Inteview with INDIAN OCEAN

While Indian Ocean was here in Calcutta last week, to perform at the annual fest of Presidency College, Milieu 2000, I caught up with Amit Kilam ( the drummer and back-up vocalist) of the band. A few excerpts from the interview:

1. Tell me about your history- the how, why and when of your band.
A. Well, originally there was really no band, it was only Sushmit and Asheem who started off as a duo back in 1985. It was much later in `90, that the rest of us joined.

2. What is the Indian Ocean sound? Would you call it folk music, period?
A. Yeah. kind of. But again, it is not only folk. Our music is based on the guitar and drums on the one hand and tabla, dholak, tarang on the other. So it is a happy blend of both folk and rock.

3. Why this genre of music and not the 'popular', beat-oriented, peppy kind?
A. Hmm. probably because everybody else is playing that. Moreover , this is music that we identify ourselves with.

4. Who is your audience mainly? Do you find a lot of young people listening to you?
A. The range is wide. we have people from all parts of the country listening to our music. Oh, and age is not a barrier, we have young people forming a major section of our audience.

5. Is this the music you are going to be playing or are you going to experiment?
A. Well, don't really know. At the moment, we are sticking to the music we have been playing, but we are open to experimentations.

6. Why the name 'Indian Ocean'- how did you decide upon it?
A. Hmm..(smiles), to be honest, there was no reason or thought associated with the band name. We were all racking our brains real hard to come up with a name, and suddenly Sushmit's dad suggested, 'How about Indian Ocean'?!

7. Tell us about your albums
A. Our first album was 'Indian Ocean' released in 1994, followed by 'Desert Rain' in '97' and 'Kandisa' early this year.

8. What are your personal tastes in music?
A. (Laughing). now that is a tough one. we lack unanimity in this one respect! Our tastes are totally different though all of us dig A.R.Rahman.

9. What are your future plans with reference to albums, concerts and maybe even music Videos?
A. We are working on an album at present and will take a few more months to get over with it. Then we have a lot of shows coming up and talking of music videos, we are going to have one very soon depending on our recording company.

10. Finally, how has the Calcutta (and particularly the Presidency) experience been?
A. Exhilarating! We had a great time performing for the folks on campus. Also, it is my first time in Calcutta , so liked every bit of it, the people here are wonderful.

Sreemoyee Roy,
PRESIDENCY COLLEGE