Varied shades of grey

The City’s thriving music scene has given rise to a number of talented bands. ‘Grey Matter’, a City-based band which was formed in 2011, is one such group that has been entertaining the music-lovers of Bengaluru with its peppy tunes. Terming their music as “alternative hard funk”, the members met each other when they were in college.

“We were all studying at Christ University. While the rest of them were in BBM, I was in arts. I was in a different band while they all were part of a band called ‘Two And A Half Men’. During one of the music competitions ‘Darpan’, two other members joined the band while I joined it in 2013,” explains Ashwin Alexander, the drummer.

The current line-up of the band includes Joshua Lloyd David on vocals, Himanshu Arora and Aditya Ashwath on guitars and vocals and Abhishek Bala on bass.

Fans of the show ‘Breaking Bad’, the musicians decided to call themselves ‘Grey Matter’ after the name of the firm owned by the lead character Walter White on the show.

With a dollop of blues, a dash of hard rock and a sprinkle of funk, their music has something for all. “We all come from different musical genres and influences. For instance, I am from a metal background,” exclaims Ashwin. But on the whole, the members consider ‘Black Stone Cherry’, ‘Red Hot Chilli Peppers’, Stevie Ray Vaughan and BB King as their influences. “We basically like alternative rock and grunge bands from the 90s,” says Ashwin.  

Some of the band’s most memorable moments have been opening for ‘All the Fat Children’ at Hard Rock Cafe and the tenth anniversary show of ‘Junkyard Groove’. They have also played at some of the most popular venues in the City like Bak Bak Bar, Toit, B-Flat, Counter Culture and The Humming Tree.

 “There was a time when live music was banned in the City and musicians used to have a tough time. But thankfully, things are changing now and there are many great venues here that have opened the doors for many bands,” says Ashwin, who wishes to play with the band in all the major Indian metropolitan cities.

The five came up with their first EP recently called ‘Hooked’, which has five tracks, and are also working on some more new music.

“Bringing out an EP is an expensive affair. That’s why despite writing 10 songs, we could choose only five for the album. All of us hold day jobs and spent our hard-earned money on each of the tracks,” he reveals. While Ashwin and Joshua work with Amazon, Aditya works with a start-up. Himanshu is a client service professional and Abhishek is with Ernst & Young.

Despite working in various shifts, they work around their schedules to get together during the weekends to jam. “Sometimes we skip our sleep to just jam together. I guess it’s our love for the stage and music that keeps us going,” sums up Ashwin.