Hartford
DETAILS
Fri, September 29, 2017
Hartford, CT
Show: 7 PM
Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
Connect with this artist:
www.indianoceanmusic.com
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Artist Bio
Formed in 1990 in New Delhi, Indian Ocean is a pioneering fusion rock act of the country. The band's current line up sees them perform as a five-piece with Amit Kilam (percussion, drums), Rahul Ram (bass, vocals), Nikhil Rao (guitars), Tuheen Chakravorty (tabla) and Himanshu Joshi (vocals). Indian Ocean is one of the most successful Indian indie acts and has played gigs around the country and the world. The band has released five albums and has contributed music to several Bollywood films as well. Their latest album 16/330 Khajoor Road was released in 2010.
Indian Ocean's fire was first stoked when Susmit Sen met Asheem Chakravarty at a concert back in 1984. They hit it off quickly and introduced each other to their distinct sounds - Susmit's nuanced guitar style and Asheem's sense of rhythm from his training in tabla. Three years later, and after adding Shaleen Sharma and Indrajit Dutta on bass, and Anirban Roy on drums, the band, now christened Indian Ocean recorded their first demo tape that found a home by impressing HMV enough to offer them an album contract. Later on, the band was joined by Rahul Ram who replaced Roy on bass. Indian Ocean's self-titled debut album was recorded. Unfortunately, hurdles kept the album from reaching shelves for a whole year, but on release, Indian Ocean reportedly sold over 40,000 copies within its first year - the highest selling record by any Indian band ever. Come 1994, Amit Kilam took up duties behind the drums, replacing Sharma, and the four became what has become Indian Ocean's steadiest and best-known lineup of musicians till date (2013). Indian Ocean's music began to evolve over the years and the use of vocals became more prominent in their music. A pivotal moment came on New Year's Day in 1997 at a concert in Delhi for SAHMAT. Indian Ocean pulled out a thrilling performance that left an audience completely captivated. Fortunately, the concert happened to be taped live, but the band found getting a label to release what would have been the first live album of an Indian band rather problematic. Taking matters into their own hands, Indian Ocean launched a label called Independent Music and released the live album, now titled Desert Rain. The album enjoys widespread airplay even now, and charted at number two in the iTunes UK World Music charts as recently as 2006. Indian Ocean's landmark release came in the year 2000 in the form of the album Kandisa. Kandisa cemented Indian Ocean's presence in the non-Bollywood music industry and the band gained widespread attention and acclaim. Since then, they've gone one to play a slew of stand-out concerts, enthralling audiences of all ages all over the country and have performed at prestigious festivals abroad including Glastonbury and the Edinburgh Fringe. Further down the road in 2004, Indian Ocean composed soundtrack albums for two films - 'Jhini' for Swaraj - The Little Republic, and the groundbreaking soundtrack for Anurag Kashyap's critically-acclaimed Black Friday.
In December 2009, Indian Ocean suffered the demise of founding member Asheem Chakravarty for whom they haven't yet found a permanent replacement. Tuheen Chakravarty joined the band during performances following Asheem's death, and in 2010, Indian Ocean released their latest album 16/330 Khajoor Road, their first without Asheem, and featuring Himanshu Joshi on vocals. In 2013, another founding member, guitarist Susmit Sen, left the band to focus on his solo career as Susmit Sen Chronicles. He has since been replaced by Nikhil Rao on guitars, while Tuheen Chakravarty and Himanshu Joshi have solidified their roles in the band.