MUMBAI: After representing India at the ABU (Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union) Radio Song Festival 2015, Bangalore-based rock band Peepal Tree is hard at work in the studio on new material, says lead vocalist Sujay Harthi. He added that the new Peepal Tree tracks would be released as singles, with no plans to release an album anytime soon.
“We are currently working on new material, that we will start recording soon,” said Harthi. “Right now, we have a bank of 15 songs, including songs in Hindi and Kannada. Of these, we plan to release four Hindi songs over the next few weeks. We have already released four Kannada songs. There are no plans to release the next batch of Hindi songs any time soon; instead we will play them live. Gauging the audience response, we will deliberate whether or not to release the tracks.”
Harthi also said that in its new material, Peepal Tree, which formed last year, has taken influence from rock, fuck and electronic music. “Every member of Peepal Tree has various musical influences across genres. While I love listening to metal, our guitarist Tony Das likes jazz, our bassist Praveen Biligiri likes funk and our drummer Willy Demoz loves progressive rock,” said Harthi on the band members’ various musical tastes. He revealed that the band’s aim is to create something modern from Indian music.
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Harthi also spoke about his involvement with two other bands, Bhoomi and Second Hand. Harthi has been the lead vocalist of Bangalore-based progressive heavy metal band Bhoomi since 2002. Bhoomi recently worked with Grammy Award winning record producer Neil Kernon on new material. Speaking on that, he said, “The record is recorded, mixed and ready to be released. But, we are just not happy with the way the final product has turned out. We are currently contemplating whether or not to release it altogether.” On Second Hand, Harthi said that that is just a cover rock band which plays only corporate gigs.
Peepal Tree was formed in August 2014, with tracks ‘Chetana’ and ‘Tangi’, going viral and receiving thousands of plays and downloads overnight, after their release on social media. Soon after, Peepal Tree was performing at some of the biggest music festivals in the country, including Bacardi NH7 Weekender and Kingfisher The Great Indian October Fest.
Peepal Tree is next scheduled to perform at the Alliance Française Bangalore, during its celebration of Fête de la Musique – International Music Day held between 20 June and 21 June.
