Mumbai Musicians Ishaan Krishna and Karun Kannampilly Form New Band Dino Siren

Mumbai musicians Karun Kannampilly (drummer for rockers The Koniac Net and singer-songwriter Raghav Meattle) and alt-rockers The Hoodwink Circle and metallers Bhayanak Maut’s bassist Ishaan Krishna have been buddies since their school days. However, even though the pair played together in alt-rockers Modern Mafia, they’ve always wanted a separate outlet for their music. They’ve gone and done just that by forming a new indie rock duo called Dino Siren and have released their refreshing debut single “Motion” today.

Way before video calls became the norm, the pair began sharing ideas through that medium and using Google sheets to note down things they love about music due to the simple fact that they each reside at different ends of the city. “Ishaan lives in Colaba and I live in Andheri and we are both too lazy to travel to each other’s houses,” says Kannampilly. He adds, “I put down some lyrics and a basic melody. Ishaan put down the harmony and we sent production elements back and forth till we agreed on them.”

The new track – which also features vocalists Azamaan Hoyvoy and Mallika Barot – is a fun, upbeat song, perfect for a late afternoon slot at a music festival to sway to. “Motion” includes a shuffle groove by Dino Siren’s versatile rhythm section while Hoyvoy and Barot blend their voices to create earworm harmonies. Although sonically the track exudes happiness and positivity, the lyrical theme is a bit melancholic and revolves around the band’s mascot Dino working in fast food and trying to suppress a panic attack. Kannampilly says, “He realizes his goals are slipping away because he’s just going through the motions of his day to day life and ignoring them in the process. The song is his internal monolog giving him (unhelpful) suggestions and rationalizations to try to make him ignore what he’s really feeling.”

Dino Siren recorded their parts at each of their own homes and it was mixed and mastered by Kannampilly’s The Koniac Net bandmate, guitarist Jason D’Souza. During the lockdown, the Dino Siren crew plus bassist Adil Kurwa (of pop-rock band The Colour Compound, instrumental prog-rockers Letterz and The Koniac Net) put out a groovy cover of American rock band The Strokes’ “Taken for a Fool.” Kannampilly – who runs music education platform Drum House – has also been busy putting together the virtual edition of Drum Camp this year. He says. “We really miss live gigs but are very fortunate to have work right now.” Although Dino Siren aren’t working on any particular deadlines for their music, they do plan on releasing one more single later this year. “The whole point of this is to have fun and explore different creative avenues,” says Kannampilly.

Stream “Motion” on Spotify below and click here to listen to it on other platforms.