Meet Spud In The Box’s New Drummer Joshua Singh - Rolling Stone India

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Meet Spud In The Box’s New Drummer Joshua Singh

The 18-year-old multi-instrumentalist plans to play the ukelele alongside carrying drumming duties with the Mumbai band

By Megha Mahindru   |VideosJuly 24, 2013

Mumbai six-member band Spud In The Box have been in limbo [read busy with exams] since early May when drummer Vivaan Kapoor announced his departure from the two-year-old band. In the meantime, the members have been playing odd gigs as collaborators with artists such as Siddharth Basrur. Last Sunday, they returned to gigging, playing a set at St Gregorios High School’s festival, Odyssey 2013, with their newest recruit, drummer Joshua Singh. The 18-year-old Singh recently returned from Chennai’s Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music after having completed a guitar course. Says guitarist Siddharth Talwar of Singh, when we meet the band at a jam session at Sion’s That Studio, “With the first gig itself [with Singh] we started feeling like a band.”  

Singh, who has been focusing on mastering the guitar for the last two years, says that he will continue to practise both the drums and the guitar. Says Singh, “I wouldn’t say I’m a drummer or a guitarist, but I play both so it’s an advantage for me as well as the band. I’ve played the drums for so long that I’m comfortable with the instrument. So when I chose the guitar, it opened me up to a different space of music altogether… like rhythm and harmony fit so well now.  Whenever we take break, I practise my guitar, so I’m still playing both instruments.” 

At their upcoming performance at BOMB Thursdays on August 1st, Singh plans to bring his game A to the show. “I’ve already forced them to get me to play guitars on every acoustic set and Ankit (Dayal, vocalist) wants me to play the ukelele [alongwith drums] for the next gig,” says Singh.

Spud in the Box, The Lightyears Explode, Jeepers Creepers and Paralights perform at BOMB Thursdays on August 1st, 2013 at Kino 108, Mumbai. Entry Rs 200. Event details here.

Courtesy: Rolling Stone India

http://rollingstoneindia.com/meet-spud-in-the-boxs-new-drummer-joshua-singh/

'There's nothing else we'd rather be doing' - Hindustan Times

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Article in Text Format

There's nothing else we'd rather be doing'

Nirmika Singh, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, September 09, 2013

In less than two years of its formation, city band Spud In The Box has established itself as one of the most promising acts in Mumbai’s independent music circuit. The band came together when Jai Hind College students Ankit Dayal (vocals, guitar) and Rohan Rajadhyaksha (vocals, keyboard) decided to take their acoustic act to the next level. Soon, other members joined. The band’s current line-up includes Hartej Sawhney and Siddharth Talwar (guitars), Joshua Singh (drums) and Zubin Bhathena (bass).

Since 2011, they’ve achieved things that most upcoming bands dream of: playing at a big music festival (last year they performed at NH7 Weekender), sharing stage with an international artiste (they opened for Norah Jones in March), releasing original music (they launched their EP, Attention Please, earlier this year) and clinching award nominations (GIMA 2013). In this interview, Dayal talks about why, despite academic commitments, music matters more to them.

What courses are your band members pursuing?
Hartej Sawhney is in his final year of BA in History at Jai Hind College. Rohan is also in his third year. Our youngest and newest member, Joshua is in FYBCom.

When you guys started out, did you foresee this kind of success?
Honestly, our first few gigs in 2011 were very sudden and we didn’t really think about how the crowd would respond; we were just trying to put together a decent show. Of course, the response over the last year from the public as well as established musicians has been simply overwhelming; we’re grateful for that. But we know we’ve got a long way to go to. So, right now, we’re working as hard as we can.

What projects are you working on currently?
We just finished a campaign with Cadbury in August, which was great fun. Ever since we got back to gigging in the last week of July, we’ve played at roughly 12 gigs across Mumbai, Pune, Karjat and Delhi. So even though no official tour has happened, we're looking to gig extensively for the rest of the year. Talks of a North East tour are also on.

