If there’s one Delhi band to look out for this season, it’s Half Step Down (HSD). Other than being seen at all the happening gigs across the City, their rock ‘n’ roll style, coupled with their versatile mishmash of the blues, alt-rock, funk and reggae, is something music lovers crave.
Formed in 2006, the group comprises of Dhaval Mudgal on vocals, Abhijit Sood on drums, Nikhil Malik and Bhanu Mendiratta on guitar and Carl Abraham on bass guitar. Metrolife engages in a candid chat with HSD members. Dhaval, who is also the son of renowned classical singer Subha Mudgal says, “Coming from a classical background never helped me in my career. My singing is way too different than a classical singer and I never tried to learn that music.”
Ask them how the band was formed and they reply in unison. The members of the band, who are also friends, came together to do what they all believed in and that was music.
The band members are undeterred by the tough competition around them and claim that they are here to enjoy their work and describe this musical journey as “fantastic like rock ‘n’ roll.”
But do people really understand what they sing? “Music is not meant to be understood. Music is to be enjoyed and if it sounds good people enjoy it. We write our own songs and we sing occasional covers sometimes for fun,” informs Abhijit, who is also the youngest member of the band.
HSD is now coming up with their new album Notes from the Antidote, which will be released this March. And, when the band members are not performing, their time is spent travelling, writing songs and making people sing along with them.
“We are better than before and every day we are getting better with every gig that we perform. We are still exploring our instruments and we find that there is a lot to learn from our own music. We are always learning with every performance and this journey will never end,” says Abhijit.
Essentially a grunge band, the members have performed at the Great Indian Rock Festival and also appeared on the reality show Channel [V] Launchpad. The band released its debut album Overtures In Outerspace in 2009 and explain that their performance at Launchpad was something any person with average musical taste could also relate to.
While explaining the current scenario of rock bands in India Nikhil says, “Today every college has more than five rock bands and they all perform at various levels. Online social media is a fantastic tool which enables you to access music easily. Youngsters can now see a good career in rock music and it is definitely a sign of good things to come.”