Oxygen on the Rocks (OOTR) is a desi rock band based out of Bengaluru. The band’s new song ‘Manchala’ was released recently by Hungama Artist Aloud. Shot in a small village in West Bengal, the song brings about childhood nostalgia through cycles, balloons and clear skies and has garnered praise across social media for its nostalgic look and feel.
This five-member band group, with all their members in their late 30s, is a popular name in the pub scene in Bengaluru and has done gigs across the country. Apart from gigs, the musicians are also involved in creating music for theatre, movies and independent artists.
Founder and lead vocalist Souvik Chakraborty and lead guitarist and music producer Anish Chakraborty, both originally based out of Kolkata, realised their shared love for music and re-grouped their band which was originally called ‘Oxygen’ in Kolkata, and with Arnav Sengupta (bass), G Bo aka Dipayan (drums) and German aka Prosenjit (percussion) launched OOTR in Bengaluru.
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To know more about song Manchala, we got in a candid conversation with the band members. Below is what had to express.
1. Can you tell us about your new song door Manchala What is it about?
Manchala is a story, depicting the Journey of the Impatient Soul that resides within all of us!
It is a tale of the exploration of the “New” & a narration of the experiences
while one makes the Life Journey on the road untrodden!!
On the music lines, the song is Country Folk project with predominant use of the percussions, and with a bit of the western touch. The use of harmonica was the icing on the cake.
The music video is themed back to the late ’80s and the ’90s when taking a ride on a bullock cart, flying balloons, catching up the folk singers, were central to lifestyle.
A young man who has achieved something in his life, makes a trip back to his village, visits places, meets old folks & revives his childhood memories.
Since, the makers wanted to present a very natural screenplay in the music video, all characters in the video; be it the Baul Singers, the young boys to the old friends of the protagonist, were casted from amongst the villagers. Interestingly, the cycle was customised to give it an old look!
There is an uncanny suspense throughout the Video & the idea was to wait and watch what the protagonist does at the end. He hands over the balloon to a kid, which symbolises ‘dream’! to the next generation of dreamers.
However, the interpretation of the story is very subjective. The idea was to leave it to the audience to relate to perceive in their own way!
2. Can you tell us more about yourselves and your music?
Oxygen On The Rocks | OOTR is Hindi (Desi) Rock band from Bangalore, with the members primarily hailing from Kolkata, namely:
Souvik – The Lead vocalist
Anish – Lead Guitarist
G Bo (Dipayan) – Drummer
German (Prosenjit) – Percussionist
Arnav – Bass Guitarist
The Band creates Rock music with subtle undertones or sometimes prominent fusion of Indian folk and other ‘desi’ sounds; that helped the Team to conclude & arrive at the term ‘Desi Rock’. The band also focuses highly on their lyrics and believes in delivering a message to the society through their music.
Till date OOTR has performed at over 400 gigs across the nation in cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Trivandram, Pune, Kolkata, Jaipur, Pushkar, Ooty, Mysore and of course Bangalore.
3. How did music happen to you?
Since, all the members are born & bought up in Kolkata (the Cultural Capital), Music has been a part & parcel of our Lives. It’s a tradition in a typical ‘Bong’ (Bengali) family, where some or the other member is into Music.
There was always an influence of Music on each Band member from their respective families. The plethora has carried on over ages! It was just a matter of time, when we all decided to respond to our callings are OOTR was born.
For us music is Life, music is everything! Music has always been food for thought, soul for life, passion for living, medium for our inner voice and the glue to our friendship.
4. Challenges that you’ll have faced along the journey
Challenges have been a part & parcel of all our Lives. However, the word speaks for itself, as we start defining our Journey as Musicians! The very challenge was to overcome the self-doubts & “Decide” to pursue Music full-time! Then next big challenge was to overcome the objections & discouragements from the society.
It has never been easy for anyone who wants to swim something against the flow of the water! But, here is the thought; once we have plunged-in we cannot turn back!
As independent music Band, our biggest challenge is to “Get Heard”!!
As far as we go back in time, Cinema or Movies have been the primary source of Music in our country. We are competing with an established Industry, who have all resources easily available. Also, we are trying to cater-to & be heard by an audience who has been influenced by Movie Music for generations.
As an independent music Band, we Create music on your own, produce them, release them & market them; with bare minimum resource available! Getting the same audience to listen & like our kind of music is not at all easy! There are very Media houses, which come forward to publish & market Independent Music. We are thankful to Hungama Artist Aloud to for the continuous support extended to us since the beginning of our journey!
We know that this story goes a long way but OOTR has pledged to keep this fight on to bring the independent music scene at par with mainstream music.
5. Future plans and collaborations
The Band has multiple plans and collaborations in pipeline 2022, including new singles, Corporate Theme Music & movie projects at hand. Three words, ‘exciting times ahead’!
Let’s, keep some bit as suspense and let time unfold the story!!’