How do you guys juggle music and academics?
Through supreme organisational skills and time turners! Kidding! We’re sloppy and lazy. We knew quite early on that we wanted to take this band seriously, and it didn’t take much for us to start prioritising it over our academics (much to the displeasure of teachers and some parents). But when we started getting recognition and the scale of our gigs started growing, our parents and teachers became supportive too. For us, this is our future career. We’re still struggling with scheduling gigs around exams and college events, but the stress levels are minimal since we’re clear on our priorities. This is what we do, and there’s nothing else we’d rather be doing.

Any message to college bands who want to perform and make music independently?
There will be struggle and, of course, endless funny looks from relatives who will keep asking you what your career plans are.

Courtesy - Hindustan Times

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Music/There-s-nothing-else-we-d-rather-be-doing/Article1-1119540.aspx?htse0022

Cadbury Celebrations - Songs For Sisters

 

You get on my nerves

For 6 Years

Piece Of Paper

Well Maybe I Just Got Lucky

You've always been a guiding light

I Can't Get Rid Of You

I may be away this time around

Spuds step out of the box to create magic in the Mumbai rock scene

Spuds step out of the box to create magic in the Mumbai rock scene   

   

	The new Mumbai rock act Spud In The Box or some reason, every time I spoke to someone about new Mumbai rock act Spud In The Box in the last few months, Mumford & Sons kept coming up as a reference point. Perhaps it's because the band's bio inaccurately describes them as 'folk-rock', or because some of their songs make heavy use of Mumford & Sons-esque vocal harmonies, but apart from those two things, I couldn't make out, having seen them live for the first time last week ("This is the biggest crowd we've played to," they announced at the Blue Frog), a distinct connection between the two. Regardless of their supposed influences though, this sextet needs to be on your iPod and your must-see-live list. Spud In The Box was formed in 2011 when Jai Hind college mates Ankit Dayal and Rohan Rajadhyaksha decided to get together and start playing acoustic sets, with Dayal on guitar and Rajadhyaksha on keys. They then added a bunch of musicians to bring some muscle to their near-twee pop-rock sound. That muscle took the shape of Vivaan Kapoor on drums, Zubin Bathena on bass and the dual guitar attack of Hartej Sawhney and Siddharth Talwar. In the last year, they've produced a solid, near hour-long set of original material that betrays a confidence and maturity well beyond their years, and well ahead of a lot of their peers. Spud's MO is pretty straight-forward – strong melodies power a euphoric pop-rock pastiche that's perfect for summer music festivals. Their arena-ready catalogue is chock full with sing-alongs and tongue-in-cheek references to stuff they're not supposed to be doing given they're all well below legal drinking age. At the Blue Frog gig, their energy on stage was infectious, and didn't once seem like they were trying too hard to connect with the audience, something that a lot of their peers regularly struggle with. The gig was reminiscent of mid-to-late noughties sets by now Bombay rock veterans Something Relevant whose jam band, pop-rock sound regularly attracted south Mumbai undergrads in droves whenever they played in the city. { The gig was reminiscent of mid-to-late noughties sets by now Bombay rock veterans Something Relevant whose jam band, pop-rock sound regularly attracted south Mumbai undergrads in droves whenever they played in the city
	oo young to be affected by Vasant Dhoble's recent crackdown on 'rave parties', Spud In The Box took full advantage of the change in programming at the Frog (many venues in Mumbai have reshuffled their programming to incorporate more live bands and less DJ sets since the SS man's recent series of raids) to play one of the tightest and most enjoyable sets I've seen a band as young play in a long time. Dayal and Rajadhyaksha nail unfaltering falsettos song after song, complementing each other's vocal styles particularly well (a recent video on YouTube of the two of them performing an acoustic version of their song Good Way To Die highlights this partnership particularly well). Kapoor is one of the most assured (and I overheard some people at the gig describe him as "excitable") young drummers in the Bombay scene, providing much of the punch and all of the backbone of the band's stage act. Sure the band still needs some polish and their musical excesses comprise prolonged solo interludes, and perhaps even one more guitarist than necessary for their sound. But their boldness is hard to ignore and easily overcomes their imperfections, which I'm sure will be ironed out as they play more gigs and hone their sound. Now, the only thing they need to ensure is not breaking up once they graduate and that old Bombay rock band-wrecker – "guitarist went to LA to study music" – rears its ugly head. Till then, I encourage you to find them on whatever social media you prefer and catch them live in your city whenever they show up. Courtesy: The Sunday Guardian - http://www.sunday-guardian.com/artbeat/spuds-step-out-of-the-box-to-create-magic-in-the-mumbai-rock-scene

