In conversation with
Indie Hindi rock band
How did the name SPUNK come about? Tell us your story?
We started playing music right from our school days in
pursuit of chasing our dreams to become the best rock band
in the world. We were called Cynical Recess at that juncture
playing English original music. It was 2011, when we decided
that we wanted to pursue music full time. Keeping in mind,
the Indian society banks on a stable job and security, it was
a really tough call. It was a regular evening when we were
randomly jamming old Bollywood classics with our brand of
rock at Abhinandan's (drummer) house, which triggered a
spark. There was something which made us believe that this
can work out. What started out as a side project ultimately
became our identity. On a concluding note, it takes a lot of
courage for any middle class Indian boys to venture out full
time to pursue music as a career. Hence, the name SPUNK!
Abhishek Chatterjee - Vocals/ Guitars
Abhinandan Mukherjee - Drums/ Vocals
Soumik Roy - Guitars
Rahul Maity - Bass
Manager/Booking Agency - Accombliss
How would you describe your music to a
person who has never heard you?
"We don't sound like a regular Hindi rock band" We bring out our
brand of rock in a very different way. Our influences are purely
western and has been holding the roots right from our heydays.
Although it is tough to fuse in our influences through Hindi
vocal scansions and melody but we have worked out a genre
which is mass catering. Over the years, we tried experimenting
with old Bollywood classics , which of course was the launch pad
that worked wonders. Presently we are writing our own material
for our beloved fans. We are giving back to them this time around
and the response has been pretty good so far. So we are excited.
Who are your major influences in the music space?
Oh loads of them. All four of us have varied music tastes at the
same time it’s all open and unbiased. Ranging from bands like
26
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
Foo Fighters, Incubus, Periphery, Alter Bridge, Paramore to
the Beatles, RD Burman and Kishore Kumar. We love them all.
Tell us about your instrument/ tech set up
For Guitars Abhishek and Soumik are currently using
Gibson guitars along with fractal audio AX 8 effect boards.
For bass Rahul uses Marcus Miller clubbed with an analog
pedal train.
Abhinandan uses Pearl Reference drums for live concerts
and Mapex Saturn V for studio recordings clubbed with
Zildjian K Dark custom brassware and Speed Cobra Pedals.
Back line consist of Fender Twin Reverb Amp for Abhishek,
Marshall JCM 900 cabinets for Soumik and Ampeg SVT4
Pro for Rahul with Sennheiser In ear monitors.
Upcoming projects
Since our debut original "Talash" which featured a massive
cross border colab with Pakistani Rock Stalwart Junaid Khan (
Call ) & Glitch Studio Bangladesh has raised the bar very high,
the workflow is in full swing and we are releasing many new
originals as well as covers from our camp in the next 5 months.
It would be anybody's dream to create music with your closest
mates so yeah the times are exciting and we are pumped.
Rapid fire
Best performance till date
Well it's keeps changing, all our shows are special.
Mood Indigo IIT Bombay And CET Trivandrum
was one of our best gigs till date which got
overshadowed by our recent show at IISER Mohali.
Venue you would love to play in
Red Rocks Amphitheater and Wembley Stadium
would be a dream setting. In India it would
be Palace Grounds, Bengaluru coz it has a
lot of Indian rock history embedded.