'We don't want to box ourselves'

Groovy beats

Four youngsters  — Aditya Ashwath, Ashwin Alexander, Anirudh Ravi and Himanshu Arora — believed that music has no boundaries and shouldn’t be restricted by rules. Thus was born ‘IntheNow’, an indie rock and pop band in the city. In a candid chat with Tini Sara Anien, the four of them narrate their musical journey so far.

How did the four of you get together?

Aditya: Ashwin, Himanshu and I were a part of another band initially. I started jamming with Anirudh a year ago and we realised that the music he wrote was similar to what I did and what we all liked as a group. There were no restrictions on the music we made. It was like a petri dish for experimenting with everything. Thus, happened the foursome!

Your music can be defined as...

Ashwin: We define our music as indie rock and pop; all of us come from classic rock ‘n’ roll backgrounds. We formed this band because we wanted to experiment with all forms of music. Our inspirations have all written a wide array of music which is groovy. Groove-centric music is important for us; we like it to be that way as we like seeing people bobbing their heads and grooving to our music.

Artistes who inspire you...

Anirudh: Our inspirations include ‘Dave Matthews Band’, ‘Foo Fighters’, John Mayer and Indian bands like ‘Mad Orange Fireworks’ who have been influential for our music. Just like our influences, we don’t really have subjects to our music. This makes it more interesting. We do not really explore music revolving around a special day; rather we write about mundane things from everyday life.

Some of the compositions the band plays...

Anirudh: We only play our own compositions. We do not do covers at all. We have 10 self-compositions which are spread across topics like growing up, the awkwardness one experiences while growing up, uncertainties and experiences on travels. Our compositions include ‘Falling Out Of Line’, ‘ Jungleman’, ‘Within Me’, ‘Rain’, ‘Full Circle’ and ‘Blue Eye’, which are some of our highlights that always draw immense
response.

The tale behind the name...
Aditya: (Smiles) We were looking for a name before a gig and we just agreed on ‘InTheNow’. The name suggests what we work on  — we write about the present, the current moment. We don’t want to box ourselves. ‘In the now’ can include what is in the past, what is in the present and what can be taken ahead to the future.

A typical jamming session...
Aditya: Our rehearsals
always make things better. It is a pleasant mix of craziness and passion. If some things aren’t going our way, it is the perfect place to be at. When we jam, we write our music during the last 45 minutes.

A memorable show...

Ashwin: A followup event held after ‘The Broken Roads Tour’ at Indigo Live Music Bar will remain one of our favourites. Apart from us, there were other bands who had invited people from different walks of life to attend the event. It was a very well-curated event with a great crowd, which is the best a band can ask for. The audience was energetic and hung on to our music. It was very encouraging.

What’s next?
Himanshu: We see ourselves exploring many interesting venues across the city and the country. We have been lucky to have performed at BFlat and blueFROG among
others. We will also be cutting an album soon.