Bengali rock band Lakkhichhara drops new musical project, Padabi

Debaditya: In the 31 years that we have been together as a band, at various points in time, the soundscape has changed. Our fundamental was that we were predominantly a hard rock band, which we still play. But over a period of time, for various reasons, we have had to mellow our sound a bit. This particular song is a hard rock song. Today we don’t bring out full –length albums but have shifted to the EP format and this accompanying music video, directed by Saki and Esha, brings back our original sound.

Gaurab: This EP is taken from our landmark album Ek Doshok Por which was released in 2023. We have all poured our individual personalities into the song. Padabi has a classic metal vibe to it. One interesting fact about this song is that Bodhi had made it for a different project, but when we heard it, we liked it and adopted it to our soundscape.

Bodhisatwa: This EP has a perfect placement because it weaves a story through the song. The lyrics speak about capitalist exploitation.

Anyrvan: This is probably the only album by Lakkhichhara which doesn’t have a love song. This song has different aspects of society. We talk about change, storm, and the calmness after the storm. Why Padabi? Earlier, we used to be identified by our Padabi, which was a reflection of the kind of work we used to do. This is a tribute to the 80s rock scene.

Sanket: Many of our earlier videos were made with documented footage. After a very long time, we are launching a properly shot music video.

Rajiv: This album and video has also brought all of us members closer, and our aggression to produce music has been re-kindled with further enthusiasm.

Debaditya: The definition of relevance has changed. Earlier Durga Puja albums were a massive draw. But today we have to fight every day to stay relevant because there is a huge bombarding of content every day. For an artiste it is difficult to penetrate the mind of the people that is oversaturated with content. In this scenario, creating a new song with a video is a big challenge. We try to bring at least 2-3 songs every month. Also, creating a video isn’t an issue today. Even if four people chat at home, a nice video can be made from the mobile camera. So the struggle is real, and it will increase in the days to come with more artistes, creator apps, etc. coming up.

Rajiv:  Our idea today is to revisit and re-release our own famous songs for today’s audience.

Gaurab: Earlier, we used to create music. Today, the term has changed to creating content. In an age of doom scrolling, it is a challenge to figure out what catches one’s eye. Also, it’s exciting to play in front of people who probably don’t know our songs well. That’s like winning over a new audience.

Debaditya: A large chunk of our audience is from the Indian Diaspora. Their idea is to remain connected with their identity, and our songs are a way to do so.

Bodhisatwa: Our idea was to accumulate individual soundscape and bring them to a merging point; more like Lakkhichhara now.

Sanket: Even though we have changed genres, we have kept the sound such that in 2-3 seconds of listening to the song, one will be able to identify it.

Gaurab: We are not trying to sound like anyone. We are ourselves. Staying true to ourselves makes us sound different.  

Gaurab: Yes, we do it. But the audience is growing, and our soundscape travels very circular among new audience.

Sanket: We maintain the band sound, but definitely incorporate feedback within its perimeters.

Padabi is available for listening on all audio-streaming platforms.

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