Bengaluru’s Chandbibi and the Waste Candidates Release Debut Album ‘Tidy Funk’

Chandbibi and the Waste Candidates – (from left) Sidhant Jain, Kavita Sarna, Navneet Rao and Mana Dhanraj. Photo: Mallikarjun Katakol

If most bands have cited lack of funds for the delay in releasing an album, Bengaluru experimental funk band Chandbibi and the Waste Candidates are among the luckiest artists in India. The four-member band, whose current lineup came together in February this year, had a benefactor funding their debut album, Tidy Funk, which released earlier this week.

The eight-track album, which was recorded at Chennai’s Voice & Vision Studios in September, was backed by Finnish producer and guitarist Jukka Packalen. Says Chandbibi vocalist Mana Dhanraj, “Jukka and all of us in the band were studying at Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music [SAM]. Jukka was at SAM to study Carnatic music and we jammed with him and that’s when he put the idea [of an album] into our heads. He believed in us more than we did.” After getting Packalen’s support straight from March this year, the band spent six months working on Tidy Funk, which was being written under the working title of Prelude. Says Dhanraj, “We had no problems jamming and coming up with ideas, but the hardest part was giving them shape. We had recorded endless hours of jamming and had to sift through all that before we came across parts where we thought, ”˜this could work’.” Chandbibi and the Waste Candidates, who previously released a self-titled EP in December last year, continue drawing from influences ranging from funk, smooth jazz, R&B and rock on tracks such as “What Have We Become?” and “Moonlight.”

Chandbibi and the Waste Candidates play a launch gig for Tidy Funk on October 17th at B-Flat, Bengaluru, performing songs off the album and covering their favorite artists, including trip hop act Portishead and Australian soul band Hiatus Kaiyote. Dhanraj adds that they will add an electronic twist to “Moonlight” with Bengaluru DJ Prashanth Pallemoni as part of their set. While the album version of these tracks are minus collaborations, Dhanraj says the band loves feeding off others’ energy at a live show. Says Dhanraj, “All our gigs should have at least one collaboration.”

Listen to Tidy Funk below. Buy Tidy Funk here