Contemporary Hindi Indie Rock From Bengaluru: ‘Indi Graffiti’ 

Indi Graffiti is a contemporary Hindi indie rock act from Bengaluru, India. This band brings together an amalgamation of free artistic expression with sincere lyrics and simple yet soulful tunes with the power of rock n roll. This genre of free artistic expression brings about the very origins of the name Indi Graffiti.

Their music is rooted in Indie Rock infused with both Indian (such as Carnatic, Hindustani classical and Sufi) and Western (such as contemporary Jazz, Blues and Pop) musical elements.

Indi Graffiti’s debut album “Tumse Na Ho Payega”, was released to critical acclaim in 2018. Received with favourable reviews in the Indie music scene, their debut album was featured in the top 20 albums of 2018 by A Humming Heart magazine.

“Bengaluru-based Hindi rock band Indi Graffiti offer a ticket to a roller-coaster sonic experience” – Rolling Stones India.

2007 – 2010: The Origin – Bharat, Zabil (ex-guitarist) and Glenn the founding members of Indi Graffiti: During the later half of 2007, Bharat and Zabil were part of another semi-professional band, while Bharat and Glenn, were colleagues and were working towards forming a corporate rock band in the company they worked for. The idea of starting Indi Graffiti sprung up in one of the conversations between Bharat and Zabil while they were on their way back from practice. Glenn, being a heavy metal aficionado was slightly reluctant of the idea but one listen of the then title track “Arth” was enough to get him on-board. It all started here, not as Indi Graffiti but as something else that would go on to become and define Indi Graffiti

2010: Finding Pearl: The band meets Pearl Mukadam on bass. Pearl was almost instantly onboard. She remained a permanent member, only to part ways from the band in 2016.

2011: Zabil’s departure: Indi Graffiti has had its fair share of surprises along its journey. In 2011, founding member and guitarist, Zabil, decided to part ways from Indi Graffiti.

2011 to 2013: The 3-piece era: it was hard to find a replacement for a founding member, after numerous auditions, Indi Graffiti decided to re-invent themselves as a three-piece setup. Though this setup worked well for the band and lasted for almost two successful years, the need for a second guitarist was always profound.

2013: In comes Akhilesh: Bharat reaches out to Akhilesh Kumar and discusses the idea of the second guitarist in Indi Graffiti. Fortunately for Indi Graffiti, Akhilesh had just come out of other musical commitments he had and was interested. It didn’t take long before the four-piece setup was announced.

2014-2016: Hiatus: Everyone in the band decide to take a break. Bharat travelled to Germany and UK for work, Glenn dedicated his time to his family and cultivated a new hobby in RC flying, Pearl dedicated herself to her career and family and Akhilesh crafted and cultivated many successful musical projects in these years

2016: Reformation, Pearl’s departure and Akshat’s induction: May 2016, a message on the bands dormant FB page invokes everyone’s interest in restarting Indi Graffiti. However, Pearl decides to opt out. Bharat, Glenn and Akhilesh are now on a hunt for a bassist. One evening after Jam, Akhilesh recalls seeing a talented bassist play for a band in a competition which he was judging. He has unconfirmed information that this bassist has parted ways from his earlier commitments and is looking for like-minded musicians to continue his zeal. Akshat gets a call from Akhilesh, who invites Akshat for a Jam session with Indi Graffiti. A wet Wednesday evening jam session seals the deal for Akshat and Indi Graffiti – not to forget, Akhilesh’s word that helped seal the deal – “Dude, he is in the market let’s get him before someone else does!!!”

2019: Mario and Deepak to the rescue Glenn and Akshat part ways with Indi Graffiti. We welcome two very talented Musicians from the city – Deepak on Drums and Mario on Bass and the combination is magical, again!

The current members in this Band are

Vox and Guitars: Bharat

Bass and Backing: Mario Stevens

Guitars and Backing: Akhilesh

Drums & Percussion: Deepak

Crew:
Varun: Live Sound
Aravind: Promotions, Creatives