Kolkata based musical ensemble T.R.A.P. transcends beyond all preconceived musical boundaries

The simplest way to define one of Kolkata’s most energetic young bands- T.R.A.P aka The Radical Array Project, is an amalgamation of six different schools of music. A dream conceived by violinist Bhaswar Sen eight years back has seen its own share of ups and downs and has now become one of the most sought after ensembles among youngsters. Known mainly for its instrumental renditions, the six member arrangement does not identify with any particular genre and brings to fore the best of six worlds through a range of Eastern and Western covers alongside some original vocal and instrumental tracks. We caught up with the members Bhaswar Sen, Arijit Paul, Suanjito Dutta, Anupam Pyne, Swapnabha Roy amd Darpa Das on the occasion of their 8^th anniversary to learn more about their vision and future plans.

How does T.R.A.P. separate itself from other ensembles?

We are strong believers of experimentation and like to explore different shades of learning each of us have individually. As far as performance is concerned, we keep things interactive through an audio-visual medium so as to engage the audience as much as we can. Apart from genre, we also celebrate the diversity of our country through language and chart out popular numbers from sixteen different languages so far. For our instrumental section, we take things a notch higher with matching visuals on the LED screen and have also worked on a personalised animated video including famous Satyajit Ray characters for our Ray tribute segment. We take pride in being known as an energy packed arrangement.

T.R.A.P. focuses on both instrumental and vocal segments. Are there any audience biases towards vocals?

It is important to acknowledge a dual perspective of the band and the audience on this topic. Speaking from T.R.A.P.’s perspective, we like to treat vocals as an instrument too. Many of our instrumental renditions include vocals, where otherwise a vocal touch might not have been required. Simultaneously and quite fortunately, some of our instrumental numbers have become so popular that we get requests for particular ones. It is true that the audience connects with vocals more, but we try to treat each of our individual specialities as a musical instrument.

On the occasion of your 8^th anniversary, what would you consider as your survival mantra?

It definitely has to be Bhaswar’s vision primarily, followed by hard work and perseverance. We consider ourselves to be quite average as individuals but together we have the capacity to cross all hurdles. Our manager Soumadip Das too makes sure we stay busy throughout the year and definitely deserves a bow from all of us.

How do you wish to take T.R.A.P. ahead?

We wish to release more originals that put up unique aspects of each of our music backgrounds. Our already released tracks are Manzil, Lamhein, Pyaar Hua and Yakeen, alongside our instrumental EP Obliviate. T.R.A.P’s Bollywood and Beyond videos have garnered millions of views on YouTube, hence we also look forward to releasing a cover each in the coming months up till December. Apart from this, we have launched our official merchandise and website (trapband.in) and will be travelling widely with multiple live shows lined up across the country.