Hear New Delhi/Mumbai Artist R#onbus’ Evocative Debut EP ‘Waiting Time’
Described as a “sonic documentation,” the three track record traverses acoustic guitar-driven cinematic arrangements
Singer-songwriter Ronojoy Sircar aka R#onbus at a gig in 2019. Photo: Raj Lalwani
A photographer, filmmaker, writer and previously an English professor, Ronojoy Sircar floated R#onbus as a new creative outlet in 2017. Exploring samples, ambient spaces and switched-up acoustic guitar melodies and his wistful voice, the three-track Waiting Time EP is a glimpse into a multidisciplined man’s songwriting abilities.
Turns out Sircar was in bands as a session musician about a decade ago, playing piano and guitar. “I failed all classes, got pushed out of school and joined what was a horrendous goonda school. I really got into drugs then,” he says. In the years of recovery, Sircar gave up music but a chance encounter of finding a guitar at a friend’s house led to him songwriting after six years.
While the teaching and education system led to “extreme anxiety,” Sircar says being a professor in New Delhi did teach him a lot of patience. This is perhaps the kind of patience that seeps into his poetry, his photography work and even R#onbus. Waiting Time was written in Mumbai but also serves as an ode to his time in New Delhi. Sircar terms it a “sensorial expression of an experience,” citing everyone from minimalist composer Max Richter to singer-songwriter Elliot Smith to American singer-composer Erykah Badu as influences.
Waiting Time was co-produced by Dhruv Kathuria, which features to breathtaking guitar passages as well as soulful vocal melodies on songs “Going,” “Creases” and “Waiting Time.” At a time when the live music industry is still trying to innovate, R#onbus too will go live and promote his music in a different way. “I’m rehearsing with a dancer – Madhyama Segal – and thinking of a music video for ‘Creases.’ I’m also planning a digital tour in July, a theatrical performance,” Sircar says.
The artist has also partnered with a non-profit organization named Tender Heart, which educates and supports impoverished and underprivileged children in and around Bhatola village, Faridabad. At Rs 300, those purchasing the EP will be donating directly to Tender Heart, and a screenshot of the receipt will get them the EP, an unpublished essay by Sircar and a print file from his photography series Portraits of the Spaces We Occupy.
Catch the B:ENT on Record listening session for R#onbus’ new EP on Skillbox on June 21st, 5 pm onwards. Event details here. Listen to the EP below and stream on more platforms here.
