Half Step Down To Release EP
The Delhi rock ’n roll band plans to gig more often with the release
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Despite being around for eight years [they played their first gig in 2005], Delhi rockers Half Step Down still don’t gig as often as they should. “There’s always a problem with our lineup. Our guitar players keep leaving for London [to study],” says vocalist Dhaval Mudgal, adding that their upcoming EP, Notes From The Antidote, would see them gigging more often.
The band is currently writing songs for the release, due in June, at drummer Srijan Mahajan’s Studio Fuzz in Delhi. “We had the luxury of getting extra time since it’s Srijan’s studio,” says Mudgal, adding that the band might write more than the five songs they had planned for the EP because they have access to the studio. “With our previous album [Overtures In Outerspace], we released all our material we had written. If we get really creative, we might end up with 10 or 11 songs, enough for an album,” says Mudgal.
Half Step Down is playing their first Delhi gig since December last year tonight. At Blue Frog, the band will play newer material, including songs such as “Kingmaker,” about blame games in politics and “Rabbit Hole,” a “slightly psychedelic trip gone wrong,” according to Mudgal. Pianists Shiv Lumba and Rohit Gupta will guest on a few tracks. The band will also cover “Gold On The Ceiling” by garage rock band The Black Keys and may play some tunes by trip hop band Portishead.
Next week, the band head to Mumbai to play a tribute show to The Rolling Stones. Mudgal says that the band has done quite a few tribute shows including gigs celebrating Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Alice In Chains and says that he treats these shows as a team building exercise: “Plus, bands don’t get to play Rolling Stones much. There’s a lot of material to explore, but we’re not sure how many [Rolling Stones] fans there are in Mumbai.”
Half Step Down and Root Murphy play at Blue Frog, Delhi on February 13th, 2013. Event details here.
Half Step Down’s Tribute to the Rolling Stones takes place at Hard Rock Café, Mumbai on February 21st, 2013.Â
