We never wanted to be movie music stars: Indian Ocean

With a legacy spanning 35 years, Indian Ocean refuses to hang up their boots and wants to continue evolving and making music. The band, which recently performed in Ahmedabad to mark Natarani Amphitheatre’s 30th anniversary, tells us how the city holds a special place for them, their dynamics with each other and more. “Our first ever concert in Ahmedabad was 30 years ago at CEPT University. Since then, we’ve performed here more than 30 times. The audience is very appreciative; not just the upbeat numbers, even contemplative, quieter numbers also work here. We have a special connection with Natarani. Once, Mallika (Sarabhai) jihad performed live along with us to the songs of our album Kandisa. So, we felt happy to play for them,” says Rahul Ram, the band’s bassist and vocalist. Drummer Amit Kilam adds, “During Indian Ocean’s initial phase, our best shows happened in Ahmedabad. I have some really good memories of the city.”
While the band has seen its music and sound evolve, Rahul says, “We don’t believe in following any trends; in fact, we ignore the trend. Currently, electronic music or rap music is very popular. But woh hamara style hi nahi hai. We make songs in our style and believe that unless we like them, the audience wouldn’t like it.”
Tuheen Chakravorty, tabla player
Tuheen Chakravorty, who plays tabla, adds, “We have never been conscious about staying relevant through changing demands for music. We focus on making music and are grateful that the audience likes it.”

The band has majorly chosen to stay independent, composing for only a few movies over the years. Rahul says, “Koi aaye hamare paas offer leke, hum kyu nahi karenge? We didn’t try to stay away from Bollywood. But only those who prefer our kind of music approach us. Nobody would come to us for an item number. I admire people like AR Rahman, who can do all kinds of music. That’s a different skill, which we haven’t really tried to develop because we were happy doing our kind of music, like what we did for Masaan. That’s possibly why we get less Bollywood offers. Also, we live in Delhi and never wanted to move (to Mumbai) because becoming movie music stars is not our goal.” Amit Kilam adds, “I don’t really plan for our future, but I really want to produce a song which redirects people’s focus to environment.”
Tuheen adds, “Ajay-Atul made Chikni Chameli and Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin for the same movie (Agneepath). But that doesn’t work for us.”

Indian Ocean has seen many members leaving over the years. Rahul says, “The first year saw the maximum changes. I joined in 1991, Amit Kilam joined in 1994. For almost 15 years (till 2009), there were just the four of us. Asheem passed away in 2009 and replacing him was very difficult. In 2010, Tuheen joined us. Every person who comes into the band brings something of their own. I cannot expect Tuheen to play like Asheem. That’s improper, and I am not using their full potential that way. We explore new things with new members and the sound of the band keeps changing. I feel that’s necessary; we can’t keep cloning our music.”
Talking about creative disagreements, he adds, “In a band, everybody has their ego, and you tend to love your idea. But you have to separate the idea from the person. For us, the song is our primary focus, nothing is above it. If an idea doesn’t work, we move on.”
Himanshu Joshi, lead vocalist

Rahul Ram says, “Streaming has brought down musicians’ income. It’s a myth that streaming helps the artiste. They get paid very little, only the companies benefit from it. What we earn through streaming all year equals maybe one-two show’s earnings for us. So, unless we play live, we don’t earn a proper wage. Earlier, physical copies of CDs were sold, and you got the numbers. Now, even the numbers are not revealed to us. Essentially, live shows and composing music for films are the only ways to earn well for musicians.”
As for the usage and possible risks of AI in music, he adds, “Only time will tell whether AI is good or bad. Even computerised music was called unreal and artificial when it came. But eventually, a middle ground happened, and live music is still not dead. For AI, it is too early to comment.”