Bengaluru’s The News Plot Debut Album

Rock ’n roll has allowed The News to have their most hectic year yet, playing 15 gigs and recording their debut eight-track album Wrong Notes For Sale. “Our material is very happy sounding. That’s basically the intention of our music since we’re quite happy people,” says the band’s vocalist and frontman Ankit Ranganathan, “Our hectic schedule has been pushing us to play longer sets with all-original material.” The band recently performed at Harley Rock Riders Season III and is heading to compete at Bengaluru’s band competition Strawberry Fields on November 30th, before they travel to Mumbai to play at the Ray-Ban 75^th Anniversary Celebrations.

Ranganathan, who is also the main songwriter of the band, deconstructs the band’s music. “Our songs just start out as jazz, but the other band members have core rock’n roll tendencies so that’s what they become,” says Ranganathan, who has been building a bank of compositions for the past five years before he found like-minded “happy, positive people” to jam with last year. The result is a mix of jazz, folk and rock ’n roll. Wrong Notes For Sale is being recorded with funds as they come in, be it from gigs or competitions. Ranganathan says the album should be ready by the end of the year.

Despite the entire buzz they have been generating in the past year, it’s not easy finding a band called The News on the internet and the Bengaluru folk/jazz rock band is well aware of that getting in their way. “I have friends who want to find us on the internet and I just have to send them the URL. Down the road, we may just have to change our name a little bit, still linking it to ”˜The News,’ but making it more distinct, so that people can find us faster,” says Ranganathan.

The News’s 30-minute set at Ray-Ban’s 75th Anniversary Celebrations on December 1st will include originals such as “Sunrise,” “Lucky Summer Day,” “Summertime” and “Together.”

The News perform at Ray-Ban’s 75th Anniversary Celebrations along with The Uncertainty Principle, 83 Miles Per Hour, Street Stories and Modern Mafia at Bandra Amphitheatre in Mumbai on December 1st. Veteran rock bands Parikrama and Indus Creed will headline the event. Entry free. Event details here.