Indian Ocean (band)

Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean at the Indo German Urban Mela
Indian Ocean at the Indo German Urban Mela
Background information
OriginDelhi, India
GenresJazz fusion, folk
Years active1990–present
MembersNikhil Rao
Amit Kilam
Rahul Ram
Himanshu Joshi
Tuheen Chakravorty
Past membersSusmit Sen
Asheem Chakravarty
Indrajit Dutta
Shaleen Sharma
Anirban Roy
R C Joshi
Sawan Dutta
Websitewww.indianoceanmusic.com

Indian Ocean is an Indian rock band formed in New Delhi in 1990, who are widely recognized as the pioneers of the fusion rock genre in India.[1] Susmit Sen, Asheem Chakravarty, Rahul Ram and Amit Kilam were band members until Chakravarty died on 25 December 2009, after which Tuheen Chakravorty and Himanshu Joshi were officially inducted into the band as successors. After the departure of Susmit Sen in 2013, Rahul Ram is the only founding member who appeared on the band's debut album Indian Ocean. Sanjeev Sharma has collaborated with them as lyricist on many albums.[2]

The musical style of the band can be best classified as jazz fusion. It is an experimental genre, fusing raga (traditional Indian tunes) with rock music, guitars and drums, sometimes using Indian folk songs.[3] It has also been described by some music critics as "Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution".[4]

Since 2010, the band has moved against the lines of record labels. They released their latest album 16/330 Khajoor Road online for free. The main reason for this move was the frustration over negotiating contracts with record companies and fighting over copyright issues.[5] They have turned to concerts and sponsorships for generating revenue rather than playing in the hands of record labels. For a brief amount of time they were sponsored by Johnnie Walker.[6] They are also a part of the world's first Music Personalisation Initiative named DRP as one of the five Featured Artists. In its 2014 listing of "25 Greatest Indian Rock Songs of the last 25 Years", "Rolling Stone India" featured two songs, Ma Rewa and Kandisa from the album, Kandisa (2000).[7]

  1. ^ The Pioneers Of Rock Fusion, INDIAN OCEAN| Rock The Vote, retrieved 21 September 2022
  2. ^ Reddy, Sujata (22 January 2016). "The secret of Indian Ocean's success: only music, no massive egos". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  3. ^ Ahuja, Shilpa. "Indian Ocean & Arka Fusion Music, Rock n Raag Live Concert". Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Indian Ocean performs live". Hindustan Times. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Indian Ocean Pokes at Record Companies, Gives away Latest Album for Free [Kill Piracy]". plugged.in. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Indian Ocean". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  7. ^ "The Search for Rolling Stone India's 25 Greatest Indian Rock Songs of the last 25 Years". Rolling Stone India. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.