The Urban EarlyMen Recruit New Drummer, Plan Debut Album

The Urban EarlyMen: Jayant Parashar, Roshan Roy, Adityan Nair, Mridul Luthra and Siby Mathew (from left)

With their updated, completely Photoshopped band photo as witness, Delhi psychedelic rock band The Urban EarlyMen like to keep things a bit crazy. When we caught them at the Hornbill International Rock Contest in Nagaland last year, they delivered epic-length songs. Guitarists Mridul Luthra and Siby Mathew played Hendrix-esque guitar solos and frontman Adityan Nair launched into an improvised monologue on stage, , which got the crowd cheering. Although limited by a 40-minute set in Nagaland, the band is slated to perform a two-hour set with their new drummer Jayant Parashar in Delhi this week.

Parashar, who also performs with Delhi rock band Mindflew, filled in for the band’s original drummer Rohan Arora at the Urban EarlyMen’s gig at IIT Guwahati last year. Says guitarist Siby Mathew, “Rohan had his brother’s marriage to attend, so we got Jayant to jam with us. We ended up winning that competition and he’s always been a friend of the band.” Parashar replaced Arora, who is moving out of Delhi to pursue further studies. Says Parashar, “I’ve been chilling with these guys for two years now and after that one-off show [in Guwahati], I actually wanted to make another band with these guys.” Parashar, in addition to playing drums, also handles percussion instruments such as pakhawaj and hang drum. Says Mathew, “We had a plan of doing weird shit with all his experience, but that’s what we do.”

With Parashar now in the band, the Urban EarlyMen are writing new material to finish their upcoming seven-track debut album, The Urban EarlyMen Show. Although Mathew doesn’t want to put a date on it, he says all songwriting will be finished by the end of the year. Says Mathew, “It’s going to be like one complete song, something like [Pink Floyd album] The Dark Side of the Moon.” For their first official with Parashar, the band will play four originals, including “Try,” “Colour Your Mind,” and “I’m Not Okay, You’re Not Okay,” along with a possible cover of Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”

The Urban EarlyMen perform at Beer Café, New Delhi on July 4th, 2014. Event details here.