Christmas might still be a few weeks away, but for Mumbai based band The Other People, the festivities seem to have begun a tad early.
The six-piece band that was formed almost a decade ago had beginnings that were as humble as their moniker suggests, but since their first performance at Jazz By The Bay in 2004, The Other People have definitely jumped into the spotlight and have done so in style with the release of its first single, Christmas is here, which hit the stands on November 28.
Gavin Cason and Samuel Berlie who handle lead and rhythm guitar have their roots in the suburb of Bandra.
While Loy Henriques handles bass guitar, drums and percussion are taken care of by Joshua Vaz. The band also has Garth D’Mello on keyboard and Zarir Warden on lead vocals.
With the new single adding more zing to the festive season, we caught up with the band to talk about its single and what lies ahead for the band.
“It has a happy vibe to it, the song tries to capture the excitement that comes in with vibrant merrymaking and since Christmas is round the corner, the title fits the bill perfectly,” says Zarir Warden, the lead vocalist.
On the band’s policy of predominantly doing covers, Zarir contends, “There are people who don’t agree with what we do, everyone thinks that doing covers is an easy job, but what most fail to understand is people know the songs already, so keeping it fresh and doing complete justice to it can be a tough task.”
Speaking about the USP of the band’s forthcoming album Dreamers Believers Lovers, Joshua Vaz the band’s percussionist puts forth, “Most of the songs in the album are anthemic.
We want people to relate to it and sing along...we are just trying to be preachy without being in-the-face.”
“We have not found a common ground as yet, and I’m glad we haven’t since it gives us more scope to experiment with the kind of music we play.
All the songs in the album are completely distinct, but they do have a common chord which strings them together,” adds the keyboardist, Garth D’mello on what to expect from the album.
For Loy Henriques, who is the oldest member of the band at 64, the excitement that comes with releasing an album is as fresh as ever.
“The feeling is exhilarating, it’s like a dream finally coming true. These guys keep me young and I’m lucky to be playing with this lovely group of energetic boys,” adds Loy.
Berlie adds, “Sharing the stage with Edward Maya and DJ Diamond at the V India Fest has been our most memorable experience so far and then it is this.”
With dreams of playing at the Wembley Stadium one fine day, The Other People is already in the saddle to ride into the global music scene.
