Instrumentation
Sushmit Sen (guitar and vocals), Asheem Chakravarty (tabla and tarang, percussion and vocals), Rahul Ram (bass guitar and vocals) and Amit Kilam (drums, percussion, gabgubi, flute and vocals)
Biography
Over the last fifteen years, this quartet from Delhi, India has attracted a huge following for its superb performance of original music that ranges from rocking political anthems to meditative spiritual ballads. The band's lyrics celebrate individual journeys to transform the self as well as collective struggles to change the world. These songs of liberation and redemption combine memorable melodies with compelling rhythms that bring audiences to their feet even as they inspire the mind and soul.
Concerts
Indian Ocean is known for its electrifying performances all over India and abroad. Two US tours and over 200 concerts in major Indian metros, in cities like Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Gauhati and Hyderabad, at venues including college campuses and formal auditoria, for festivals and corporate events as well as benefits and fundraisers for activist and philanthropic groups, have kept the band on a hectic touring schedule. Indian Ocean's first international performance was in London in August 2001, followed by a two-week run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where they were selected the Pick of the Fringe. They returned to the Fringe in 2002 and 2003. In 2002, the band played 37 concerts across four continents in the USA, UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Their tour of the United States included performances on the Mall in Washington DC, as a part of the Smithsonian Folklife festival. They played to sold-out houses, standing ovations and rave reviews at the New Zealand Arts Festival in Wellington, and played the inaugural concert for the Melbourne Arts Festival. Since then, the band has toured the UK four times -- playing in Trafalgar Square in London this July before large crowds; they have returned to Australia and Singapore, played in Berlin and on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean!
They've performed at sold out auditorium in more than 10 cities in the US since October 2005
Notable Performances
Khajuraho Millennium concert (1999), performed for the President of India
Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2001), judged the Pick of the Fringe
Inauguration of the India Festival in Singapore (2001)
Inaugural concert at the Melbourne Arts Festival (2002)
New Zealand International Festival (2002)
Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian, Washington DC (2002)
India-Pakistan Amity Concert at the Kresge Auditorium at MIT (2002)
India Festival in Indonesia (2002)
Asian Performing Arts Festival in Japan (2002).
World Social Forum, Mumbai (2004)
Trafalgar Square, London (2005)
Discography
Indian Ocean has released five albums: Indian Ocean (1993), Desert Rain (1997), Kandisa (2000) and Jhini (2003), and the Original Sound Track for the feature film Black Friday (2005). Desert Rain, recorded live at a concert performed for the SAHMAT (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust) annual festival in Delhi, consolidated the band's reputation as an original, intelligent and fun presence on the Indian music scene. Kandisa, with its eclectic mix of musical styles, including lyrics in Hindi, Kashmiri, Bengali, Aramaic and Bhilali, gave the band a couple of its biggest hits. Indian Ocean achieved cult status in India with Kandisa, as audiences sang its complex lyrics in unison with the band at live concerts. Jhini received the AV Max award for the Best Produced Album in India. The release of a music video of the title song in May coincided with Indian Ocean being featured as the Artists of the Month on MTV. Like the previous albums, the band's most recent work in Black Friday has also been critically acclaimed. The song Bandeh was #2 on the Hindi film charts, providing Indian Ocean with their first major crossover hit. The band is now working on a new album. |
