Indian Ocean

Photograph by Shiv Ahuja

I recall a delightful afternoon we spent at Indian Ocean’s Karol Bagh jam pad once we’d wrapped up recording our debut album under the watchful eyes of producer Amit Kilam. It was there, amidst loud guffaws and cups of chai that the enormity of the peaks that they’ve scaled became clear. From a time when there would be one live show a year to today, when they’re firmly entrenched in the indie consciousness as the band, Indian Ocean has, rather innocuously, blazed a trail and created a template for countless bands like us to draw inspiration from. Indeed, whenever we’re faced with conflict or self-doubt, we almost naturally think aloud, “What would Indian Ocean have done?” And more often than not, we find the answer in the long list of not-so-FAQs that bands have to deal with.

We could go on about the raw understated energy of their live act, or the sensitive composition and arrangement of songs that speak of everything from rivers to riots ”“ but that would be doing disservice to the real thing: unshakeable belief in each other as human beings, and in the music they play. We speak for our generation of bands when we say that the scene as we know it today is indebted to Indian Ocean in so many ways.

By Jishnu Dasgupta of Swarathma