David Britto
Oct 30, 2020
Mumbai prog rockers Yugaant. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Back in 2018, vocalist Ashish Naskar planted the seeds to form a band that blended Indian classical music as well as Western influences. After going through a number of lineup changes, Naskar finally found the right one to complete Mumbai prog-rockers Yugaant. Apart from the vocalist, the group includes guitarist Bhushan Chavan, lyricist and beatboxer Sukhpreet Singh Gill, bassist Umang Gor, drummer Meet Acharya and keyboardist-producer Siddharth Shenoy. “It seems through all the member shifts we finally arrived at our better selves, as a group, as a band,” says Chavan. Recently they released their latest gnarly single “Zidd.”
The new track is heavily inspired by some of the band’s favorites which include classic rock and psychedelia artists such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Jefferson Airplane as well as prog elements from Opeth and Steven Wilson. “We twisted the sounds to fit a modern-day production-based outfit while still maintaining the sweet vintage memorabilia that the playing of a mellotron key would bring to the head,” says Shenoy.
Lyrically, Gill toyed with the idea of upliftment when someone has hit rock bottom. He says, “I wanted to keep a third person’s outlook onto the main character, who would guide and replenish their darkness with wisdom and motivation.” The outcome shaped into a funk-prog soaring offering filled with distorted guitar parts, heavy drums, a tight groove, showboating synth parts and of course Naskar’s steely vocals. Yugaant recorded the song at Kharghar’s MusoMagic Studios while Shenoy mixed and mastered the song.
Before the pandemic, the band tells us that they were mostly only focused on playing live gigs. It was only because of the lockdown they decided to write and record their music. Shenoy says, “I could safely say it took us one step back, to only jump five steps ahead.” Yugaant is planning on releasing another single in December before their debut EP Faasle comes out next year. “Considering Yugaant to be an exploding eggshell of never-ending artistic direction, I could say expect a lot,” says Shenoy.
Stream “Zidd” below
