There was a time when Kolkata was a desirable place for musicians to settle in. People arrived at Howrah station with instruments in hand, hoping to find a slot in Trinca's or one of the numerous other venues on Park Street. The likes of Usha Uthup, Biddu and Louiz Banks cut their teeth there, before becoming household names later on. But that was decades ago. Over the years, a number of factors — such as the dark era of Naxalism in the '70s and heavy government taxation — have turned the city into a ghost of its past. And things have in fact come to such a pass that instead of it being a desirable place for them, local musicians are now packing their bags for greener pastures, like Mumbai.

Take the members of Pull, for example — a new alternative Hindi rock act that will play its debut gig this week. All the six band mates are originally from Kolkata. Of them, Nathan Patra was the first to settle down in Mumbai, in 2011, with the rest following suit one by one till Bijit Bhattacharya, the bassist, finally arrived here eight months earlier. They all knew each other, or at least of each other, from their days back home. And the seeds of the band were sown when keyboardist Ritwik Ghosh, vocalist Debanjan Dhar and Patra, who plays the guitar, decided to join forces as a trio last year.