Interviews

In conversation with Delhi-based Alternative Rock band ‘Chaos In The Capital’

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‘Chaos In The Capital’ is a Delhi-based Alternative rock band, constantly trying to revive the trend of alternative rock music in India and creating simple music with a lot of feel. DU Beat recently got an opportunity to interview the band.

Q. Tell us about how this band came into existence and how you ended up with the name ‘Chaos In The Capital’.

A. Yuvraj and Ananya knew each other in school and used to meet occasionally at parties and gigs. They started an individual music project of their own. And Kshitij started another project with Sagar. Basically, each of us except Abhijeet knew each other through some or the other connection and had many musical projects in the pipeline. And eventually, we planned on combining it into a band and the idea snowballed into ‘Chaos In The Capital’ coming into existence. Also, we were in need of a bass player when our previous bass player departed in July after playing his last show with us at St. Stephen’s College. We found Abhijeet through Facebook. He is the newest member of our band.

Deciding the name was a fun task and we thought of some really cheesy and funny names like ‘The Cheeseburgers Vanish’ and ‘The Floating Kegs’. One fine day, surprisingly, Ananya had a dream that our band should be called ‘Chaos In The Capital.’ That’s how we ended up with CITC. Bizarre, isn’t it?

Q. What are some of the Indian and Western bands you guys really admire?

A. Collectively, we completely love Foo Fighters, Switchfoot, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, and Breaking Benjamin. Amongst Indian bands, we are inspired by Advaita, Skrat, The Doppler Effect, and Zero. Fortunately, we also got to open for Advaita at St. Stephen’s College, which will always be one of our most memorable gigs.

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Q. What are some of the songs that CITC has released and what’s upcoming?

A. We launched our Facebook page with our first single ‘Through With This’ back in February of 2014 and since then, we’ve released a couple of singles. We’ve released some acoustic singles as well. Some of our notable songs include ‘White Collar Deadbeat’, ’Emma’ and ‘Capital Street’, among others. ‘White Collar Deadbeat’ is one of our favourite tracks. We composed this at a point when all of us were sick of the monotony of our jobs (Although that was temporary. Hello, respective bosses.) The song includes some words that completely describe how troublesome jobs could get. Capital Street is the song that totally defines our sound and the Acoustic version of the song that we released on YouTube recently, is a complete DIY production, right from the audio production to the video production.

We’re planning to come up with an EP sometime next year. We also aspire to play at a lot of music festivals. We’re playing a show as part of the Contemporary Arts Week in Delhi in October. Someday, if things work out right, we wish to play at Wembley. That’s the dream.

Q. What are some challenges you guys face as a band? What do you think about the Delhi University music scene? And what advice would you like to give to all musicians who aspire for something great?

A. The challenge we face routinely is of time constraint. All of us are working and we can only practice on the weekends. Sometimes, even that doesn’t materialize due to social obligations. Many a time, when we get opportunities for gigs, we have to cancel due to unavailability of a specific band member. These are the problems we face as a band and perhaps the inspiration behind ‘White Collar Deadbeat’.

We believe that the Delhi University music scene is nothing short of amazing. It’s a fantastic platform for talented musicians and honestly, that’s where we all started to play for a large audience. One of the best gigs we’ve ever played was at the St. Stephen’s fest. DU has a plethora of commendable musicians and has given opportunities to passionate individuals in the field of music. Some of the bands we admire from Delhi University are RaagLeela and Sold Out.

The most important thing that we’d like to suggest to other musicians (We don’t think we’ve made it big enough to dispense advice,though) is to make sure that people continue playing music even after finishing college. A successful band is all about finding the right people and playing simple music, instead of complicating it.

Q. What makes CITC a different band than others out there? What’s your fondest memory as a band and your most favourite gig?

A. Although we believe that CITC is constantly evolving as a band, there are some things that stand out and separate us from mainstream bands. We are one of the very few bands remaining that are trying to revive Alternative Music in India. Let’s just say, if you’re born in the 90s, you’re definitely going to love our music. Our music is a collective of strong melodies, simple lyrics, lots of vocal play, and groovy bass lines. We think that the toughest thing to do is to create simple music and that’s our sole agenda right now. Just the fact that we try to focus on making simple music makes us a different band. We like to indulge in some crazy shenanigans from time to time, like performing a rendition of the Powerpuff Girls theme which incidentally is requested almost every time we perform.

Normally, bands choose a specific gig as their fondest memory. But our dearest memory is of the time when all of us got together at Sagar’s house in Malviya Nagar for an all-nighter band practice. It’s called the CITC, headquarters by the way. After a whole night of continuous jamming, all of us really understood each other musically and aligned in a way we hadn’t previously, and that reflected in all our gigs thereon. Our favourite gig would definitely be our second gig at TC, Saket. Sharing the stage with Superfuzz and Zero on the finale of The Gig Week 2015 is definitely one for the pages as well.

Catch Chaos in the Capital LIVE at the Contemporary Arts Week at Summerhouse Café on the 7th of October. Contact them at [email protected].

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Sudisha Misra
[email protected]

Image Credits- Snigdha for DU Beat

A recluse, I spend time making Tim Burtonish sketches and reading books of Modernist literature. An anime lover and a classic literature enthusiast, my life revolves around LOTR theories and rock and country music of the 20th century. Manchester United supporter, absurdist and a Seinfeld fan for life, you can spot me in CVS Campus with a copy of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ always in my hands. You can reach me at [email protected].

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