The musical crusaders
The country’s first ska band are also possibly the first musical act to be politically opinionated
By : sneha k sukumar
Update: 2015-07-27 23:54 GMT
The Ska Vengers simply believe that they are a group of Indians playing Jamaican music. True to that, they are inspired by what reggae seems to reiterate time and again – to emancipate yourself from mental slavery. A year after their hard-hitting tracks such as Badda and Modi, a message to you, they are now all set to launch Frank Brazil, a murder ballad on July 31 in Bengaluru to mark the 75th death anniversary of Indian revolutionary, Udham Singh.
Their name – Ska Vengers is inspired by the genre, ska, and ‘vengers’ is interestingly taken from the Avengers to suggest their vigilante-esque nature. “As Ska Vengers, we wanted to pay tribute to one of our national heroes, says Taru Dalmia aka Delhi Sultanate, who took to the freedom fighter’s story when he stayed next to Pentonville Prison in London where Udham Singh was hanged. “I admire the secular and inclusive identity that he assumed in the face of the British government when he was sentenced to death and gave his name as Muhammad Singh Azad, and was surprised that so many in India, especially among the young generation, had not heard about him,” adds the lead vocalist and history buff who conceptualised the track nearly a year ago.
Like their typical productions, this song too has a curious mix of styles – bass guitar, piano, drums and strings, a peppering of Punjabi folk instruments, funk elements and the comb even! “The song has a lot of layers and the challenge was to make it sound organic and not fusion like. There’s the xylophone, the dhol and the tumbi and we had to get them all to blend seamlessly,” explains their percussionist, Stefan Kaye. Frank Brazil’s lyrics are inspired from the transcription of Udham Singh’s court hearing and it fits snugly with the contemporary animated video created by Kunal Sen and Tisha Deb Pillai.
This Delhi-based band has been nominated for several awards including the MTV VMAI, VH1 Sound Nation, the GiMA Awards and the Jack Daniels/Rolling Stone Rock Awards. The line-up includes vocalists Begum X, Delhi Sultanate, percussionist Stefan ‘Flexi’ Kaye, Chaitanya Bhalla on the guitar, bassist Tony Bass and drummer The Late Nikhil Vasudevan, supported by Shirish Malhotra and Kishore Sodha on the tenor saxophone and the trumpet respectively. “I think our names intrigue people a fair bit but they don’t know why we are called what we are called,” quips Samara Chopra aka Begum X. For instance, Begum is the equivalent of ‘Queen’ or ‘Empress’ as used in Reggae. “The ‘X’ was inspired by Malcom X. The question of identity – erased, imposed and owned, is interesting to me,” she explains.
“Stephan’s middle name, ‘Felix’ is often mispronounced as ‘Flexi’ and he likes it. The Late Nikhil’s name stems from his ability to be late for everything. Antoine Guinard, the bassist was christened Tony Bass by the band because it sounds like a Mafioso name. Chaitanya, out guitarist has been Chazz since he was 10 because he likes how it rolls off the tongue – Chaitanya is reserved for when his mother is angry with him. Taru was a history student and the Delhi Sultunate, his favourite time period,” says Samara clearing up the mystery behind their etymology. For these “punks”, history is an important chapter in their music. And true to what they believe, it is in fact, the only way you can understand why things are the way they are.