Listen: Sonepat Rock Band Rivers & Satellites’ Debut Single “Nowhere Boy”

Prateek and Mohit Masta from Rivers and Satellites

It’s been nearly six years since the Masta brothers Prateek and Mohit sat down with a microphone and a tape recorder to jam on an acoustic guitar. Based out of the town of Sonepat in the state of Haryana, the brothers’ band Rivers and Satellites have finally released their first song “Nowhere Boy.”

Influenced by Nineties grunge and rock greats such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Oasis, guitarist-vocalist Prateek Masta says the only reason it took so long to release material was due to lack of recording equipment and refining their writing process, scrapping old songs and starting over every time they discovered a new artist. Says Prateek about writing songs, “It’s very intuitive. We don’t write songs for the sake of it, and to be in a band because it’s cool or something.” The band, completed by bassist Parvik Sharma, played it safe with “Nowhere Boy,” opting to record at Soundspeaks Studio in New Delhi’s Connaught Place and roping in Altanta-based producer E. Smitty to master the track. Says Prateek, “We’ve bought a condenser mic and my brother has learnt how to use audio interfaces to mix and master, though.”

While Rivers and Satellites have at least another 25 songs in demo form, they want to concentrate on getting gigs to promote the one song they’ve released so far. Says Prateek, “We spent one and a half years trying to get gigs, but there were only a few places who gave us a chance. Even then, I remember we played at a café in Delhi and no one was there. Sometimes, people don’t give a shit.” Masta still believes that gigs are “the best way to let people know who you are.”

Although they aren’t too far out from the capital, Prateek considers Rivers and Satellites to be a small-town band. The guitarist hopes that categorization remains confined to just geography and not their music. Says Prateek, “It depends on how people perceive it [our music]. I hope they decide on what we are based on the music and not superficially, like where we live.”

Listen to Rivers and Satellites ”“ “Nowhere Boy” here