Kashmir’s Gaekhir Republik Release Pandemic-Spawned Debut Album ‘Mandnyan Shaam’

The pandemic-enforced distance only further strengthened the musical bonds of Kashmiri artists Sarfaraz Javid, Suhail Ahmad and Mohsin Hassan, who created rock band Gaekhir Republik. Now based out of Kashmir and Bengaluru, the trio have released their debut album Mandnyan Shaam, produced by Mir Kashif Iqbal, the singer-songwriter and guitarist previously part of rock band Parvaaz.

Vocalist Sarfaraz Javid aka Faraz says, “We never had a concrete plan; everything just fell into place naturally. Over the last eight months, we’ve been on a journey that included some travel as we tracked the album.” Written between the end of 2020 and early 2022, the band is influenced by a style of music-based storytelling known as ladishah. Bassist Suhail Ahmad says, “It serves to express anguish and entertain people in a rhythmic form, primarily revolving around political, social, and cultural issues in the form of ballads or melodious satire. We believe there’s likely some influence from these traditional musical forms in our work.”

There’s a certain playfulness on the nine-track Mandnyan Shaam, but also gets dark and somber at times in its treatment and undoubtedly has Iqbal’s psychedelic rock fingerprints all over it. From the driving blues rock of “Poanso” to the jam-like energy of “Jazz Ahmad Jazz” and the swelling crescendo on “Zaagaan,” sonic diversity and indulgence abound on the album. “One of the keys to our success [in making the album] was the absence of overthinking. We found that this allowed for a natural flow of creativity that kept us content and produced some of our most authentic work,” Hassan says.

The songs were born out of jam sessions for the most part, in which the trio didn’t really want to adhere to any particular genre. That explains more pastoral, sprawling post-rock cuts like “Nundkol” and deeply anguished compositions like “Khauftan Baange” and the stomping blues of “Tse Be Te Blues.” It places Gaekhir Republik as a significant new (or just recent) voice emerging from Kashmir to use rock sensibilities for their lived experiences, among the likes of Iqbal, Ali Saffudin, Alif, Parvaaz and more.

The band has so far taken on a few performances in places like New Delhi and Faraz says they’re raring to travel with these songs. “We are eager to play this album live, taking one thing at a time. Our first priority is to bring the songs from Mandnyan Shaam to the stage, and then, hopefully, record the songs that didn’t make it to the album,” he adds.

Listen to ‘Mandnyan Shaam’ below. Buy/stream on Bandcamp here.