GQ Playlist: Spud In The Box

The pitch-perfect harmonies and stellar live presence of Spud InThe Box mean all their gigs are a guaranteed good time. They’ve got top billing at national music festivals, been part of high-profile collaborations and have thousands of YouTube hits. Yet they’ve called their debut EP Attention Please – as if they weren’t getting enough already.
Arrived on the music scene: November 2011
Their music: Easy-on-the-ears, alternative pop-rock
The band: Rohan Rajadhyaksha (vocalist and keyboard) Ankit Dayal (vocals and guitar), Vivaan Kapoor (drums), Hartej Sawhney (guitar), Siddharth Talwar (guitar) and Zubin Bhathena (bass).
Ages:19 – 20 (one of them even had to miss a gig because of board exams)
Their first EP: January 2013, inaugurated by Rahul Ram from Indian Ocean
Youtube hits:  “Good way to die” and “Jokes aside”
Big wins: Headlined at the NH7 Weekender in Pune last year; shared the stage with Indie music veterans Uday Benegal and Mahesh Tinaikar (Indus Creed) and Carnatic fusion percussionist Vivek Rajagopalan
Things on their wish list: An Acoustic piano, 18-inch Sabian AAZ Aero Crash cymbals and a hamster named Jesus
SITB shares their favourite playlist with GQ:

Courtesy :GQ India -http://www.gqindia.com/content/gq-playlist-spud-box

Attention Please Review by RJS Online

Review Album Reviews

Spud in the Box - Attention Please 27 Mar 2013 AKHIL SOOD A cheesy, nasal introduction to album opener 'Lens Life' suddenly metamorphoses into a spectacularly bright bass-and-drum interplay. This eruption pretty much captures the pulse of the record in a nutshell, as Spud in the Box (just 'Spud' from hereon in) constantly play around with conventional structural and generic definitions of alternative/pop-rock music to create a really quite impressive debut record, titled, aptly, Attention Please. A resilient and intricate rhythm section and some crafty chops on the guitars and keys form a fluid backbone to the dual-vocal hook-filled delivery that essentially drives Spud forward. Of course, before I get too effusive, I should warn readers that Spud, just like Anakin Skywalker or something and the Mahabharata's Karna, have a terrible dark side. It's a side they showcase only on the last bit of the closing track, 'More than Once', as they resort to almost Bollywood-esque and vey typically Hindi-rock vocals toward the end. They sound a lot like Jal, to be honest. And one Jal in the world is more than enough. But I'm essentially just nitpicking; they're young, it's a debut album, and blah-blah. The band has actually delivered four very persuasive and crackerjack songs in this short EP to signal their arrival in indie consciousness – each song shuttles around gracefully through myriad moods and tenderly sculpted emotions, held together through the harmony-heavy vocals. In fact, it becomes difficult to pigeonhole the music into any specific category of manufactured rock music – the maturity of the compositions takes precedence over everything else on the record. Most surprisingly, despite using the keys as just a regular instrument in the mix and not as a coolio facilitator of sounds – I really hate the conventional usage of keys because of that pale and feeble timbre it brings – these guys still manage to make them sound more than bearable through a sensitive and clever approach: The introduction to 'Train of Thought', with its dreamy flourish of notes on the keyboard, is one such example. Like most young bands, Spud too betray some of their influences a little too eagerly – the double-vocal harmonies faintly reminiscent of Alice in Chains at times, as also the guitars, while the primary guitar hook on 'Train of Thought' is essentially an unfortunate Ctrl C – Ctrl V of Bends/OK Computer Radiohead, but these are fairly minor grievances on a record that offers a great deal, and the fact that it's a debut makes it all the more exciting, as one would expect these guys to further and more deeply explore territories that they've touched upon in Attention Please. And the shuffling, classically-tinged piano conclusion to the record is just the cherry on top. Attention Please is available for preview here and purchase here Courtesy: RSJ Online -http://www.rsjonline.com/reviewdetail.php?review_id=70

