The Koniac Net Plot North East Tour

The Koniac Net

If you’ve followed the Early Sets at Blue Frog, Mumbai, closely, you would be familiar with The Koniac Net. The Mumbai band are known for deceptively upbeat tunes considering the morbid theme that frontman David Abraham chose for their debut album. One Last Monsoon is about the human race being wiped out in a flood. Is this in line with the Mayan prophecy? “I don’t believe in the Mayan prophecy, but I believe in my own prophecy. It’s my belief that we’ve overstayed past our limit on the planet,” says Abraham. One Last Monsoon is a bittersweet album reminiscent of sounds from indie bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, Two Door Cinema Club, Nada Surf and even a bit of the mellow side of alt-metal band Deftones. Abraham named the album after his old band in New York, who played three gigs in Manhattan, one of them at the famed CBGB club just one month before it closed in October 2006. “We got a decent crowd of about 50 people, but they were all new to our music, so it was good,” says Abraham.

It was on July 4th this year that The Koniac Net played their first ever show at Blue Frog, performing an early set with six members including Abraham ”“ guitarists Ishaan Krishna (from indie rock band Modern Mafia) and Jason D’Souza (producer and former drummer for psychedelic progressive rock band Rosemary), bassist Adil Kurwa (from alt rockers The Colour Compound), drummer Karun Kannampilly (from Modern Mafia) and backing vocalist Eden Shyodhi. The band’s current lineup remains the same with the exception of backing vocalist Shyodhi, who is now busy with solo performances. “There’s no bad blood or anything, and I may even get her to sing on our second album, but I’m not sure if she would be available to play live,” says Abraham.

Abraham has been writing songs for more than a decade, starting in 2000. It was only eight months ago that he decided to release an album [One Last Monsoon released in February]. “I have written a hell of a lot of songs and in 2003, I released a few songs on an album, but I only sent it out to my family and friends to hear. I never really thought of it commercially.”

With One Last Monsoon, Abraham promoted the album heavily with songs such as “This Time Around,” “Once, I Ruled By Myself,” and “[It’s Alright] Farewell” making their way on to foreign radio stations in Germany, UK, Switzerland and the US. “I wanted to promote the album internationally first and then in India. I’m brand new to marketing so it was scary at first,” says Abraham. “A lot of these radio station guys asked me to come down and play in their countries, but the band needs a sponsor to tour, and unfortunately there aren’t many willing to gamble on a new artist.” Abraham adds that he is currently plotting a north east India tour.

For now, The Koniac Net are thrilled to have won a place as winners of Converse The Original Band Hunt in Mumbai, and they now play in the finals on December 16th. For their 40-minute set will include songs such as “Maggie (A Song For Brad),” and “Divine Submersion,” but with a temporary change in the lineup. Fellow alt rock band The Colour Compound’s guitarist Bradley Tellis will be filling in for Ishaan Krishna, who is away playing a gig in Bengaluru. “Aside from winning, we just want to play to get more fans,” says Abraham.

The Koniac Net perform at Converse The Original Band Hunt’s Grand Finale on December 16th, 2012 at Bandra Amphitheater along with Ganesh Talkies, Jekyll & Hyde and Thikscinned. Veteran rock band Parikrama will headline the show. Entry free. Event details here.

Watch The Koniac Net’s teaser video for their performance at Converse The Original Band Hunt’s Grand Finale here