Singer-Songwriter Aanchal Bordoloi on Finding Community in Indian Indie and Future Material

On the new version of Bengaluru electronic-pop duo Indie Inconvenience’s dreamy song “Overtime,” we hear Aanchal Bordoloi offer a haunting croon alongside suitably subtle layers by producer Aditya Meher.

Informed by country and folk legends like Bob Dylan at first, Bordoloi is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Assam who shifted to Bengaluru for studies in 2018. Her upcoming single “Void,” is an eight-minute dive into existential crises, produced by Jitesh Jadwani (from synth duo Droolfox). “The lyrics have a vivid description of what I see on the streets of Koramangala when I come back from my college to my P.G. [paying guest accommodation]. Jitesh brought a country vibe to it, in a Bob Dylan-esque direction,” Bordoloi says.

While Indie Inconvenience material is a work in progress, Bordoloi has also been performing in the city; going from open mics to house concerts as well as bigger stages like food and music festival Zomaland in January 2020. All along the way, her love for independent Indian music has been steadfast. She took vocal training from singer-songwriter Mahesh Raghunandan and says it expanded her listening tastes to R&B, neo-soul and jazz. “My main genres are still country and folk-rock,” she says.

While attending a house concert in Bengaluru, she found Vasu Dixit’s music moving and found a connect, which has now led to a collaboration in the works. She says about the folk-rock artist and frontman of Swarathma, “I didn’t even know who he was, I had no idea about his music. I just went up to him and I was crying because his music had affected me so much even though I hadn’t understood a word.” A chance encounter with Dixit at a mall (with vocalist-composer Bindhumalini, his wife) led to them becoming acquainted with her music. “He followed me on Instagram and then he texted me out of the blue one day to say he wanted to work with me. So I went to his studio and we’ve done some scratch recordings of maybe five songs. We’re just working on the production aspect at the moment,” Bordoloi says.

The artist also found encouragement when she covered songs by other independent artists, including Raghav Meattle, Rounak Maiti, Prateek Kuhad and Ditty. Bordoloi says, “This was how I realized that people do recognize indie music. To me, it’s also a way of sharing their music.” Although she’s among several singer-songwriters blooming and becoming part of online communities during the pandemic, Bordoloi had established an offline connection with the likes of Mahesh, Dixit and even Jadwani. The latter came via music instrument brand and platform Kadence, who hosted open mics every Tuesday. “It’s a great community,” Bordoloi adds. Presently back in Bengaluru after spending much time back home in Jorhat, Bordoloi plans to get back to recording and to gigging.

Listen to “Overtime (Stripped)” below.