The name of the band does not really hit you as something even mildly related to music. How did the name Grey Shack come up? “It was one fateful night,” laughs Vikram Vivekanand. “When we started off singing, we had a band competition just one day and our band did not have a name. And somehow these two random words popped up and we stuck to it. Grey Shack is all about a bunch of comics who enjoy music,” he adds.
Kick-start
The brainchild of Vikram Vivekanand, Rohan Sen and Tomojit, Grey Shack was formed in July 2007. Calling their kind of music an eclectic mix of Rock N’ Roll, Grunge and Funk, the band makes obvious their non-conformity by not sticking to a particular genre. In sync with the new independent music movement, the band also does not let genre dictate what they write. “We are not any fancy band who has to decide and plan before playing. We are a straight up Rock N Roll band, with Hard Blues,” Vikram says. Their current line-up include Vikram Vivekanand on the lead guitar, vocalist Rohan Sen, Vinay Ramakrishnan on drums and Josh Mark Raj on the bass, taking over from Madhav Ravindranath temporarily.
Step outside
Their debut album ‘Step Outside’, released just about a month ago is surely creating all the limelight for them. “After we found a new line up, production and mixing happened quickly. By May 2012 we had recorded all the songs and in June and July, we were busy mixing and mastering the songs,” Vikram says.
Earlier, the band had released a single called Gonzo on Sound Cloud.
Remembering their time as a new band, Vikram shares, “When we started, we used to only play at college festivals. But, now there are many places where people enjoy live music. It’s great to see the scene evolving right now.”
But the music scene now is all the more motivating. “People are also enjoying this kind of music, apart from Bollywood music or film music. With the new legal act by the parliament, musicians will be paid royalty, besides having creative and legal rights. That would be great, as it will help musicians tap into the independent music market,” he says.
What next?
The band is now working on playing as many gigs as possible to get their music out there to as many people as possible. “We just want to play as much as possible, interact with a our audience and get our names across every venue,” says Vikram. He further adds that the band is also aiming to make it to the billboard of every music festival in the country.
The band is currently enjoying their title ‘Big Fish’ for the month of September, bestowed on them by Bengaluru-based radio station, My Opus Radio. “This is such a great honour for us as they will play all our songs everyday, for the whole month. I am very excited,” he shared.
Hyderabadi connect
The band has played over a couple of times before in the city and says, “We love it!”
Shares Vikram, “The audience base in Hyderabad is growing and it has been really good in the last half decade. It is always good to be here and play for the people. The music taste here for this kind of music has been growing.”
Details: www.facebook.com/greyshack
Grey Shack will take to the stage at Hard Rock Cafe, Banjara Hills, at 9 pm.
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