At a Versova gig this Saturday, discover a unique band that refuses to be bound by genre, with the harmonica meeting the electric guitar and reggae meets bhajans
Karan Deshmukh, Akhil Sindhwani, Omkar Patil, Tejal Varadkar and Lalit Bohra
When we ask a band to share the inspiration behind their music, we hardly expect them to narrate a story of them wandering around in a garden in Borivali and spotting two lonely benches. But it doesn't end there. The benches bore the names Mohanlal and Bivliben and were joined in a right angle. For vocalist Omkar Patil, this seemed like quite the love story, which culminated in a song composition, aptly named Oolta Pyaar. "Our music has always been a narration of experiences with the outside world. But as audience, you will also find your own story in our music," he tells us.
Patil, 30, along with Lalit Bohra and Tejal Varadkar, started the now five-member band, HarmoNoNium in 2013. The name of the band has as amusing an explanation as the stories behind their music. In the band's dictionary, NoNium translates to No Niyam, or no rules, centred on their philosophy of sticking to no particular genre. The harmonium, tabla, drums, acoustic, electric and bass guitar all fuse into a melody that is a mix of alternative pop, Indian folk music, reggae, and other genres. So, can't this just be considered as fusion music? we ask Patil. "Musicians perform everything under the name of fusion these days. Our music is [a sort of] fusion because our members come from various Indian states, but it has no identifiable form. We'd rather be associated with the world music genre," he explains.
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While Patil hails from Mumbai, his bandmates come from different states who have now found base in the city. Guitarist and co-writer Lalit Bohra, for instance, hails from Phalodi in Rajasthan where gambling is routine. Inspired by this and his frustration of Marwaris being stereotyped as businessmen, Bohra composed a Marwari rap song. "As a genre, rap music is built around struggle. So although the inspiration remains the same, the form changes," he tells us. Another example he cites is reggae music, which challenged the idea of materialism. "Bob Marley advocated love and peace. So we merge the style with Meera Bai's poetry and that inspired one of our compositions called Jogan, where she speaksof being so devoted to Krishna, that she could leave all material things behind."
The band will perform this Saturday in Versova where all proceeds will be routed towards the Kerala Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund. They maintain that the music has a different appeal — drawing the young and the old. "Every time we perform, we notice the older audience jamming to our tunes. They don't take offence to our style," Bohra says, with Patil adding, "It's like shopping from life. What more could there be?"
ON September 1, 8.30 pm to 10 pm
AT Harkat Studios, Aram Nagar Part 2, Versova, Andheri West
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ENTRY Rs 300
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