“You watch us, you hear us, you experience Kapow,” says Prakhar Srivastava, the drummer of Kapow, a Delhi-based comic rock band, that is coming to town with its quirky music and electric energy. This band is known as the ‘trouble makers’ and for their tributes to Queen.
When we asked why specifically Queen, Mayank Mittal, the lead vocalist tells us, “We really resonate with their energy. Our birthday also coincides with Freddie Mercury (the lead vocalist of Queen), so we thought let's do only one tribute to them. We did it back in 2019 with all the vests, the moustache, and every thing. We kept the songs but added our own fun elements and musical arrangements. It caught on, and we eventually became known as the ‘Queen tribute band’.” To this, Prakhar adds, “Queen was great as a band, but Freddie never thought about what people said about his music. We of course value the views of our audience, but as a band, we are very free, we do what we want to do, just the way we want to.”
The band adds their touch to the songs with musicality and great chemistry, which is something they are particularly proud of. “We try to make it like a chit-chat session,” says Mayank.
While talking about their originals, Saira Ahmed, the bassist, says, “No genre is off limits for us, Mayank grew up listening to Kishore Kumar, we listen to indie, so everything comes out together. Nothing is off limits.”
The band, founded in 2019 by a bunch of just-out-of-college passion ate individuals, is set to perform in Hyderabad for the third time. Mayank, Prakhar, Saira, Vinod Arora (guitarist), Ritic Joel Victoria (keyboardist) all with very different family backgrounds, converged at their passion for music. They say that off-stage, they work exactly like a corporate company, scheduling meetings, making Excel sheets, budgeting, etc. As India’s first comic rock band, Mayank explains what comic rock is, “On the sur face, it is digestible, fun, and gives a quirky vibe. But as songwriters, we address issues and tell meaningful stories, but package them in a very fun and quirky way. We want to cater to all audiences. If we make it too deep and slow, we lose out on the audience who just want to have fun. At some point when they feel like it, they’ll catch on to the lyrics, and the whole song will then feel very different.”
Kapow gives us an example of their recently launched song Scooby Doo Jackie Chan which addresses mental health, but with a quirky touch to it. Their upcoming song Kali Billi addresses superstitions, again, with a quirky touch. Prakhar says, “The only pattern is that we break songwriting rules with every song we make.”
Tickets at INR 499. August 24, 9 pm. At Hard Rock Café, Hitech City.
Story by Ananya Mehta