The Mix
SHIV AHUJA
A
t the Ziro Festival
of Music in Arunachal
Pradesh last year, one
of the freshest sounds on stage
came from Bengaluru-based
Gauley Bhai. It was their first
big-stage show, at one of the
country’s best-known desti-
nation music festivals, but the
quartet showed zero jitters,
running through groovy Ne-
pali-language songs.
Formed in 2017, Gauley
Bhai comprises vocalist-violinist
Veecheet Dhakal, his brother
Anudwatt on bass (who run pro-
duction house Firiri Films to-
gether in Bengaluru), guitarist
Siddhant Mani Chettri (also
part of R&B/soul rock bandMojo Hand) and drummer Joe
Panicker (one half of au-
dio-visual electronic duo Aerate
Sound). By the end of 2017, the
band had already uploaded an
early version of their cascading
track “Nepali Ko Rela,” featuring
clockwork drumming from Pan-
icker, smooth guitar lines from
Chettri and Veecheet punctu-
ating his vocals with violin. It is
the centerpiece on their debut
full-length album, Joro.
The band says in a state-
ment, “Gauley Bhai talks about
love and the love lost. We sing
about life and death in the
most unlikely of settings. We
talk about anything that has an
impact on us as Indians fromdifferent parts of the country
living in a city (Bengaluru)
together.”
But even if you don’t under-
stand the lyrics, there’s an ec-
centric mix that draws listeners
in on the 10-track Joro, which
translates to “fever.” Closer to
completion, the band turned to
crowdfunding platform
Wishberry to raise over
`2.40 lakh for the album. From
the easy-going opening track
“Thupari Udi” (accentuated by
poignant violin segments) to the
choppy “Simrayo,” Gauley Bhai
employ seemingly tribal folk
rhythms transcribed to their
instruments, digging into each
groovy pattern.The band says their song
structures are rooted “in
Indian styles and our folk
cultures” and this explains
why Joro clocks in at just over
an hour. The flittering guitar
lines on the title track, for
example, recall African guitar
work from Malian musician
Ali Farka Toure. The band
states that “Joro” was the most
challenging to translate from
stage jams to studio track.
Panicker says, “It follows a very
traditional sense of rhythm in
its roots with a very up-tempo
vibe yet in the studio we felt
the need to slow down.”
Joro features spoken word
intros, but varies its pace, get-ting into ethnic-funk on “Gh-
amandi,” simple, nostalgic folk
on “Talla Gaonko Pallo Kulo”
and then almost hip-hop like
beats and clap-along sections
on “Mo Kolai Diu.” The album
closes with “Morau,” perhaps
a signature blend of the in-
fectious jam rock sound that’s
also a live staple, featuring
multiple earthy vocal harmo-
nies and hooks.
With the album out on all
platforms now, the band says
they’re currently collaborating
with filmmakers from Bengalu-
ru to make three music videos.
“Hopefully we get to share that
with you guys soon,” Panicker
says. ANURAG TAGAT15 | Rolling Stone | July 2019
Comprising members hailing from Kalimpong and Kozhikode, the quartet explore folk-tinged rhythms
and lyrics about identity, love and memoryBengaluru-Based Gauley Bhai’s Release
Hypnotic Rock Debut LP ‘Joro’