Known for their rambunctious performances, bass heavy tracks and videos to match, hip-hop and electronica act, ViceVersa have a reputation for being fun. As Bengaluru boy Manas Ullas along with his band mates Rohit Pereira and Sidd Coutto launch Chal Hatt, the latest in their arsenal and prep to perform at The Humming Tree in Bengaluru on July 22, the shawarma connoisseurs and serial-video watchers give us the details.
Teaming up with Bollywood singer and actress Apeksha Dandekar for the track, Rohit aka P-Man says, “Chal Hatt is our way of saying no thanks, bugger off. Lyrically it covers many areas, saying chal hatt to exes who took you for granted, saying chal hatt to people who were supposed to have your back but abandoned you, to people who are jealous – it’s like an anti Valentine’s song, the complete package.” According to the band which also features Coutto and Bengaluru boy Manas Ullas for whom this is a sort of homecoming, the music video is a dance battle between two crews. “One crew busts out with their best breaking and popping movies and the second crew bust out Dharmendra/ Chamiya/Dabangg movies which shocks the others and they leave. We win! It’s out way of saying chal hatt to the conventional,” they say.
Having made their debut in 2012, ViceVersa have one album and two EPs to their name. “I was going to name the band Kireek, Kannada slang for going mental – as in losing control,” says namma ooru boy, Manas, who recently quit his day job in sales to get into sound designing full time. “Then my therapist Dinkar said, ‘You got vices and spit verses, call it ViceVersa’. It’s still a bone of contention though, Manas pronounces it ‘Vicey Versa,’ quips Rohit.
However their name might sound, their music, they say, is electronic bass music with healthy doses of hip hop, dub and reggae thrown in. “Our influences would be all the big electronica bass artistes – Skrillex, Major Lazer, Noisia, The Prodigy, as well as hip hop artistes. While Manas is a huge fan of UK grime, Coutto brings in his reggae and funk flavour in the music,” says Rohit, adding, “We are not a DJ act, but more of a band with three vocalists spitting fire live on stage.” We agree on that one.
For Manas, Bengaluru is a place that he can understand and relate to the most, but as a fan boy of Rohit and Coutto, he couldn’t say no to being in a band with them. “For a high octane act like us, the people at the gigs have always reciprocated with the same energy,” he says. While the electrifying energy is what they are looking for from the local crowd, Rohit reminds us that it’s also his poison of choice, a mean chicken shawarma, that he’s coming to Bengaluru for.
