numbers like Kya Maloom, Hille Re, Kandisa and Melancholy Ecstasy. We played these numbers during all our shows. Melancholy Ecstasy being the pick of the lot. We just loved playing this instrumental piece which constantly reminded us how good we sound together as a band.

So all of this lead to us getting nominated as The Pick of the Fringe. First time outside India and we were already making waves with our music. But there was a situation that we had to tackle  during some of our shows. We think it’s important that you guys get to know this.

As we were relatively an unknown act some of our shows hardly had an audience. It reached an all time low when we played a very memorable gig on the High Street of Edinburgh that leads up to the castle. It was an unplugged gig. Meta-alternate is what we like to call it. The crowd was made of six people and among those six lucky ones was a lady associated with the New Zealand Arts Festival. The reason why we went on a tour of New Zealand. From playing in front of thousands in India we had gone on to play in front of a handful. Everything happens for a reason.

Back to being the Pick of the Fringe. We had a chance to play few more shows. At the Bongo Club, The Indian Community and Princess Street Ross band stand. Our favorite live venue till date. It was open air and the sound was like an offering from the gods that could not be refused.

It has been seven years since we played at the Fringe. We went back the next year and the year after that.  As a band and as individuals we have come a long way but when we look back our first visit to the Fringe always stands out as the sophistication.

Cheers

Indian Ocean!

Second Love

The idea of starting a blog has been lingering in our heads constantly for the past few months. Now that we have achieved it, we want this to function as a medium of interaction between the band and our loyal followers. Please feel free to comment on our posts. It would also be great if you let us know what kind of write ups you folks would be interested in.

Having said that, we were wondering what to cover on our first post when it suddenly dawned to us that it would be great to showcase a side of ours that is unknown to everybody. Don’t get ideas. We are not from outer space.

So music is the epicenter of our lives. We just cannot live without it. It is an extension of our soul. Indian Ocean remains our first love and in the past nineteen years we have given it everything. It is the true purpose of our lives. We are fascinated and enthralled by some other things as well but our way of the world is to make music. We genuinely believe that our expressions lie in our compositions for Indian Ocean.

One aspect of being in a band that we cherish is the tours that we go for. Though we stay away from our families, as a band we find our solace in each other. These tours get extremely hectic with the vicious circle of travel-sound check-shows-travel, but we love the stage and enjoy feeding of an energetic crowd.

In spite of all the excitement that the band brings into our lives and with the very little time we have left for ourselves we turn to something called a hobby. Yes we sleep as well.

Photography, reading, bird watching and wildlife top our list.

The concept of photography in its entirety appeals to us.  Capturing the right expression of a person at a precise moment remains unique and the fact that the essence of that moment cannot be replicated, feels like magic.

We keep visiting the Corbett National Park. It is our favorite hunting ground for wildlife photography. An ideal destination far way from the hustle of urban life.  Located in the beautiful sub-Himalayan belt of Nainital, we seek refuge in this destination when we need a break from the world. Studying habitats of those who are wild can get extremely interesting. This serves as our bird watching destination as well.

Reading, the universal habit of man. In between the four of us we read everything from fiction to works of Mahashweta Devi to biographies on the life of John Coltrane. We try not to go with the flow when we read. It feels like an adventure to read a book that nobody has seen or heard off. It is like sailing in unchartered waters. Exploring the unexplored. We always try to look at the cultural context of a particular piece. Be it a work of fiction or a memoir.

Apart from this, as we mentioned music is our first love. So we keep experimenting with it. Learning how to play the saxophone or discovering unidentified Indian instruments remain some of our favorites.

But no matter what we all do with our lives end of the day it is our self-esteem and our self-confidence that pays off. We have immense faith in the young generation of India. We believe that this generation is filled with custodians of talent and some visionaries who can make our country one of the brightest in the world.

As individuals we have discovered that it is always your morals and your values that help you to stand on your feet. It is always better to make your own set of values as well. Following somebody else’ is simply pointless. Find out a niche for yourself and stand up for it. The things that we create with our own hands are always the one’s that stay precious.

So that’s us when we are not full scale tune makers. Or wait. Did we mention food?

That is one more thing that binds us together. All kinds of it Indian, Italian. German, Thai. All of us can be tagged as foodies. Good food leads to good music. That is something we believe in.

In the end we would like to thank our families for always standing by us and supporting us in all our endeavors. We really miss them when we are away on tour.  Spending day in day out with each other, the four us get bored of each other sometimes. So when we return from a long tour we hardly see each other. This is  the time that we dedicate to our families and love them whole heartedly. But then again after a while we are itching to get back together as a band and create musical fusion. That is the stimulating factor of our lives that helps us to go on.

To all of you who have supported us over the years.

Cheers

Indian Ocean!