Listen: Ahmedabad’s Random Gyan Go From Folk to Jazz to Pop on Debut EP
‘Just Some’ is a culmination of influences ranging from singer-songwriter to prog metal in four sublime tracks
Ahmedabad rock band Random Gyan. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
A lot of bands will tell you about how they were inspired by catchall themes like “life” but few artists make randomness look as finessed as Random Gyan on their debut EP Just Some. For a band that’s been honing their sound for a couple of years, bassist-keyboardist Raag Sethi says there are four different stories tying the EP together in the “spirit of random, spontaneous experiences.”
Random Gyan comprises Sethi, vocalist-guitarist Anubhav Srivastav, violinist Protyay Chakraborty, saxophonist Harmish Joshi and drummer Shivang Kapadia. Although Srivastav and Chakraborty wrote all the songs, Just Some features a refreshing sound that’s jazz, rock, experimental and swing all rolled into one. Sethi says about the band’s influences, “Harmish and I come from the slightly jazzy/experimental background, Anubhav has a predilection towards singer-songwriter and Protyay loves prog metal, so the mindspace had to consciously be addressed, we played on the strengths of each other rather than debating about stylistic choices.”
Being in Ahmedabad, of course, means that the band has to make their own recognition. While Sethi is also part of another up-and-coming jazz band, Time Wise, he mentions that Time Wise have played at the Ahmedabad Jazz & Blues Festival (organized by Sethi since 2013), while Random Gyan performed at Into the Void Festival in Rann of Kutch. The band is still very aware of their opportunities, though. Sethi says, “There just isn’t much incentive for musicians to spend money and produce a record because what pays in Ahmedabad is the commercial scene.”
Recorded entirely at Sethi’s Compass Box Studios and mixed and mastered by San Diego-based Mike Butler, Just Some is the start of what Sethi feels is the next wave of Ahmedabad independent music. As Random Gyan finds its footing, the bassist-producer’s studio is eager to put out more releases. “There’s a prog metal project, a folk project, a jazz project through Time Wise and many more already lined up. I think it’s safe to say, that you’ll be hearing a lot more indie original music coming from Ahmedabad this year,” Sethi says.
