Mumbai Guitarist Pozy Dhar Readies Debut Album

When veteran jazz singer Joe Alvares heard Mumbai-based guitarist Niranjan Dhar aka Pozy’s solo album The Future of Yesterday, he declared his praise through a scenario. Dhar recounts with a laugh, “He [Joe] said if you want to take a girl out on a date, make her sit in the car, play her this, and once you’re done tell her, ”˜I wrote it’ and if she says no, then there’s something wrong with her.”

Guitarist Pozy Dhar’s solo album is titled ‘The Future of Yesterday’. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

We catch Dhar in Bengaluru when’s he ready to play a set with comedian/actor Vir Das’s band Alien Chutney, something that’s completely unrelated to his solo work. The guitarist for alt rock band Zero, and later Tough on Tobacco, Pozy says his real inspiration to write solo material came after performing with producer and singer Clinton Cerejo live at NH7 Weekender in Pune in 2012. Says Pozy, “That was my first non-haha-hee-hee band. I saw how Clinton wanted to get other people to bring his vision to life. How he’d tell someone to do this. How you communicate and production ”“ that was a big influence on me.”

The eight-track album started coming together in 2012, but Pozy only had his first song ”“ “High” by summer of 2013, when he got singer Shefali Alvares on board. Dhar says, “Shefali sent me a random message. I told her I had this song I was working on. I sang it without any words. She replied saying she loved it and said ”˜Let’s do this’. I asked her to write the lyrics, though. I edited it and by summer of 2013, I had one song ”“ but I knew how the album would sound.” Placed firmly in the pop space with singer-songwriter sensibilities, Dhar lists everyone from hard rock band Shinedown and The Beach Boys’ to Brian Wilson and Maroon 5 as major influences. Dhar adds, however, “It’s very easy listening and not heavy at all. It’s not a guitarist’s album. It’s more of a songwriter’s album. Ironically, I don’t have many solos on the album. Two songs have solos ”“ that’s about it. There’s a lot of guitar work, but it’s more or less from a songwriter’s perspective.”

In addition to Alvares, Pozy roped in drummer Gino Banks, keyboardist Jarvis Menezes and bassist Adi Mistry to play on the album, all of whom completed recording their parts within hours. So Pozy admits any delay in putting the album out can be chalked down to himself. He says, “I had a bit of a tragedy in the middle. I had recorded drums and I had recorded bass. I had recorded half my guitars. But one day, my Mac refused to start. I thought, ”˜Oh shit, this is unsalvageable.’ But luckily I could save the data but it took a while and I lost my momentum.”

He’s now gearing up to release the first single “Mystery,” with the rest of the album set to release on OKListen by the end of September. Says Pozy of the sprightly pop-rock song, “It’s just about how you have to be your own strongest anchor. For me, it’s personally been that I have to be my strongest supporter. But it never gets very serious. It’s never preachy or anything.”

Listen to “Mystery”