With a new EP around the corner and the music score for a web series, Staccato is back and how. We last spoke to band on their lockdown musical experiment Freshly Brewed which saw the eight-member band from Chennai transcending boundaries of genre and language. But a lot has been in the works since then. And what better time than now to get all the deets from members — Gowtham Bharadwaj (vocals), Niranjana Ramanan (vocals), RH Vikram (keys), Shallu Varun (bass), Abhinandan R (guitars), Sandip Ramanan (drums), S Sayee Rakshith (violin) and Saurabh Joshi (percussion) — about what’s been going on behind the scenes with their first concert of the year, happening tonight. Founding member RH Vikram chats with us:
We’re excited for your show tonight. But first, tell us, what has been brewing, post Freshly Brewed, in the past year?
Post Freshly Brewed, we sat down to write some new material. And we’ve been taking Freshly Brewed to all lengths of the country. Literally all lengths. We even performed a Freshly Brewed concert Live at Kashmir and in Kanyakumari.
Any film projects, a new album perhaps?
We’ve written a set of love songs and have been approached by an indie film team to use them in their film in additional to our existing songs. We’ll be hitting the studio to record it very soon, and will release an EP later in the year.
When we last spoke to you, there was also a mention of composing for a web series...
Yes! We’ve composed music for an Amazon Prime web series called Kumari Shrimathi starring Nithya Menon. I have scored music solo for films such as Rangoon, Pandigai and also the Telugu film Middle Class Melodies. But we worked on this project as a whole, which was so much fun!
Your YouTube channel has garnered thousands of views for your medleys themed celebrating SPB, ARR and the like. Is there a new 'deadly medley' in the pipeline?
The response to our medleys is surreal. Of course, we do have some more, which is already a part of our live repertoire. It will be out on YouTube very soon!
You originally met while in school. How has your sound evolved over time?
We were individual minds in school with exploding ideas in music intending to do something big and unique in this industry and ever since we have been travelling together with the same purpose. Every day is a new learning for us. We are persistent, determined and consistently experimenting with our music, wanting to give you all a harmonious experience of emotions, each and every time you hear us.
With big names touring India like Martin Garrix, John Legend and The Backstreet Boys... we’re curious — what kind of concerts do you like to watch together?
We attended the NH7 festival in Pune last year which was a banger. We’re really looking forward to catch Backstreet Boys live. And hopefully sometime soon, Coldplay!
What are you most stoked about in 2023?
Our new EP which will be out later this year, and we also have a slew of international concerts and web series projects lined up.
What do you have planned for folks with your upcoming show?
It’s going to be all out about Staccato Originals. In association with talent agency Quriosity, this is going to be the first time where we will perform our new material from the up and coming album. And of course we will also be performing popular tracks from our debut album, Elay. There’s something in it for longtime fans and for those who will be hearing us for the first time. See you all there!
On March 17 at Barracuda Brew, 7.30 pm. Tickets on insider.in