For musician Shantanu Pandit, his latest tour is a dream come true. “I’ve been making music for 10 years now, and I’m finally getting to embark on my first real tour. It’s not just any ordinary tour — I’m touring the country in a van, on the road for a month,” he tells us. His album Milk Teeth was released last year and it’s only now that the artiste has been able to take it on a pan-India tour. The eight-city tour comes to Bengaluru on August 17.
What stands out in the 10-track album is Shantanu’s unique vocals and his Bob Dylan-esquesound.Themes in the debut album range from childhood, betrayal and coming of age to mortality and permanence. Songs such as Permanent Food, Aliza Don’t Count On Me and As I Grow are some of the highlights of the offering. Apart from embarking on this tour, Shantanu has also started work on his next project. “I’m excited for the next album. There are about eight new songs that are part of the set list for the tour. Most of them will probably make it to the next album. I wrote a couple of them right before the tour,” he tells us.
The van that Shantanu is travelling in is a bespoke caravan designed by Ahmedabad-based RV rental company Vahn. Named Roller, the van has everything from a bed to a kitchenette. Going around the country in a tour van seems right out of the life of any rock star and Shantanu is making the most of it. “We went kayaking in Baroda, stopped at farms in Ahmedabad, and have planned interesting stops en route Goa, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. I had never been to Baroda before and had only passed through Ahmedabad, so there are lots of firsts for me. I’ve been to the rest of the cities though, but travelling by road is always a new experience,” he says.
Rs 499. August 17, 8 pm. At The Courtyard, Shanti Nagar