A quiver full of passion

While most bands confine themselves to one particular genre, ‘Turkush’, a Delhi-based band, prefers experimenting with different forms of music. The multi-genre band, which comprises Vibhor Hasijia on keyboard, Sidaque Singh Dadiala on drums, Parth Sharma on vocals, Bhavya Mongia on guitar, Harsh Vishnoi on bass and Gulpinder Pal Singh on percussions, likes to shake it up as they go.

The band was formed in the fall of 2011 by Vibhor and Sidaque. They studied in the same school and had similar thoughts on music, although the tracks they listened to were different.

“We had a passion for music and mutual interests, so a few friends got together to form the band,” says Vibhor. The line-up has changed over the years and their music has evolved along the way, but they haven’t lost their deep-seated love for music.

With this shift in line-up, they also decided to switch to singing in Hindi (although they still have a few English numbers). “We started of as a rock and metal band but soon we realised that they are niche genres and don’t have a wide audience. We shifted to Hindi because that’s what people want to listen to, irrespective of the genre,” says Vibhor.

He adds that it takes a lot to survive in the music industry – mainly hard work and passion. And that in Delhi, there isn’t a lot of encouragement for musicians, so they make do. “It is considered more as a hobby than a career. Hence, one needs to capitalise on all the opportunities and create them if necessary.” 

All the band members have their own taste in music, which makes it a beautiful amalgamation. While Sidaque has roots from bands like ‘Metallica’, Harsh takes from bands like ‘Opeth’ and combines his training in Indian classical music with his love for rock and metal.

This gives his sounds an ambient feel. Gulpinder is well-versed in Sufi music and Indian classical, and Parth, as the vocalist, is easily able to manipulate his voice to suit a song. Vibhor says their USP is that they can combine various genres to impress the audience.

“When we are performing at clubs, we sing mostly our own compositions, but when we are at a wedding or a corporate event, we stick to a playlist of well-known songs that people like to sing along to.” From popular Bollywood numbers to English tunes, Sufi melodies and their own composition, ‘Turkush’ is a malleable band.

Their lyrics are altogether different as Vibhor believes in learning from everything around him. “It’s not that I take something from my environment but I learn. On a daily basis we all learn and that helps us with our music.” They sing about politicals, the nation, love and people.

On the band’s name, Vibhor says, “‘Turkush’ means ‘quiver’ and we consider the band as one, while the members are the arrows.” Just as the quiver was a matter of pride for warriors of days gone by, the bands music is a matter of pride for the budding musicians.