JOIN USThe members of ‘The Space Behind The Yellow Room’ are upfront and honest. Caught in the whirlwind of ‘upcoming’ bands, where most of them remain unsung after a while and a few become household names. ‘The Space Behind The Yellow Room’ easily falls in the category of the latter.
Their current line-up includes Shoumik on vocals, Devadsheesh and Nihar on guitars and Eshaan on bass guitar. Friends in college, they wanted to start something ‘different’. It’s not just them — their funky apparel, hippie hairstyle and the name itself grab eyeballs. Shoumik says, “Space behind the Yellow Room means the space behind the sun. We wanted a name as ‘philosophical’ as this.” Their music tilts towards the instrumentals rather than the vocals. And when asked how they expect their audience to make sense of their songs, Shoumik says, “Nothing. We don’t expect the audience to even remember our songs. We make music only because we enjoy it.”
Their tunes consist of various strains but carry a hint of the original; so much so that their sonic is a bubbling concoction which doesn’t seem pastiche. Cut to the chase are Shoumik’s words. “We are not scared of music as a living. We are never scared of anything, in fact. We don’t expect to make music for a living because then we would be under the label of “full time band”.
We will have to advertise and the scene can get messed up then.” Hailing from Kolkata, Shoumik enjoys the City’s music scene. “The City is very cosmopolitan and this is interesting to analyse in the ‘music context’. Bands that come up every month always have something interesting to offer. The scene in Bengaluru is also very close-knit.” It’s difficult to understand how the band always manages to produce fresh music when they are from different places but Shoumik clarifies that they make the best use of virtual recordings. And like all emerging bands when they started, ‘The Space Behind The Yellow Room’ did face financial challenges.
“Sometimes, cheques bounce and organisers don’t reissue it even after a few months. People think that just because bands are emerging, they can take artistes for granted. They feel that they can exploit artistes but without artistes, they wouldn’t have a nice evening. It’s disappointing sometimes.”
The band is now in Singapore for a music festival. “We are going to meet artistes from all over the world and are interested in networking our way through,” adds Shoumik.