Change makes way for innovative ideas

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In 1990, two young musicians embarked on a journey. They set up a rock band, a novelty at that time and named it ‘Indian Ocean’. The band became hugely popular. Indian Ocean has managed to survive for more than two decades and has handled many ups and downs including the demise of its co-founder and vocalist Asheem Chakravarty in 2009.

Now the band is all set to witness the exit of another co-founder and guitarist, Susmit Sen. “I’ve actually been telling the band that we should make way for younger musicians. I formed Indian Ocean 23 years ago and I felt it’s time to move on to different things,” Susmit has reportedly said. While breaking away of members of a band is not a new phenomenon, does the exit of a core member from the band make room for fresh talent and reinvention of the band?
New band members almost always bring newer ideas and an energy to the band, but all members at a particular point are important and crucial feels Palash Sen, founder Euphoria. “The only reason to be together is happiness and if happiness is gone, it is better to move on. Irritant band members should be fired but that can only happen if the power lies with one like say in teams or companies. Too many power centres spoil the situation. We have faced numerous line-up changes but I was always the sole proprietor and the only so called core member, intellectually (as in copyrights), so line up changes never affected Euphoria except perhaps emotionally,” he adds.
“A new person joining a band definitely infuses his or her flavour into it because every player is different and has a different style. Changing of band members is inevitable in the long run and it happens mostly due to disagreements or ego clashes. At times it does happen mutually as well or when a musician realises that he has developed other musical preferences and aspirations over a period of time, which he cannot fulfill in his present band. It is natural and better for all because in order to give your best, one needs to be 100 tuned in and committed to the band and its sound,” explains Subir Malik, co-founder and keyboard player, Parikrama, another rock and roll band from the city. The band has seen quite a few changes over its more than two decades of existence and yet managed to hold its ground.
The exit of a core member can at times leads to identity crisis. “The person who started the band or has been associated with it since the beginning knows its geography and chemistry inside out, both on and off stage. It takes years to develop that finetuning in terms of ‘sound of band’. I feel adding a new member is directly proportional to re-building the band and starting from the scratch. We all know what it takes to recreate that aura and charm again!” says Ayush Gupta, drummer and founder member, Astitva.