Hear Vellore Band Candies and Chaos Turn Up on ‘Bison Glory’

The Vellore Institute of Technology (V.I.T.) in Tamil Nadu has, like many colleges in India, a music club that often becomes a breeding ground for bands to take shape. Where rock veterans such as Parikrama have been invited more than once, Vellore has also been the starting place for newer metal bands such as Trash Talk.

Earlier this week, we discovered Candies and Chaos, an intriguingly-named funk/prog rock band from V.I.T. who came together in 2018. Guitarist Sarthak Dilawari says, “When I joined college I was extremely new to the music circuit in South (India). I hail from Noida and it was a completely different experience coming over here.” He met drummer Mehul Chattopadhyay, vocalist Vedit Raisinghani and bassist Utkarsh Singh.

Dilawari says they’re all “budding engineers,” but the band is still a priority, which led them to not just win college competitions in Bengaluru and Chennai but also record their debut song “Bison Glory.” The guitarist adds, “You can call us a funk hard-rock/experimental prog band.” The charged-up debut is playful, fills the spaces with a few quirks (electronic elements and a chorus in an odd-time signature) and brings together cascading rhythms. Funk riffs aside, Dilawari launches into a searing guitar solo to wrap things up.

Candies and Chaos note that even though Chennai rock trio Skrat are a formative influence, the song’s name is a complete coincidence and they didn’t really intend to reference their 2017 album Bison. “Bison Glory” – recorded, mixed and mastered by fellow Vellore resident and Trash Talk frontman Arshaq Malik – is in fact about drawing strength from the symbol of a bison.

The band has more songs almost ready to go for an EP. Head over to their YouTube channel for a taste of their live shows.