Prog Band Winterchild Plot Gangtok, Kalimpong and Darjeeling Shows This Week  

A common grouse in the Indian independent music space is venues and promoters’ preference for tribute bands and cover acts to draw in crowds over bands playing original music. Bengaluru prog band Winterchild are among those who are, however, steadily walking the line between covers and original music.  

While they’ve been known to perform tribute shows to Finnish rock band Poets of the Fall [POTF] for years now, Winterchild have also been releasing their own music, most recently putting out their EP Endless Dream in 2021. Frontman Avishek Dasgupta has also launched his solo work aided by the band, with the Hindi song “Maula Mera Saath” releasing via Saregama. The band says about the major label release, “The collaboration with such a giant label has given us the opportunity to take our music places and gain visibility on a platform like YouTube, which is usually very challenging to crack for indie artists without any backing.”  

There’s a second release coming up via Saregama in a couple of weeks as well, but before that, Winterchild will head out to Northeast India for a run of four shows between September 16th and September 23rd in Gangtok, Kalimpong and Darjeeling. The band credits their POTF tribute shows as a “big lever in gaining recognition” in different parts of the country. “While we believe POTF is still far from ‘commercial,’ it was a product that helped us build some visibility that was useful when connecting with the tour venues,” the band says in an email interview.  

They were particularly keen on these cities since the band members feel there are “music aficionados attuned to a vibrant culture that is fast disappearing from most metro cities.” The more obvious influence came simply from having contacts in the area. “We had some friends and connections, which helped us initiate conversations with the venues and ultimately put together the itinerary,” the band says.  

For the upcoming Misty Mountain tour, however, they’re moving away from being strictly covers-oriented. There’ll be songs from Endless Dream and they will also debut material from an upcoming Winterchild album, Postcards from a Lonely Place – their first full-length record – while there will also be “highly interesting covers” ranging from KoRn to Killswitch Engage, Megadeth, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple.  

Following these shows, Winterchild intend to take a hiatus from gigs until next year – Postcards from a Lonely Place is being readied for release next year and the band says a “renowned music streaming company” may release its lead single in November.  

Bohemian presents The Misty Mountain Tour ft Winterchild 

September 16th – Gangtok Groove, Gangtok  

September 17th – Gangtok Groove, Gangtok  

September 18th – Roxberry Café, Kalimpong  

September 23rd – The Buzz, Darjeeling