Ankur Tewari and The Ghalat Family.

‘Indi-pop’ — -The term, the genre, or whatever you might like to call it, has become increasingly popular ever since Kailash Kher’s ‘Allah Ke Bandeh’. And even though it wasn’t written or composed by Mr. Kher himself, it brought him superstardom in no time. People RAVE about his live performances! And why wouldn’t they? He plays with a full-fledged band after all! Ankur Tewari plays with a full-fledged band too. The newest addition to a list which boasts of Kailash Kher, Sona Mohapatra, Shibani Kashyap and the like, seems like he’s here to stay!

Now Ankurji is an art loving soul, writing songs and composing music since as long as he can remember. His most recent venture’s called ‘The Ghalat Family’. Family members would include the best of the Indian ‘rawk’ scene- Pozy Dhar and Siddharth Coutto of Zero on guitars and drums, respectively, Johan Pais from Helga’s Fun Castle on bass and Ankurji himself on vocals and rhythm guitar! Mellow acoustic music combined with impactful lyrics- it’s full of soul! Ofcourse there are cliched love songs but you’ll be able to tell how different it actually is once you hear it! So how did he drift into this Indie space? ” Well you can’t term us specifically as Indie or commercial. We cater to all audiences. Young and old, commercial and not commercial” he retorts.” But I’ve been writing lyrics and playing guitar for a while now. I’ve composed songs for a film I directed too so..” That film’s called ‘Let’s Enjoy’ by the way and has some brilliant tracks by the Midival Punditz! When I first walked into Zenzi, I saw something that doesn’t surprise me at all. Sidd being his animated self, sound-checking, banging hard on the drum kit. But Ankurji’s music doesn’t require this at all! With The Ghalat Family, Sidd seems to have matured a lot more on the musical front- call it his experience in the scene or his versatility that allows him to dabble with different styles ( Sidd has composed a bunch of jingles, fronts his own band and has done some film work), he has now transitioned to softer sounds. ” I haven’t written Ankur’s songs myself, so I’m liking it quite a bit. I enjoy playing this kind of stuff as it is and anyway, all the other work I’m doing right now is within a similar space”, he says. But if there’s one member in the band who’s actually had some sort of experience playing these tunes, it’s got to be Pozy. He’s done sets with Luke Kenny in the past that comprised Hindi tracks. He also plays for Anushka Manchanda’s( From the girl band ‘Viva’. More popular for her Vjing stint with Channel [V]) band and that invloves a couple of Hindi Indi-pop numbers too! When asked if it was easy adjusting to this genre, he says, ” Yeah man, it’s easy to play and it’s a lot of fun! That’s why I took it up in the first place”. But from what I know of him, he’s always been one of those hardcore Jazz afficionado’s! “The thing is, it’s really difficult for people to adjust to the kind of music I listen to and would essentially like to play..it’s improvisational so it takes some time to get used to. And Ankur’s songs are well written. I get to play in front of a much larger audience, so I like it”, says Pozy. And what’s his take on the other members of the Ghalat Family? “Man, Sidd and I have played together in Zero…I’ve jammed a lot with Johan and now with Tough On Tobacco too. Plus it’s great playing with Ankur…so yeah, they are like family”.

Coming back to the music, is an album on the cards? “Yes, it’s pretty much done…we’ll be releasing it sometime soon”. Personally, I think all of their songs are great, but if I were to recommend their music to first-timers, I’d say listen to ‘Chand Chahiye’ and ‘Shukriya’. “Chand Chahiye is the most peppy track on the album”, says Ankur. A ‘pretty’ guitar riff may I add. With the concept of ‘Rock On’ still fresh in the minds of the masses, I believe this is the best time for The Family to put out their music, tour around a bit et all. And if their performances remain consistent, there’s only one way these guys are going: UP!