Music that’s two heavy

Saptarshi Das

Saptarshi Das and Roktim Bhattacharjya are two friends who, musically speaking, found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place a decade ago when they met each other while studying at a college in Assam. On one hand, they had peers who were into soft acoustic music, and on the other, they had friends listening to songs that were loud enough to wake the neighbours up. But the duo's musical preferences existed somewhere in the middle. Das came from a pop-funk and punk-rock background, listening to bands like Green Day and My Chemical Romance while growing up in Shillong. Bhattacharjya, meanwhile, was more into grunge and alternative rock, fed on a diet of Creed, Alice in Chains and Nirvana. So, they decided to join forces to make music that's heavy, yet accessible. "We realised early on that we could write songs together," Das tells us.

Cut to early 2020. Das is now based in Bengaluru and Bhattacharjya in Sydney. They start mulling the idea of forming a band long-distance, but as had been the case since the very start, they struggle to find a drummer who matches their wavelength. Das thus takes it upon himself to programme the instrument because they realise that they won't be able to get the show on the road if they keep waiting for the right person. That was the genesis of Blind Sun Drift, the name that the duo has given their musical outfit, under which they have just launched their debut album, Human Shoeman.

Roktim Bhattacharjya

Listening to it, you realise immediately the soundscape that the two wanted to inhabit back when they met in college. The six-track record definitely isn't the ideal soundtrack for a romantic candle-lit dinner. But it isn't so aggressive that if you still insist on playing it, your paramour will call it quits. Das hits the nail on the head when he says, "You can call us an alternative band that carries a metal attitude and plays punk rock music, and which also does rap sometimes."

We couldn't have summed up their sound better, and the two 29-year-olds are certain that they don't need a third wheel. That's just as well, because their musical collaboration is a classic case of two's company and three is a crowd. It also says a lot about modern-day production techniques. All the bands the two grew up listening to - be it Slayer or Metallica - had at least four members. But here, it's just two college friends and computer software doing the job.

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