Galeej Gurus Plot Debut

Galeej Gurus have been gigging across the country ”“ Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata ”“ on their August Rush tour that kicked off in the capital on August 1. And the Gurus – Nathan Lee Harris (vocals), Matthew Harris (bass), Ananth Menon (guitars), Naveen Thomas Joseph (guitars) and Kishan Balaji (drums) ”“ seem to be enjoying every bit of it. “The tour has been quite hectic but fun so far as we have been constantly moving from one city to the other,” says Nathan. But gigging is not all that they are doing. The band, with over 450 gigs to their credit, plan to record a single, which should be out this month. That will be followed by their as-yet-untitled debut album.
Talking about their debut, Menon says, “It should be out by the end of the year and we have started working towards it.” Joseph says, “It will definitely sound fresh and have a different feel to it.” The band is in talks to rope in someone from abroad to produce the album for which the Gurus have reworked all their songs and are also working on some new compositions. “Our listeners can get a whole new feel when they listen to the album. Thought the album will have ten of our best songs, we are yet to list them out. In fact, we are planning on putting the tracks up on our website and asking fans to vote for the songs that they think should be featured on the album. This way, it will give our fans to play their part for the album,” says Joseph.

Speaking about the sound of the album, drummer Balaji says, “Most people abroad think that Indian bands must have some Indian element to their music. But we would still like to stick to what we do best and make it our way and not follow the herd. Though most of us come from a classical background, we don’t want to force Indian elements into our music. If it’s flowing naturally and fits in perfectly, then it’s okay. But we would like to keep our music simple, clever, yet subtle.”

The uniqueness in their music comes from the fact that they haven’t been able to categorise their genre. As Joseph explains, “Call it progressive funk, progressive blues rock, indie, anything. We’d like to leave it to the listener’s imagination. Our music is for people to enjoy and connect with. Though most of it is based on hypothetical situations, it could just as well be a simple silly song. And that is what our debut album will be as well.”