Artists To Watch Out For

Five bands made it to our list; more coming up in a second list later this year

By Lalitha Suhasini   | News & Updates January 15, 2013

When ROLLING STONE India kicked off the series in its launch issue in 2008, we found that Delhi seemed to be the seat of new talent in the country; Kolkata witnessed a rise of The Supersonics, a band that would soon make an indelible mark on the growing alternative music scene; Bengaluru saw a rush of electronica acts; Chennai had just taken an about turn from its Eighties rock fixation to a less self conscious, more original approach from Kishore Krishna, who had just kicked off Adam & The Fish Eyed Poets  and Mumbai had little to show.
In four years, both the number of bands and the size of their audiences have impressively swelled. While the country hosted more festivals in 2012 than it ever has in the past decade, we’re still a little far from not featuring the same bands on the bill at most festivals. This year, bands from Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru had strong contenders for our list, spoiling us for choice and giving us a compelling reason to run the series not once, but twice.

SPUD IN THE BOX
The Mumbai pop rockers plan to release their debut EP this month

Spud In The Box. Photo: Hashim Badani. Art: Sahej Rahal

 WHO: Within just a year of getting together in 2011, the six-member band has endeared itself to both audiences and artists such as Indus Creed’s Uday Benegal and Mahesh Tinaikar. “We were really indecisive about the band,” says Rohan Rajadhyaksha, one of the vocalists and keyboardist of Spud In The Box that was formed when its members – students of Jai Hind college – wanted to compete at Kaleidoscope, the annual fest of Mumbai’s Sophia’s College. Alongwith Rajadhyaksha, Spud In The Box includes vocalist Ankit Dayal, guitarists Hartej Sawhney and Siddharth Takwar, Vivaan Kapoor on drums and bassist Zubin Bhatena.
BIG BREAK: Soon after winning Kaleidoscope, the band was invited to perform at Live From The Console, the fortnightly series of gigs at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios. “We had just two songs, so we were really surprised that we got called for that gig,” says guitarist Sawhney. Adds Dayal, “The response for that was really good and it was the first time that we played with this six-piece line-up.”
SOUND: Buoyant pop, clean, sweet harmonies and uncomplicated lyrics get Spud In The Box going. You’ll hear Dave Matthews and John Mayer in there, but for a band that’s just been around for just a year, Spud In The Box can hold their own
ON THE CARDS: Producer KJ Singh recently stepped in to produce the band’s four-track debut EP Attention Please that is slated to be launched this month. “He asked us pertinent questions about the future of the band and where we saw ourselves 10 years down the line,” says Rajadhyaksha of Singh, who is also the proud parent of their guitarist Hartej, “That’s when we decided we should put in everything to make this work now, so that later we don’t have any regrets.”
SPIN THIS: “Lens Life,” which also on their EP, is quotation marked catchy and remarkably mature when they tell you that “Happiness, believe me, it’s just a state of mind.” The kids are definitely all right.

Spud In The Box releases their debut EP Attention Please at Blue Frog, Mumbai tonight. Entry Free 

Courtesy: Rolling Stone India -http://rollingstoneindia.com/artists-to-watch-out-for/