Kolkata's popular hard rock band The Overtime Project is coming up with a new EP

If you make it a point to show up for live gigs in the city every now and then, you’re probably familiar with the sound of The Overtime Project. The rock band, which started out in 2015, is one of the best rock outfits around, and performs steadily at live music jams across the city. Originally conceptualised as an AC/DC cover band, The Overtime Project has made some incredible original music in the past few years. In fact, the one-take live recording of their track Super Star at Someplace Else is one of the best finds on YouTube. The fivemember band speaks for a strong allegiance to old-school rock, and besides some stellar retro covers, they’re also working on a new EP. This April, they’re set to ‘Rock you like a Hurricane’ at the Hard Rock Cafe, with an exciting gig. “Our vocalist Sourav (Das) is really good with AC/DC, and we had primarily discussed The Overtime Project as a cover band.

But over the years, we’ve made a lot of original music. Our singles Wild Child and Super Star are online, and an EP should be out in about three months,” the band’s manager Soumya Mukhopadhyay tells us. The band currently consists of Sourav Das (vocals), Partha Chakraborty and Rajat Shubhra Mondal (guitars), Shambo Roy Choudhury (guitars), Roni Das (bass) and Driptiman Som (drums). Soumya also reveals that when the band first took off, it was quite literally an overtime project. “All our band members were professionally occupied in various jobs when the band was formed. Our vocalist worked in IT, our bassist was a physics teacher, some of our other members were focused on other bands. In fact, till date, most of our members have day jobs in various fields, to earn a living. The band continues as a passion, since we often get the feedback that we are being ‘too loud and in your face’, even for a rock band,” Soumya says with a laugh.

He also got candid about how sustaining an English rock band in the city, and making a living out of it, can be difficult, despite belting out original music. “It’s hard to make English rock ’n’ roll music and survive, to be honest. But despite a relatively lukewarm response, I’ve got to say that the people who do show up find our music to be great. We still need more people to show up. There are very few bands who pursue this genre, and some of them are too keyboard-oriented, or have Southern rock influences,” Soumya explains. He also tells us that while the band initially wanted the Hard Rock Cafe of April 4th to be an AC/DC tribute, it will now also feature some iconic numbers from the biggest powerhouse bands in rock history.

“The Hard Rock Cafe gig will be a two-hour set, and will feature tracks by Led Zeppelin, Skid Row (our vocalist is also great with Skid Row covers), Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, and some other bands,” Soumya adds. We ask if there’s any contemporary Indian band that inspired The Overtime Project. “We really appreciate what the Bengaluru-based band Girish and The Chronicles are doing, and how they have sustained their music over the years. Those guys are an inspiration for us,” says Soumya.

Catch The Overtime Project live on April 4, 8.30 pm onwards, at Hard Rock Cafe, Park Street.