Grammy Winning Effort to Release Debut EP

Grammy Winning Effort: (from left) Suyash Gabriel, Shashvat Pandit, Dayus Madhan, Akshay Dwivedi and RN Jaidev | Photo: Pinak Mokashi

What is it with band names that sound a bit too grandiose? First there was prog metalcore act Colossal Figures and now there’s Grammy Winning Effort, who are playing at annual crowdfunded gig series Control Alt Delete ”“ The Metal Chapter in Mumbai on June 1st. The Delhi post-hardcore band’s guitarist Shashvat Pandit laughs it off, saying it was the only name their first drummer Shantanu Sudarshan could come up with.

Formed in 2010, Grammy Winning Effort were runners-up at Nagaland band competition Hornbill Rock Contest in 2011 and also competed at IIT Bombay’s annual cultural festival Mood Indigo. Says Pandit, “At that time we hadn’t written much. We’ve canned a lot of the songs and the new material is way better.” The band uploaded two new unfinished previews last month, “Keeper of the Sun,” and “Drop Dead, Gorgeous,” but Pandit says the songs were recorded at least a year ago, with only vocals by frontman Dayus Madhan yet to be finalized. Grammy Winning Effort took a break in 2013, with members concentrating on other projects [Pandit is also part of Delhi rock band October] and returned to play their first gig this year in Delhi in March, with garage rock band The Superfuzz, and also with their new drummer Suyash Gabriel. Says Madhan, “Our old drummer went to study in the UK. Suyash is way more into rock and roll, but we’ve introduced him to a lot of post-hardcore.”

Grammy Winning Effort’s sound is a mix of hardcore, punk and southern rock, according to Pandit. The guitarist adds, “We originally started off just before Dayus was going to leave for Australia for a while. We were good friends and we liked heavy music, like [hardcore act] Every Time I Die. We still like stuff like Lynyrd Skynyrd.” We’re not expecting a cover of “Free Bird,” but Pandit says his band’s setlist will include all their singles released so far, including “Dead Horse Wagon,” which was written in 2010. Pandit adds, “After the Bombay gig, we’ll probably rework and redo vocals on those tracks and writing more songs.” Madhan adds, “We were thinking of an album, but right now we’re looking at four solid songs for an EP, which should release in another month or two.”

Grammy Winning Effort perform at Control Alt Delete ”“ The Metal Chapter on June 1st, 2014 at Blue Frog, Mumbai. Entry: Pay what you want. Contribute to Control Alt Delete here. Also performing are Reptilian Death, Noiseware, Providence, Zygnema, Undying Inc, Devoid and Gutslit.

Listen to Grammy Winning Effort here: