Manipal’s love for music is no secret. With crowd filled grounds for events like High Voltage, RedBull Tour Bus, The Local Train, As We Keep Searching, etc. a taste of NH7 Weekender comes to this town now and then. No exception to this trend is the Delhi-based free genre band Shorthand who will be performing at the MIT Quadrangle on the 11th of September, 2018.
For those who actively visit places in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore that are known for hosting a variety of live performances, Shorthand is an extremely familiar name. Their band comprises guitarist Abhinav, Govind Narayan on the Bass, Prithvi Iyer on drums, and Sreya Muthukumaran on vocals. Hailing from different cities across the country, the four met at Ashoka University while pursuing their undergraduate degree. Prithvi, who was a year junior to the rest, joined the band around three years ago. Shorthand’s legacy started off with their first win at a fest in Jindal Global University, a college right across theirs. At the time, the band was roughly put together, and they had no plans of pursuing their passion for music seriously as such. However, after many a jam session, their love for music inspired them to venture out of the university and take to small gigs at local bars and clubs in Delhi.
Their first song titled ‘Window Noise’ was a major hit with the crowd at Blue Frog Bangalore. ‘No Surprise’, their first official studio recording was published on YouTube on the 13th of April, 2018 followed by the release of another Indie-Pop single ‘Impressions’ on Apple Music. The 10th of September 2018 marked the release of another single in collaboration with Banjo Earth titled ‘Springtime’. All four of their original compositions have been written by the band together and their lyrical brilliance shines through each track. On interviewing drummer Prithvi Iyer about why they refer to themselves as a ‘free genre band,’ he shed light on the reason—complexity. With the band having influences from genres like progressive rock, blues, jazz, and indie, they felt that categorising themselves into one of these would not do justice to what they want to present to their audience—variety. Sreya, the lead singer, is a classically trained vocalist and her vibrato is revered by all who attend even the shortest of performances.
Though the music they compose is in English, what they have planned for the evening covers various styles of music, with some Hindi covers as well. The event is perfect for an evening of unwinding after a hectic day at college or work and is something you don’t want to miss out on.
You can check out their music on their official YouTube channel and can buy tickets for their performance at the Chords & Co. event ‘Impressions’ at the Student Plaza info desk.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtTQKVW9US0yRa1yRZCkHCg
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