Band Called Nine, India’s first writer-led band, is breaking new ground in the non-film genre, with a unique storytelling-meets-song concept that brings together the traditional craft of “qissagoi” (storytelling) and the pulsating sounds of contemporary Indian music. Bollywood lyricist and author Neelesh Misra as creative director and lyricist of the band, shares the insights on launching his new album ‘Rewind’ with Poonam Ahuja.
Excerpts:
From where does the name of the band come?
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There are varied influences and cultural thought behind the name â€?Band called Nine’ which actually comes from the Indian concept â€?Navras’.
I wanted the name of the band to be universally understood which meant that it should be based either on a number or a colour. The music of the album is very main stream and is not intended for a niche audience. Though the songs are different than bollywood and are meant for masses.
Many singers have come with Independent bands before, this is India’s first writer-led band, How did you come up with the idea of forming the â€?Band Called Nine’?
The writers in the film industry do not play an active role after the creation of songs. Contrary, in the band it is a very collaborative process where all the members including the writer are a part of the entire journey. A band is not like a movie which comes and goes as a one off… I wanted to give my-self some relevance in live performances and the only way I could do and bring innovation in the concept was to introduce storytelling, I have also sung two songs in the album apart from story telling.
Who are the other members of the band?
Leading Bollwood singer Shilpa Rao is the lead vocalist and advertising industry ace Amartya Rahut is the composer, Suraj Jagan is a featuring artist, and Abhishek Nailwal is the male singer.
Through bollywood connections, I knew Shilpa as we had worked together on a Disney project, High School Musical-2 for Shankar Ehsaan Loy.
Tell us about your debut album Rewind?
Rewind is set against the theme of Nostalgia, it’s a love story based in small town and many people will find relevance with their own lives because it includes elements like romance, small town, leaving behind home and aspirations of moving to a big city, which are very universal.
Share your experiences while recording the album?
For about three-four months we lived out of the studios with all live instruments. It was a great learning curve for me as I was working with some brilliant musicians of bollywood films, and for the first time I was present from the scratch of the song to its attribution on stage.
Normally, as a bollywood lyricist I just write to a tune and come in at a much later stage when everything is finalized but here it was different as we were not working to a brief and there was no situation that there were scripts that we had to write to, so it was a great feeling of liberation with a bunch of funny people who put their heart into the making of the album.
Which are your favourite tracks from the album?
The first song of the album â€?Yaadon Ka Idiot Box Mein’ is very hummable, â€?Aangan’ is the best and has beautiful melody as far as my writing is considered, and I also like the ghazal â€?Unka Khayal’ which I have written and composed.
Who has done the music production?
The music production was excellent which is done by Ankur Mukherjee who has also played the guitar in the album, and Aditya Pushkarnath. We had the sarangi, trumpet, live drums, we just did what anybody producing an album would love to do but does not get to do these days.
Is it true that the name of your show â€?Yaadon Ka Idiot Box’ at 92.7 Big FM’s comes from the song of the same name from your album Rewind ? If Yes, How?
Yes, that’s true. I host â€?Yaadon Ka Idiot Box’ on 92.7 Big FM, and earlier on the show I use to play the song â€?Yaadon Ka Idiot Box Mein’ from my album everyday, and fortunately it became hugely popular, so we did live conversations with listeners and we had people from small cities like Quota, Bikaner who were singing along with us and thus the show was better known as Yaadon ka Idiot Box. I have never done Radio before and this is my first show.
What kind of live events has the band performed before?
The band debuted last year at the Kala Ghoda Festival. We have catered to all kinds of audiences from corporate in FICCI Frames to masses in Goa, Kanpur, Lucknow. Thankfully, the concept of storytelling which is unique and new has been received well.
Band Called Nine’ is touring to various cities, tell us about the gigs scheduled in Mumbai and Delhi?
On the 5th of June we are officially launching the album â€?Rewind’ at Blue Frog in Mumbai. The band will be performing live on the songs of album, where I will be telling a story which will be interspersed with songs. Another performance is at Indian Habitat Centre in Delhi on 15th June. We intend to target more of young college audiences and all our performances will be the same everywhere.
Your FB status reads that you are inviting amateur writers for radio storytelling for your show â€?Yaadon ka Idiot Box’ on 92.7 Big FM’s, is it for exploring markets for Radio?
Storytelling is a new genre that my show has been able to create; it is a revival of something that happened 30-40 years ago in a similar form in Aakshwani etc. Through the show I wanted to mentor young writers who don’t get a platform otherwise, to tell stories and get credited and paid. If the stories are good I read the stories on the show and help them make better. It is very exciting as we get a lot of good content. As a writer I know that writers are often short-changed in the entertainment business.
Is your next film under the Yash Raj banner with director Kabir Khan?
Yes, the lyrics of the movie are penned by me and I am also doing the screenplay and dialogue with Kabir. The story is by Aditya Chopra and Pritam is the music director.
Which are the upcoming ventures of the band?
The band will be creating music for films and we are hopeful of getting one sometime soon as composers otherwise we will just focus on live performances. The band is very good with concept songs and we have done a song for NDTV’s initiative â€?Save our Tiger Campaign’, As all the members of the band come from the media background we have been able to react quickly and meet deadlines, but right now our focus would be on live performances and to do films as composers.
Neelesh Misra has been an award-winning journalist, one of the finest Bollywood lyricist and scripts writer, author, radio storyteller and photographer. How has the journey been so far in writing as a profession?
It is a pure privileged that I have been able to work in different media whether it is journalism, script writing, lyrics etc. A lot of people are talented but they don’t get an opportunity and I was lucky to get one. I am happy that I have been able to make a living out of something that I have loved to do throughout my career whether it was journalism or what I am doing now.
