Sounds easy: Experience nostalgia with Pune-based band 'Easy Wanderlings' at NCPA this weekend

Easy Wanderlings on stage at NH7 2019. Pic courtesy/Abhishek Gupta

Celebrated Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez said it best by noting that life is defined not by its experiences, but by how you remember them. For artistes, nostalgia can be a powerful stimulant to the creative process. It takes good artistes to rise and move beyond it. Our first sampling of Easy Wanderlings' music begins with the tinge of sweet nostalgia before discovering the band's experimental repertoire.

Lead guitarist and songwriter Sanyanth Naroth tells us, "We listen to all kinds of music. When we jam, we tend to rub off on each other. In the early years, we had an easy listening kind of sound. Now, we are far more experimental." The experiment has proved successful to say the least. The collective was awarded the Best Band at the Indian Music Diaries award in 2020. They have been recognised as a rising artiste by Spotify's Radar and Apple's UP Next program in 2021. This weekend, they arrive in Mumbai to perform on the NCPA stage alongside Bombay Brass.

Sanyanth Naroth and Pratika Gopinath perform at NH7 Weekender 2017. Pic/Madhurjya Saiki

"Earlier we would amuse ourselves by saying ‘it would be good to perform on a grand stage someday.' Cut to six years later, we are here," Naroth recalls. The eight-member collective - Malay Vadalkar, Nitin Muralikrishna, Abraham Zachariah, Pratika Gopinath, Sharad Rao, Shardul Bapat, Siya Ragade and Sanyanth Naroth - was formed in 2015 as a collaboration between friends. For their early albums, they insisted on being addressed only by the band name. "We wanted our music to be our identity rather than the people behind it. That is the core of our band even now," Naroth explains.

The Mumbai gig will see the band check a list of their popular compositions from Make it my move, Eye for little things, Enjoy it while it lasts as well as the latest, Enemy, and some covers. Their style ranges from Indi-pop and Indie-folk to motown and funk. "The spirit of Easy Wanderlings will always be to capture simple observations, conversations and memories around us," Naroth says.

The band also has an EP release lined up. "We plan to release an EP called Caught in a parade in a few months. We are putting the final touches on it," Naroth reveals. With 11 people taking to the stage this weekend, Naroth promises the concert will be chaotic but fun.

On: June 19; 6.30 pm
At: NCPA Experimental Theatre, Nariman Point
Log on to: in.bookmyshow.com
Cost: Rs 500 onwards