Xperience Sessions With Indie Artist Tathagata Bhowmik
RJ Rohit caught up with Tathagata Bhowmik who is an independent singer and songwriter based out of Kolkata. He is a big fan of the Beatles and Oasis, who gets his inspiration from the absurd events in life. He writes songs about frivolity, paranoia, love, and extra-terrestrial invasions.
Since 2013, Tathagata has been writing original songs. From 2013 to 2016, he was a member of the Kolkata-based folk/pop duo ‘The Do’s and Don’ts,’ with whom he released three singles. The duo performed at The Moto Stage at NH7 Weekender Kolkata 2015 and opened for bands like Neel and the Lightbulbs, Bemanan, Bee and the Buskers at Jamsteady, Kolkata.
He lived in Bombay from 2016 to 2019, focusing on solo albums, writing new music, performing at open mics to test new material, and searching for a more evolved sound. He returned to Kolkata in 2019 to form the rock and roll/pop band ‘T at the Circus!’ They have opened for Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Fox in the Garden at TopCat CCU. Tathagata has performed as a solo artist in many venues throughout the city. His debut EP, ‘Love in the Time of Getting Stoned,’ was released in 2019.
Tathagata Bhowmik’s latest EP ‘Heartbreak is a Social Construct’ is dedicated to Indian independent musicians who compose their own music. Nabhoneil Samajdar, Shiladitya Sarkar, Debam Data, Swarnava Sengupta and others from different parts of the country are collaborators.
The project has been in the works for around three years and features three tracks, titled Monday Morning 3 AM, Two Drunken Astronauts and the latest, Song for Dot. They are based on rock & roll, with touches of electronica, pop, orchestra, and ambient lo-fi thrown in for good measure.
The songs were written in 2016, while he was frequently performing throughout the city. His personal experiences are reflected in the music. There is also, however, a universal message and emotions at play. He says that he has attempted to keep the thoughts relatable because we all go through emotional turmoil at some point in our lives. The songs express deeply ingrained human feelings in a straightforward manner.
To keep the curiosity quotient high, he attempts to make the song titles as catchy as possible. Along with the conventional guitar, drums, and piano, the arrangements feature a wide range of orchestral instruments such as horns, trumpets, violin, cello, and jazz piano. Song for Dot, features an electronic piano piece, while the second, Monday Morning at 3 AM, concludes with a jazz coda that is intentionally fragmented from the rest of the song. It gives the song a whole different personality. Two Drunken Astronauts, the final song, is strongly harmonised and has a spacey vibe to it.
RJ Rohit had a chat with Indie artist Tathagata Bhowmik about his new single ‘Song for Dot’. Check out the video below!
— Silviya. Y
